Topics: Cassie Ventura, Sex Trafficking, Court, Diddy, Crime, US News
Diddy's ex partner, Cassie Ventura, detailed her relationship with the hip-hop star and what happened during alleged freak-offs in the second day of his trial.
Diddy - whose real name is Sean Combs - was arrested and charged with racketeering and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion last year after being detained at the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, New York.
The rapper has denied all allegations made against him.
After the opening remarks by both prosecution and defence were delivered on Monday (May 12), his former girlfriend, Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, took to the stand on Tuesday (May 13) to detail how Combs allegedly would 'punish' her during their relationship, which lasted on-and-off from 2007 to 2018.
Advert
Her testimony is expected to continue today (May 14), with Combs' defence lawyers to cross examine her.
Here's what she said during Tuesday's court session...
Combs and Ventura met in 2005 when he was 37 and she was 19. Combs signed her to his Bad Boy Records label and they started dating a few years later.
Ventura told the court that Combs would take away her things to 'punish' her, claiming that he would 'would take the car away, the house, jewelry', as well as her laptop and phone.
She further claimed that his staff or security would be the one to take them 'if she wasn't there'.
Ventura continued to allege that he would take things away 'depending on how he felt', adding: "It depended on how long I was being punished for."
When asked if there was anything else he'd take beside her car and apartment, she replied: "My self-confidence."
A CCTV video that had been made public and went viral last year was shown to jurors, which appeared to show Combs attacking her inside a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
Explaining the alleged 'freak-offs', Ventura said they were 'sexual encounter[s] called voyeurism' where Combs would watch her have sex with another man.
Ventura recalled what happened when she was first introduced to these so-called 'freak-off' parties.
"I remember my stomach falling to my butt," she said. "Just the nervousness and confusion… I had just turned 22."
Ventura claims it involved hiring an escort and Combs would watch her with another man while directing them, as per the BBC.
She told how she didn't want to be involved, but ultimately did so because she 'loved him [Combs] very much' and 'wanted to make him happy'.
Ventura added: "The freak offs became a job. There was no time to do anything else but do them then try to recover. The longest was four days, significant periods of time."
Ventura went on to tell the jury how she was scared to say no to the rapper and that physical violence was often on her mind.
She was also worried of 'making him angry' and told the court how Combs allegedly blackmailed her with video of the 'freak-offs' to get her to do more.
One horrific act alleged was when Ventura 'felt like she was choking' after Combs 'made an escort urinate into her mouth'.
On the stand, Ventura claimed she and Combs got in arguments that would 'result in violence, dragging', adding that he would 'stomp [her] in the head if I was down'.
When asked how often Combs became violent with her, she responded: "Too frequently."
She alleged Combs would 'bash on my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me'.
In response to the news of Combs' arrest, his attorney Marc Agnifilo told UNILAD at the time: "We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
"Sean 'Diddy' Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal.
"To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court."
The trial is expected to last around eight weeks. If convicted, Combs faces up to life in prison.
UNILAD has contacted representatives for Combs and Ventura for comment.
The trial continues.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org.
