Diddy trial day 2: Cassie Ventura testifies about abuse and ‘freak offs’

NEW YORK CITY - Cassie, the R&B singer and former girlfriend of Sean "Diddy" Combs, testified on Tuesday that the music mogul abused and sexually exploited her for years, as she took the witness stand for the first time during his sex trafficking trial.

Sighing heavily and pausing to compose herself at times, Cassie told the New York jury about Combs forcing her into elaborate sexual marathons with male sex workers, which he called "freak offs." She said she didn’t feel like she could say "no" to Combs, who she said assaulted during their turbulent relationship, hitting her in the head, stomping on her and dragging her numerous times.

"Sean controlled a lot of my life, whether it was career, the way I dressed, everything, everything," Cassie testified, later adding, "Sean is a really polarizing person, also very charming."

Cassie sniffled and dabbed her eyes with a tissue while on the stand. She is pregnant and would occasionally rest her hands on her belly. Her husband was in the courtroom.

Now 38 years old, Cassie said she was barely 22 when Combs first asked her to do a "freak off," which she said stemmed from Combs’ interest in voyeurism. They involved her hiring sex workers at Combs’ behest for thousands of dollars and "setting up this experience so that I could perform for Sean."

"He was controlling the whole situation. He was directing it," she said.

The encounters would go on for 36 or 48 hours, and she said the longest lasted four days.

"I was an object being heavily objectified by men in that scenario," she testified.

They took place in private, often in dark hotel rooms, unlike Combs’ very public White Parties in the Hamptons that attracted A-list celebrities and gossip columnists.

Cassie felt she couldn’t refuse Combs’ demands

Her first "freak off" occurred in Combs’ Los Angeles home with a male stripper from Las Vegas, she said. She felt dirty and confused afterward, but also relieved that Combs was happy.

Still, she said she felt obligated to go along with future "freak offs."

"I just didn’t want to make him upset," she said. "I just didn’t want to make him angry and regret telling me about this experience that was so personal."

Cassie began crying when asked if she liked any aspect of the "freak offs." She said she enjoyed "time spent with him."

She said she used drugs at every "freak off" to numb herself during "emotionless sex with a stranger that I didn’t really want to have sex with."

‘Freak offs’ became a ‘job’

Soon, she said, she was doing "freak offs" weekly. They went on for a decade, with the final one occurring in 2017 or 2018, she said.

Each time, she said, she had to recuperate from lack of sleep, alcohol, drugs and "having sex with a stranger for days."

She described the situation as: "‘Freak offs’ became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again."

Shown still images from the now-infamous 2016 security camera footage of Combs beating her at a Los Angeles hotel, Cassie said it happened after a "freak off" as she was leaving. Video of the attack was shown to jurors on Monday and is a key part of the prosecution’s case. After the footage was leaked last year, Combs apologized.

Cassie said the "freak offs" involved lots of baby oil and she described being humiliated by some of the things Combs made her do.

During her opening statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson told the jury that Cassie was far from the only woman Combs beat and sexually exploited. Johnson said Combs last year brutally beat another woman — identified only as Jane — when she confronted him about enduring years of "freak offs."

She is expected to return to the stand Wednesday to answer more questions from prosecutors before being cross-examined by Combs’ attorneys.

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Who Is Cassie?:

Cassie met Combs in 2005 when she was 19 and he was 37. He signed her to his Bad Boy Records label and, within a few years, they started dating.

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In her 2023 lawsuit, Cassie alleges Combs trapped her in a "cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking" for more than a decade, including raping her and forcing her to engage in sex acts with male sex workers. Combs settled the lawsuit the next day. Following her lawsuit, dozens of similar legal claims followed, sparking a criminal investigation.

Among other things, Cassie alleges Combs raped her when she tried to leave him and often punched, kicked and beat her, causing injuries including bruises, burst lips, black eyes and bleeding. She also alleges that Combs was involved in blowing up rival rapper Kid Cudi’s car when he learned Cudi was romantically interested in her, and she alleges that Combs ran out of his home with guns when he learned Suge Knight, a rival producer, was eating at a nearby diner.

Her testimony follows Monday’s accounts from hotel security guard Israel Florez, who told jurors he saw Diddy with a "devilish stare" after allegedly attacking Cassie, and Daniel Phillip, who testified he was paid in 2013 to have sex with Cassie—expecting a bachelorette party gig but instead finding her in red lingerie as Diddy watched and masturbated.

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What Happened Monday?:

Combs faces charges that he orchestrated an empire of exploitation that forced women into drugged-up sex parties.

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Testimony in the trial began Monday, with prosecutors telling jurors that for years, Combs used his power and status as an executive to coerce women into abusive sexual encounters and became violent if they refused.

Prosecutors called their first witness, Israel Florez, a former security officer at a Los Angeles hotel, to testify about the night in March 2016 when he witnessed Diddy assault Cassie.

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Florez’s testimony helped introduce hotel surveillance footage that prosecutors say shows the attack—footage they argue is more complete than the edited version previously aired by CNN. 

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Defense attorneys had tried, unsuccessfully, to keep the video out of the trial. On the stand, Florez described finding Diddy in a towel with a blank, "devilish" stare after responding to a call about a woman in distress. 

He said Cassie tried to leave, but Combs told her, "You’re not going to leave." After she walked out, Florez said Diddy tried to hand him a stack of cash and told him, "Don’t tell nobody." Florez refused the money and told him to go back to his room.

He described multiple sexual encounters allegedly orchestrated by Diddy, who tried to hide his identity but was recognizable by his voice. 

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Diddy Charges:

Authorities charged Sean "Diddy" Combs with multiple counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transporting for prostitution in an indictment unsealed in September 2024.

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Combs has pleaded not guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

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