Cassie has taken the stand in the high-profile trial against her ex-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs, marking the first time the former couple has seen each other since their breakup in 2018.
As reported by Rolling Stone US, Ventura provided detailed testimony about what she described as a decade of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. She told the court that Combs’ physical violence was “frequent,” stating: “He would smash me in my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me in the head if I was down.”
Ventura, who is eight-and-a-half months pregnant, testified extensively about the nature of what Combs allegedly called “freak-offs” — orchestrated sexual encounters involving male escorts that could last anywhere from 36 hours to four days. She described these as “a very choreographed experience” that made her feel “disgusting” and “humiliated.”
“I didn’t feel like I had much of a choice, I didn’t know what ‘No’ could look like,” she testified, explaining that she viewed the encounters as opportunities to win Combs’ affection and secure one-on-one time with him.
The singer revealed that Combs exerted complete control over her life, including her whereabouts, appearance, living situation, and music career. “He had control over what I did every minute of the day,” Ventura testified. She added that despite recording hundreds of songs, many “didn’t see the light of day” as her “career was stifled.”
Ventura also described Combs’ use of drugs, including cocaine, mushrooms, ecstasy, and ketamine, which she said were “dissociative and numbing.” She testified that she “couldn’t imagine myself doing any of that without having some sort of buffer or just way to not feel it for what it really was.”
Prior to Ventura’s testimony, the jury heard from Israel Florez, a former hotel security manager who witnessed Combs physically attacking Ventura in 2016, and Daniel Phillip, a male escort who participated in multiple “freak-offs” and claimed to have witnessed Combs attack Ventura.
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While Combs’ legal team acknowledged he was physically abusive to Ventura, they argued he is not being prosecuted for domestic violence in this case. Instead, they claimed Ventura was a consenting adult whose motivations were financial, telling jurors: “Ask yourself why. The answer is money.”
Ventura is expected to continue her testimony throughout the first week of the trial, which is anticipated to last eight weeks. Combs has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts against him and faces the possibility of life imprisonment if convicted.
