R&B singer Casandra Ventura, popularly known as Cassie, returned to the witness stand for the second day in the high-profile sex trafficking trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Testifying as the prosecution’s key witness, Cassie offered chilling details of years of alleged abuse, blackmail, and coerced sexual encounters she said she endured in the hands of Diddy.
Wearing a long grey dress and a black trench coat, the visibly pregnant Cassie, now eight months along, entered the courtroom before the jury was seated, a point of contention for the defence, who argued her appearance could elicit undue sympathy.
Much of Wednesday’s session focused on surveillance footage from a 2016 incident in a Los Angeles hotel, which showed Diddy allegedly assaulting Cassie. Prosecutors walked Cassie and the jury through the video frame-by-frame. In it, Diddy appears to lunge at her repeatedly. Ventura, who remained composed during her testimony, narrated the moments when she was struck, images the public later saw after the video went viral.
She also submitted selfies taken shortly after the incident, showing a swollen lip and a black eye. Text messages between the two revealed Diddy pleading, “Call me back. I’m getting arrested.” Cassie , however, testified that she never responded.
Hotel security guard Israel Florez, who responded to Ventura’s call for help at the time, testified Tuesday that while he filed an incident report, he did not contact the police.
Cassie recounted a disturbing pattern of abuse, including Combs showing up unannounced at her apartment, banging on the door in fits of rage. She recalled one occasion when he assaulted her after finding her asleep instead of preparing for a music festival. The attack left her with a gash on her eyebrow. “Two friends tried to pull him off me,” she testified. “He knocked me down, and I hit my eyebrow on the bed.”
After the assault, Diddy allegedly had a bodyguard take her to a plastic surgeon. “I still have the scar,” she told the court.
Cassie also spoke of another incident during the Cannes Film Festival, where Diddy, in a fit of anger, kicked her off a yacht early in the morning barefoot and without her passport. On the flight home, he reportedly played sex tapes of her on his laptop in full view of others and threatened to release them if she didn’t comply with his demands.
According to BBC, The most harrowing parts of Cassie’s testimony came as she described what she called “freak-offs”, multi-day sex parties allegedly arranged byDiddy , where she was forced to engage in sexual acts with male escorts while he watched, directed, and recorded.
“My drug of choice was ketamine,” Cassie testified, explaining that it helped her dissociate during the encounters. She added that she frequently mixed drugs, developed gastrointestinal issues, sores in her mouth, and chronic UTIs from the stress and lack of rest.
Despite the physical pain, Cassie said Diddy insisted she participate in the freak-offs. “To recover, I’d need IV fluids and massages,” she said.
She further alleged that Diddy threatened to release videos of her during these sessions if she upset him. “I would have to answer to my mother,” she said tearfully. “The videos made me look like a slut.”
Text messages presented in court showed Cassie pleading with Diddy to delete the videos. He responded that he had, but she testified she later found that several remained on his devices.
Prosecutors also presented evidence suggesting that Diddy transported escorts across state lines for the freak-offs, including from New York to Miami and Los Angeles. Cassie stated it was “expected” of her to help hire them, although Diddy handled the payments.
To support the sex trafficking charge, Cassie was shown a binder of male escort photos and asked about their identities and roles. While she couldn’t recall all their names, she identified cities and circumstances under which the acts occurred.
In one exchange of text messages, Dissy expressed a desire to conduct a “proper freak-off without ‘K,’” referring to ketamine, further reinforcing the prosecution’s argument that the encounters were orchestrated and exploitative.
Throughout the testimony, Cassie remained mostly composed. However, before the lunch recess, she was seen wiping away tears, her first visible display of emotion on the second day.
The courtroom was tense, with members of Diddy’s family including his son, King watching expressionless as Cassie recounted the alleged abuse. Diddy himself, dressed in a cream sweater and pants, occasionally looked her way, though she never met his gaze.
The prosecution is expected to conclude their questioning today, with Diddy’s defence team set to begin cross-examination later. The defence maintained that while Diddy may have committed acts of domestic violence, the sexual encounters were consensual.
Diddy’s legal team will now attempt to challenge Ventura’s credibility and narrative as the case enters a critical phase in the days ahead.
Diddy, 55, who faces multiple charges including racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution, has denied all allegations. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
