Combs is charged with five criminal counts. He has vigorously denied the accusations against him.
Where the sex trafficking trial stands
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, was on the stand as the government’s key witness. She recounted graphic details that she claimed would occur in the “freak offs” Combs asked her to engage in.
The jury was also presented with security footage of Combs beating Ventura in a 2016 altercation at a Los Angeles hotel. Ventura testified under questioning in court about how many times Combs had tossed her in such a manner.
“Too many to count,” she replied. She will continue her testimony on Wednesday.
This live update could include graphic descriptions of sexual assault. For sexual assault resources, dial the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline.
The defense and prosecution made their opening statements yesterday. Prosecutors charged that Combs used his celebrity and influence to operate a criminal enterprise that supported his “freak offs,” drug-fueled sex orgies with paid prostitutes.
The defense acknowledged that Combs was jealous and sometimes violent, but maintained all the alleged victims were willing participants in his sex life.
Combs is charged with five criminal charges: one charge of racketeering conspiracy; two charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs denied the charges against him vociferously.
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Cassie recounts being ‘kicked’ and ‘dragged’ in 2016 hotel attack
Asked if she ever walked out of one of Combs’ reported “freak offs,” Cassie Ventura replied yes, “in Century City,” referring to the 2016 attack at a Los Angeles hotel that was captured on security video footage in which the rapper was punching her.
I decided to leave,” Ventura stated. “I escaped and Sean followed me out into the hallway, and grabbed me, pushed me to the floor, kicked me and pulled me back in the room and stole my belongings.”
In a blow to Combs’ defense team, Judge Subramanian testified in April that the video, first aired on CNN last year, was admissible as evidence.
Following the viewing of the video for the jury, Ventura was then questioned about how many other times Combs had tossed her around like that.
“Too many to count,” she replied.
Court adjourns for day, Cassie back on stand tomorrow
Court has adjourned for the day, according to Judge Arun Subramanian.
Cassie Ventura will be back on the stand tomorrow.
Subramanian reminded the jury not to discuss the case with anyone and switch off their news alerts.
Cassie claims she used drugs to disassociate
Cassie Ventura testified that she used “marijuana, ketamine, mushrooms, whatever was the drug of choice at that point” to survive “freak offs.”
“I couldn’t imagine myself doing any of that without having some sort of buffer,” Ventura told the court.
Ventura has testified, in detail, to having sex with prostitutes while her then-boyfriend Combs observed. Even when she was sick, she said Combs instructed her to continue.
“I would actually vomit,” she said. “When I got sick during a ‘freak off,’ he would encourage me to get up and continue on with it.”
Cassie says it was Combs ‘fantasy to direct’ ‘freak-offs’
Cassie Ventura described graphic acts that she claimed would occur in the “freak offs” Sean Combs asked her to perform.
Occasionally, she claimed Combs would participate along with her as she had sex with the prostitute, and other times he would observe in a corner. He also arranged phones on FaceTime so that he could observe from another room, she claimed.
“It was his dream to do it — what to say, how to do,” she said. “I did that to hurry the process along so I could get it done. I wanted it to be over and go to the other room where we could spend time alone.”
Ventura said Combs started taping some of the “freak offs” during the first year.
“I didn’t want to do it,” she said. “I would watch them with Sean afterwards, while we were having intercourse. If i saw them on my devices i would delete them, I felt disgusted.”
Cassie says she was instructed to look for sex workers on the Internet
Cassie Ventura testified that she utilized a number of websites to look for sex workers nationwide — and always at the behest of Combs.
Craigslist, the now-shuttered Backpage and the escort website Cowboys 4 Angels were a few of the websites Ventura testified she used. But any eventual hire had to be approved by Combs, she testified.
“I took the pictures to Sean and tested their interest. If they weren’t interested I would say ‘no’ and ask for someone else,” she said. “Sean had to sign off on it.”
Cassie says she questioned legality of soliciting sex workers online
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Cassie Ventura indicated she questioned the legality of soliciting sex workers online when Combs would ask to see the escort to check if they were a cop.
This led to a challenge by defense lawyers. Judge Arun Subramanian instructed the jury to ignore Ventura’s remark about legality.
Ventura stated that she would send out messages to sex workers online at Combs’ behest and inform them that it was his fantasy to observe her having sex with another individual, she testified.
Sex workers were remunerated $1,500 to $6,000, she testified.
Cassie indicates that she was forced to do ‘freak offs’ on her period
Cassie Ventura indicated in court that she was forced to do “freak offs” on her period against her will upon Combs’ insistence, causing blood to stain furniture.
Combs also made Ventura’s escort pee on her during an encounter because it was a “turn on” to him, she said. Combs also took part, she indicated.
“I just felt embarrassed, it was gross, it was too much,” she said. “I choked, I didn’t want to be doing that, I was in a situation I couldn’t get out of easily.”
Ventura was asked why she hadn’t said no.
“I was squeamish right away, but high in the moment,” she said. “That’s about it, you don’t have a lot of control at that moment.”
Baby oil utilized in ‘freak offs’ at Combs’ behest, Cassie reports
Baby oil was applied in “freak offs” at Sean Combs’ insistence, according to Cassie Ventura, who testified that everyone, including herself, would slather it all over their bodies.
“Sean asked for it hot and he wanted it to glisten so we put it on every five minutes,” Ventura said.
Ventura described a “freak off” involving a “pool full of baby oil” at the Montage Beverly Hills that she entered at Combs’ insistence.
“If Sean wanted it to occur, that’s what was going to occur, there was no way out of it,” she explained. “We used 10 bottles of baby oil, normal size.”
Ventura also testified about other substances utilized in “freak offs,” such as Astroglide lubricant and condoms. Workers would bring along the items,
but if there was a last-minute “freak off,” Ventura would take them, she testified.
Cassie becomes tearful when remembering romantic feelings for Combs
Cassie Ventura became tearful in court earlier today when asked what she liked about dating Sean Combs.
Ventura, eight months pregnant, was in tears and pulled out a tissue when responding to the question.
“When we were alone together,” she replied. “When you love someone and care about someone, you don’t want to let them down.”
Ventura wept again when presented with an email she had sent to Combs, in which she wrote, “I really need 2 f–.”
“So you wanna f–, gonna call somebody?” Combs replied.
“I want to f– you are you crazy,” Ventura replied.
Asked why she wrote that, she said, “Because that’s how I felt.
Cassie calls Combs ‘a scary person’
Cassie testified that she was always mindful of placating Combs and did all she could to remain in his good favor.
“I didn’t want him to be mad at me or not to trust me,” she said. “He was a intimidating individual, he would be aggressive.”
They had “freak offs in all the houses” and hotels, including numerous locations in Southern California and around the nation, she testified.
Combs admitted voyeurism fantasy prior to offering ‘freak offs,’ Cassie claims
Sean “Diddy” Combs enjoyed a voyeurism fantasy, Cassie Ventura claims, admitting it to her during the initial six months of their affair.
“He told me it was something he had dreamed up where he would fantasize about me engaging in sexual relations with another male so he could observe,” Ventura testified in court, explaining she had gone along with it because she did not want to upset him.
Ventura said she was 22 when Combs initially suggested “freak offs.”
“I cared about him, I didn’t want him to believe that anything was wrong about him,” Ventura said of the encounter
Cassie had felt ‘humiliated’ and ‘disgusting’ in ‘freak offs’
Drug-fueled sex parties were a nightly staple of Cassie Ventura’s time with Combs, although she detested virtually every second of it, the ex-girlfriend testified.
“I felt really bad about myself. I felt disgusting. I felt humiliated,” she testified. “I didn’t know the words to express how bad I felt. I couldn’t discuss it with anybody.”
The witness remembered drinking and doing ecstasy while having intercourse for the first time with a sex worker for entertainment for Combs.
“I was high so I didn’t feel much,” she said. “Did this really happen to me?
I didn’t know what was going to happen after that, if we were going to do it more often, I said yes to more, I didn’t want to make him angry or upset.”
Combs kept guns in safes in his houses, Cassie says
Sean “Diddy” Combs kept guns in safes in his various houses, his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura says.
Ventura, occasionally having access to the safes, indicated that Combs kept guns in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and New Jersey. She said she personally viewed the guns outside the safes “a few times.” Cash, jewelry and video tapes were also in the safes, she indicated.
When she was asked if she ever touched any of Combs’ supposed guns, she replied that she was given a gun at a club in downtown Los Angeles to place in her bag while she was under the influence of mushrooms.
“Freaking out it was going to explode,” she replied, stating that she passed the gun along to someone once she left the club. Ventura stated that it wasn’t the first time she was exposed to one of Combs’ reported guns.
“The guns came out here and there. I always felt it was a little bit of a scare tactic,” she said
Combs was willing to get in the face of Suge Knight in the middle of a ‘freak off,’ according to Cassie
Combs and Cassie Ventura were having one of their “freak off” parties when the rapper was informed that arch-nemesis Suge Knight was spotted at a nearby diner, where he became dressed to meet her in battle, she said.
“We were having a freak out in one of his houses in L.A. and he told me Suge was at Mel’s Diner and we packed up and drove on down there,” Ventura testified.
“I was screaming and crying, ‘Please don’t do anything stupid.’ I had no idea what they were going to do.”
Knight is serving a long prison sentence after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
Combs would take Cassie’s electronics and cars as punishment, she testifies
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Cassie Ventura remembered how Combs would strike her by taking away her electronics, cars and other material things as punishment.
“He would take the car away, the house, jewelry,” she said. “The physical things didn’t matter; I just wanted his approval.”
The former boyfriend said Combs would send his staffer for these take backs.
“Staff would pick them up,” she remembered. “If I wasn’t present, it would be a staff member or security.”
Cassie tells Combs dominated her career, told her she looked ‘too Mexican’
When Cassie Ventura returned to the witness stand following a lunch break, she reported that Combs made all the decisions regarding her career and appearance.
Although James Cruz was her manager, he informed her that he was doing so with “one hand behind his back,” and that all decisions had to be approved by Combs, she testified.
Ventura’s statements included Combs making comments regarding her physical appearance, telling her she “looked too Mexican,” that her hair did not look good, or that her nails “needed to be a certain way.”
“Appearance was very big with him, it was fairly instant,” she testified in court. “Sometimes he would want me to be super sexy and sometimes like a tomboy. He was just very invested.”
Ventura also said that he liked her nails white, and for “freak offs” they were to remain white or have a French tip. Combs would even comment on her working out and maintaining her shape, and discussed breast implants with her, she reported.
“I had to look this way for freak offs,” Ventura said. “Absolutely my self-worth took a hit throughout the relationship.”.
Expectant Cassie shows up in courtroom drawing
Sean “Diddy” Combs looks on in the drawing as his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura is sworn in today.
Cassie seemed upset testifying about ‘freak offs
Cassie Ventura entered court today dressed in a long, brown, sleeveless dress that fell to her ankles. Her pregnant stomach was extremely noticeable to bystanders.
She was still quiet and calm during most of her testimony, although there were moments when she had to steady herself with breaths as she replied to questions.
This was most apparent when she was explaining what “freak offs” were to the court. She wiped at her eyes a couple of times with tissues while responding to the question.
Ventura shifted herself a number of times while on the stand, continually with her hands folded in her lap, but occasionally rubbing or pushing on her stomach.
When Cassie first spoke of freak offs, a public member who was sitting in the overflow viewing area shouted, “That’s disgusting!”
She had complained that Cassie had been forced to testify about such items while she was pregnant and left the room after being informed by a U.S. marshal that she must act the same way as if she were in a courtroom.
