As Cassie Ventura neared her 12th hour on the witness stand, she told jurors that the threats and incessant sexual demands from her ex-boyfriend, Sean “Diddy” Combs — as well as a pattern of coerced sex with strangers — drove her into addiction, exposed her to regular spates of violence and led her to contemplate suicide.
The star witness in Combs’ federal sex trafficking and racketeering case, Ventura spent her second day on the witness stand in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday offering a firsthand account of how her life was changed by the rap mogul, as she went from performing her music to spending her days planning sex parties for Combs and then submitting herself to them. Had she not, she testified, Combs would have allegedly hurt her or fulfilled a threat to release damaging videos that she feared would destroy her reputation.
Combs has pleaded not guilty and insists he neither sexually assaulted nor trafficked anyone. He once again sat stone-faced just feet from Ventura – who is eight months pregnant – as she spared no detail and narrated for the jury a life that, she said, made her not want to live anymore.
Sean “Diddy” Combs listens as his former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura testifies at his sex trafficking trial in New York City, May 14, 2025 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg/Reuters
Jurors see images of freak-offs that Combs allegedly used as ‘blackmail’
Ventura told jurors that the freak-off sessions she participated in transformed into private pornography shoots for Combs, who would use the material as “blackmail” if she disobeyed him.
With Combs curtailing her professional work as a singer, paying for her living expenses and controlling her personal life — down to her everyday movements — Ventura testified that she feared the release of the videos would jeopardize her career prospects and embarrass her.
“I just feared for my career. I feared for my family. It’s just embarrassing and disgusting. Nobody should do that to anyone,” Ventura said, explaining that Combs had told her that the videos “could ruin everything” that she worked for and make her look “like a slut.”
For the first time, jurors saw some examples of the materials that Combs allegedly used as blackmail when prosecutors entered into evidence seven still images isolated from the freak-off videos. Originally, prosecutors planned to play the videos for the jury — but they then declined to introduce any videos of the freak-offs into evidence.
Prosecutors did not publicly identify a reason for the change of plan.
Ventura alleges repeated instances of violence
Ventura testified that Combs became increasingly violent toward her, in addition to forcing her to participate in freak-offs.
She specifically recounted the first time Combs allegedly “knocked [her] around.” She said they were in New York City when he “hit me in the side of the head and I fell to the floor.” She testified they were in a car, and the alleged assault took place in front of a driver and staff.
Another alleged incident she recounted for the jury occurred in August 2013 when Combs entered her apartment in a rage and threw her onto her bed because she was asleep and not packing for a music festival.
“I had a pretty significant gash on the side of my eyebrow,” Ventura testified, adding she has a permanent scar from the incident. She said she texted Combs a photo of the injury with the message, “So you can remember.”
At one point during her lengthy testimony, prosecutor Emily Johnson asked Ventura how many times Combs became violent with her during their nearly 11-year relationship. Ventura let out a sigh and said softly, “Who knows.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs drags ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura in a still image from a March 5, 2016 surveillance video taken in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel.
Department Of Justice via Reuters
Jurors get a full picture of the 2016 on-camera assault
After seeing video of Combs physically assaulting Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel on March 5, 2016, during the first day of testimony, jurors heard the account directly from Ventura on Wednesday.
Ventura testified that Combs pulled her to the floor, kicked her and dragged her toward the hotel hallway. She said that after she got back up, Combs threw a vase at her, narrowly missing her. Jurors have already seen a video of the assault and its aftermath.
Jurors had heard testimony earlier this week from Israel Florez, a security guard who responded to the incident and tried to ensure Ventura could leave the hotel.
“He did tell her at one point that — he said you’re not going to leave,” Florez testified, adding that Combs attempted to bribe him after the incident. He did not take the money.
As Ventura narrated the video showing the assault, her husband Alex Fine, seated in court, fixed his stare squarely on Combs.
According to Ventura, Combs sent her a barrage of text messages once she left the hotel begging her to return. She added that she was bruised from the attack and had to cover up the injuries for an upcoming movie event.
“Yo pls call me. I got six kids. Pls call me,” Combs wrote in a message. “Call me. Call now,” another said.
“I have a premier Monday for the biggest thing I’ve ever done and I have a black eye and fat lip,” Ventura messaged back. “You are sick for thinking it’s ok to do what you’ve done.”
Ventura testifies about the conclusion of her relationship with Combs
Ventura testified that her relationship with Combs, which began in romance and a pull toward the excitement that surrounded Combs, ended in violence when he raped her on her living room floor after she attempted to seek closure after their relationship had ended.
“I just remember crying and saying no but it was very fast,” she said. “I don’t know if he noticed.”
In the years following the end of the relationship, Ventura said she tried to get professional help to overcome her trauma and contemplated suicide. She sobbed on the witness stand as she recalled how the trauma drained her will to live.
“I was spinning out and I didn’t want to be alive anymore at that point,” she testified, breaking down as she described how “I couldn’t take the pain I was in anymore.”
She said she tried to process the pain by writing down what happened to her, and she offered Combs the right to buy what became a book for $30 million, a random price she said she thought would “alert him.” No deal was made.
When Ventura sued Combs for the decade of violence and abuse in 2023, the case was settled the next day with no admission of guilt from Combs. She revealed on the stand on Wednesday, and for the first time publicly, that she received a $20 million settlement.
“How many freak-offs did you have over the course of your relationship?” prosecutor Emily Johnson asked in her final question of 12 hours of direct examination.
“It’s impossible to know, but hundreds,” Ventura replied.
