Artist’s rendering of Cassie at the trial
Cassie Ventira has tearfully told a court she would give back a $20m (£15m) legal settlement from Sean “Diddy” Combs if it meant she would never have taken part in his “humiliating” drug-fuelled sex parties.
She rejected defence suggestions that her accusations were financially motivated as she wrapped up four days of testimony in the New York criminal trial of her ex-boyfriend.
Ms Ventura, the government’s star witness, faced questioning from both legal teams about her decade-long relationship with Mr Combs, and their “freak off” sex sessions.
Mr Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He could face life in prison.
Ms Ventura’s testimony revealed graphic details about her sex life with the rapper and the physical violence she allegedly endured from him.
The rap mogul’s lawyers have been trying to depict Ms Ventura, 38, as an eager participant in the sexual lifestyle.
She testified this week that she was coerced into the sessions, which involved male escorts, because Mr Combs had threatened her with violence.
On Friday she addressed a $20m pay-out he gave her after she filed a lawsuit against him in November 2023.
The settlement, which came just one day after the filing of the legal action, was public knowledge, but the number was previously unknown.
Mr Combs’ lawyer, Anna Estevao, seemed to imply that Ms Ventura was strapped for cash before filing her lawsuit. The singer had just moved to her parents’ house with her husband and children.
Ms Ventura rejected this suggestion, later sharing that she would exchange the money for a life free of the “freak offs”, which she said caused her physical injuries, would sometimes go on for days, and stifled her career as a singer.
“I would have agency and autonomy,” she said.
Mr Combs’ legal team also showed the jury dozens of messages between the couple from each stage of their relationship, arguing their dynamic was toxic at times, but not criminal.
Minutes before Ms Ventura was set to leave the stand on Friday, the defence questioned her about another legal settlement she won.
Ms Ventura told the court she was expecting to receive about $10m from InterContinental Hotels, connected to her claims against Mr Combs.
The settlement relates to an incident at the InterContinental in Los Angeles in 2016, in which security footage showed Mr Combs hitting, kicking and dragging her in a hallway.
That clip was played at length in court this week, and is one of the most important pieces of evidence in the trial.
On Friday in court, Ms Ventura went through her texts after that beating. In one message she told Mr Combs: “I’m not a rag doll. I’m somebody’s child.”
She and Mr Combs were expressing love for each other days later in other texts.
The defence cross-examination continued on all day Thursday and Friday.
The prosecution squeezed in two more witnesses before court adjourned for the weekend.
One was Dawn Richard, a singer in the group Danity Kane – formed on Diddy’s MTV show Making the Band. Last year she filed a lawsuit accusing him of physical abuse and withholding her earnings.
Ms Richard testified that she saw Mr Combs assault Ms Ventura at his Los Angeles mansion in 2009.
“She fell down,” Ms Richard told the court. “She was in the foetal position.”
After the incident, she said Mr Combs took her aside and told her what she saw was “passion” and that where he is from, “people go missing” if they talk.
US Homeland Security special agent Yasin Binda took the stand as well, telling the court about the cash, drugs and baby oil that were seized from the rapper’s hotel room when he was arrested in New York.
More testimony is expected from the witnesses called by prosecutors next week.
The Manhattan court has been a media circus since the beginning of the trial, with spectators gathering in droves and camping out overnight to get a glimpse of the music mogul, his family, and the celebrities testifying.
