Cassie Ventura’s bravery to speak out was acknowledged by the judge who sentenced Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to 50 months in prison despite the mogul being cleared of any crimes against her.
The comments about the producer, 55, came alongside a fine of $500,000 as Judge Arun Subramanian condemned him for his ‘savage’ abuse of Ventura and a Jane Doe who testified, saying he was making an example of him because he caused ‘irreparable harm’ to his victims.
‘I want to speak to the strong women who came forward to tell the world their story. Ms. Ventura and Jane you’ve been through abuse most of us can’t imagine,’ the judge said following the sentencing.
After quoting Ventura stating that ‘this was a horrific decade of my life’ he addressed her again.
‘Ms. Ventura and the other brave survivors I want to say we heard you. Thanks to them, these horrible acts were public and [Combs] will never be able to wash them away. You will forever be associated with them.’
He then said he was ‘proud’ of the victims ‘for coming to the court and telling the world what happened.’
Subramanian promised: ‘Even if you were a victim you don’t have to be. Your strength in coming forward are an example.’
He then quoted Martin Luther King by saying that they could take ‘out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.’
Cassie Ventura (pictured left) was hailed by the judge who sentenced Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to 50 months in prison despite the mogul being cleared of any crimes against her
Combs drags ex-girlfriend Ventura in a still image from a March 5, 2016 surveillance video taken in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel, where a towel-clad Combs threw Ventura to the ground and began to kick her, which was entered as evidence in New York sex trafficking trial
The judge then addressed Combs and said he could seek redemption despite his ‘violence, coercion and abuse’ of victims.
‘The things the women talked about in this case, you have the power to help it stop. The same power enabled you to hurt these women. You have a megaphone,’ he said.
Ventura’s attorney, Douglar Wigdor, told the Daily Mail in a statement after the sentencing that the entire trial was thanks to Ventura’s ‘courage to file her civil complaint in November 2023’, which triggered the criminal investigation into Combs.
‘Although the jury did not find Combs guilty of sex trafficking Cassie beyond a reasonable doubt, she paved the way for a jury to find him guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution,’ he said.
‘By coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice. We must repeat – with no reservation – that we believe and support our client who showed exemplary courage throughout this trial.
‘She displayed unquestionable strength and brought attention to the realities of powerful men in our orbit and the misconduct that has persisted for decades without repercussion.
‘This case proved that change is long overdue, and we will continue to fight on behalf of survivors.’
Diddy was not actually convicted of any offense against Ventura, but was famously filmed beating her up, with Friday’s acknowledgement of her abuse likely to provide some solace for the abused model.
The comments about the producer, 55, came alongside a fine of $500,000 as Judge Arun Subramanian condemned him for his ‘savage’ abuse of Ventura, saying he was making an example of him because he caused ‘irreparable harm’ to his victims
The judge said he was ‘proud’ of the victims ‘for coming to the court and telling the world what happened’
‘Deterrence requires a significant sentence’ he said, noting that Diddy held more ‘freak offs’ even after he had been subjected to search warrants and public shaming over his abuse of Ventura.
Ventura, who was eight months pregnant with her third child with husband Alex Fine, took the stand to testify that the music mogul subjected her to physical and psychological abuse spanning more than a decade, from 2007 to 2018.
She recounted the regular beatings she allegedly endured, along with claims that he used blackmail and intimidation to coerce and control her, forced her into degrading sex acts, and left her with lasting medical consequences.
Ventura concluded her testimony on May 16, just 11 days before she went into labor.
Another shocking moment in the trial came from testimony by security guard Eddy Garcia, who described his brutal assault on Ventura in the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles.
Garcia recounted in vivid detail how the hip-hop mogul used a counting machine to tally $100,000 in cash from a paper bag to bribe him into deleting video footage from the hotel’s servers and providing a copy on a USB stick.
Diddy even called him ‘Eddy, my angel’ for his efforts.
Garcia testified that the cash was ultimately divided between himself, another security officer, and the hotel’s head of security.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was sentenced on Friday for his his prostitution conviction in a stunning fall from grace for the disgraced rap mogul
Ventura was the defense’s star witness. She dated Diddy for more than a decade and testified while eight-and-a-half months pregnant. Footage of him assaulting her was made public during the trial after the full unedited footage was shown to court
Mid-trial, video of a violent attack on ex-girlfriend Cassie during a freak-off at a Los Angeles hotel was made public.
The unedited surveillance videos have been submitted as evidence at the trial and show various angles of the brutal attack as Diddy drags the R&B singer from an elevator and menacingly paces down the hallway in a towel.
Combs shook his head slowly from side to side and the packed courtroom fell silent as jurors were shown the 2016 hotel security camera video for the first time.
The video did not have sound.
Jurors watched intently on video monitors at their seats in the jury box, but there were no discernible, visible reactions.
First, prosecutors showed it all the way through. Then, they played it as the hotel’s assistant security director at the time, Israel Florez, described how the situation unfolded.
‘I don’t want to lose anything and I can lose it all,’ Florez described Diddy as saying.
Prosecutors then played a different version of the footage that Florez recorded off a monitor with his iPhone.
Diddy’s trial earlier this year captured national attention as the jury heard weeks of gut-wrenching testimony from his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura (seen together), where she alleged that she was coerced into marathon ‘freak off’ sexual performances during their relationship
The hotel’s assistant security director at the time, Israel Florez, took photos of the aftermath of Diddy’s savage beating of Cassie
Combs’ lawyer then showed it again as she sought to poke holes in Florez’s recollection of events.
The video shows clear footage of Cassie walking down the hall at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City and at one point, Combs clearly drags her across the floor, mid-tantrum.
As she tried to get into an elevator, he grabbed her by the back of the head and slammed her on to the ground.
He then kicked her as she lay on the ground motionless.
Diddy stood over her, kicked her again, and then dragged her back to their room by the hoodie.
Late in the clip, you see what appears to be a security guard walk into the fray.
Florez, the security guard in question, testified in court and submitted an email showing his report of the incident that includes stunning photos of the aftermath in the hotel room.
As for her own testimony, Cassie claimed in a since-settled lawsuit that Diddy had paid the same hotel $50,000 for the footage after the attack.
Diddy wept at several moments in his sentencing on Friday before he was handed the prison stint
Despite the frigid air early this Friday morning, hordes of people lined up outside the New York City courtroom eager to learn the outcome of Diddy’s sentencing
Two days later, the pair appeared on the red carpet holding hands for the premiere of The Perfect Match.
Diddy has been in custody since September 2024. With the 13 months he has already spent behind bars, he is on course to be freed in November 2028.
The producer stood emotionless and stunned as the judge handed him the sentence, staring straight ahead as he was slated for abusing his victims ‘physically, emotionally and psychologically.’
The decision came following a tumultuous sentencing hearing that went from bad to worse for Diddy, with the judge deciding at the start of the day he would still consider evidence from sex trafficking and racketeering charges that he was cleared of back in July.
A courtroom sketch artist showed the star mirroring the iconic ‘Scream’ painting during the proceedings as it appeared to dawn on him that he was facing a lengthy stint in prison.
Prosecutors then told the judge Diddy had arrogantly arranged speaking arrangements for Monday in Miami, suggesting he didn’t believe he was going to spend any more time behind bars at all.
Diddy’s attorney Nicole Westmoreland broke down in tears in her floundering argument for a light sentence, claiming he deserved leniency because he was awarded Menswear Designer of the Year by the American Fashion Council in 2004.
‘It wasn’t just about an award, it was about breaking barriers,’ she said, as courtroom reporters said she appeared to start crying.
Ventura is pictured heavily pregnant as she headed to court for the final day of her testimony on May 16 after four days of recounting the horrific abuse she experienced at the hands of Diddy
Eddy Garcia, who worked at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, told in vivid detail how Diddy, 55, used a counting machine to add up the money for the bribe in 2016
The sentence handed down on Friday completes the disgrace of the 55-year-old who was once one of the most powerful men in the entertainment industry.
Diddy’s explosive courtroom saga came to a close with today’s sentencing two years after his arrest and following an eight-week trial. He was facing up to 20 years behind bars.
His freedom ended on the night of September 16, 2024, when he was arrested by Homeland Security officials at the Park Hyatt hotel in midtown Manhattan.
And he’s been locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ever since, originally charged with racketeering and sex trafficking.
But the jury threw out the most serious charges after three days of deliberation only finding him guilty of two charges of transporting former girlfriend Ventura and another woman for the purpose of prostitution.
Diddy did not testify during the trial, but he occasionally seemed eager to speak, even going so far as to interrupt the judge at one point.
During that instance, Diddy cut off Judge Arun Subramanian to tell him that he would not be testifying towards the end of his trial on June 24.
The judge asked Diddy: ‘Have you discussed whether you should or should not?’
Another anonymous victim, only known as ‘Jane’ testified that she felt pressured to perform sexually with male sex workers while she dated Combs from 2021 until his arrest at a New York hotel a year ago
Diddy (center) reacts after hearing his verdict in court on July 2. His attorneys are seen embracing and smiling, while he sits his head in his hands (court sketch)
‘Yes, thoroughly. Yes, have discussed it,’ the rapper replied, in his first words to the Manhattan court after seven weeks of evidence.
Judge Subramanian began to speak before Diddy cut him off and added: ‘That is solely my decision. It’s my decision with my lawyers.’
Despite around 70 letters showing support pouring in from family and friends, Diddy’s push for early release was an uphill battle, as the judge had already turned down a $50million bail proposal and ordered him to stay in custody in the Brooklyn detention center until Friday’s sentencing.
But Diddy escaped the most serious charges that could have landed him being bars for life: racketeering and two counts of sex trafficking.
Instead, the hip-hop mogul was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, related to flying male escorts around for ‘Freak Offs.’
These disturbing events, which spanned more than a decade, involved Diddy paying the ‘entertainers’ hundreds of dollars each time to have sex with his girlfriends while he watched, directed and masturbated.
The verdict shocked those watching, but Diddy appeared elated, dropping to his knees and praying in court once his fate was read aloud, leaning his head against the chair he had been sitting on.
This moment of relief for Diddy came after more than six weeks of evidence at the trial in New York which began amid fears it would expose Hollywood’s darkest secrets.
The jury of eight men and four women heard from 34 witnesses including two of Diddy’s ex-girlfriends and six of his former personal assistants.
Prosecutors painted a picture of a mob-like figure who threatened to kill people if they spoke out against him and ran a ‘criminal enterprise’ that covered it up.
Combs’s latest move to sway Judge Subramanian came in a four-page letter that was made public on Thursday.
In it he said he had had to ‘look in the mirror like never before’.
‘I have to admit, my downfall was rooted in my selfishness,’ he wrote.
‘The scene and images of me assaulting Cassie play over and over in my head daily. I literally lost my mind. I was dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved. I’m sorry for that and always will be.’
He also confessed his time in prison had got him sober for the first time in 25 years.
‘I lost my way. I got lost in my journey. Lost in the drugs and the excess.’
And he added: ‘There have been some days I thought I would be better off dead. The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn.
‘Prison will change you or kill you – I choose to live.’
He described prison life as being locked in a room with 25 other inmates – a far cry from the privileged life he led on the outside.
‘In this room that I share, there are no windows, there is no natural/clean air, there is no sunlight and we all live in one room. We eat, sleep, use the toilet, take showers, and prepare meals all in the same room.’
But he was careful not to lay the blame for his fate on anyone but himself. ‘I am not expecting pity or sympathy, but my time at MDC has changed me forever!’ he wrote.
‘I started from nothing and worked hard to earn everything I had. But because of my conduct, I have lost all of my businesses. I have lost my career. I lost the charter schools that I started and I have destroyed my reputation and stained the reputation of those that worked for me.’
At the trial, dozens of celebrities were named but none implicated in criminal wrongdoing and only one turned up to support Diddy, Kanye West, who briefly appeared in court.
Until his arrest, Diddy had been one of the biggest names in R&B and hip hop and won three Grammys during his decades-long career.
Among the artists that he helped to launch was Mary J Blige, The Notorious B.I.G – Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez, whom Diddy once dated.
Diddy, a father of seven, also had an empire outside of his music including a deal with UK drinks giant Diageo to promote the French vodka brand Ciroc.
He released his fifth album in 2023 under the name ‘Love’ called ‘The Love Album: Off the Grid’ – Diddy won his first solo nomination for it at the Grammy Awards that year.
He also was named a Global Icon at the MTV Awards the same year.
