The defence went through Cassie Ventura and Combs’ communications from early on in their relationship to try to portray her as a willing participant.
In one set of messages, Cassie told Diddy she just deleted “a little vid” off of her camera, describing it as “dope”.
When asked by defence lawyer Estevao if she insisted on recording the so-called “freak-offs” on her devices, Ventura responds firmly that she didn’t want them recorded at all.
During questioning, Estevao also established that Diddy appeared in the videos as well.
The defence clearly pinpointed every instance they could, no matter how small, to support their theory that Ventura had a choice about whether to participate in the sessions, and was a willing participant in them.
Also, the defence lawyer introduced sexually explicit text chains where Cassie Ventura said she was excited before a “freak off” – the term they used to describe sex acts where Combs directed her and male escorts to perform while he watched.
One text from Ventura said that she had an “aggressive sexual side”.
The defence also tried to disprove Ventura’s claims that she was embarrassed and wanted to hide the sex acts to stop any harm to her career.
Meanwhile, Cassie told prosecutors she participated in the freak-offs because she loved Combs and wanted him to be happy, and that she was afraid of violence or blackmail if she didn’t.
