The R&B singer Cassie returned to the witness stand Wednesday in ex-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs’ intercourse trafficking trial, describing a vicious assault by Combs that was caught on surveillance video at a Los Angeles resort in 2016.
The notorious video reveals Combs hitting, kicking and trying to tug Cassie again to their room. She stated it occurred as she was leaving one of many degrading encounters with male intercourse employees that Combs orchestrated and known as “freak offs.” After the footage was leaked final 12 months, Combs apologized.
Prosecutors have accused Combs of exploiting his standing as a strong music govt to violently drive girls into drugged-up intercourse events. Combs is charged with 5 counts, together with intercourse trafficking by drive, fraud or coercion. He denies all the allegations.
Combs’ attorneys have acknowledged Combs may very well be violent however preserve that the sexual acts had been consensual. They are saying nothing he did amounted to intercourse trafficking or racketeering.
Cassie, whose authorized title is Casandra Ventura, was being questioned by the prosecution. Combs’ attorneys had been anticipated to start their cross-examination later within the day – their alternative to problem her credibility or poke holes in her accounts of what occurred.
Jurors on Wednesday had been proven images of Cassie’s swollen lip after the assault. She testified that she took the selfies on her Uber trip away from the resort. She stated she wore sun shades as a result of she had a black eye. As soon as residence, she stated a good friend of hers noticed her accidents and was “tremendous upset” as a result of she’d “seen me with black eyes and busted lips earlier than.”
Cassie stated her good friend known as police, however she declined to disclose who had injured her as soon as police arrived so that they left. “In that second, I did not need to harm him that method,” she stated. “I wasn’t prepared.”
She additionally testified that Combs stored texting her after she left the resort. She stated he claimed that police had been about to arrest him. And, when she refused to just accept his telephone calls, Combs informed her that if she did not choose up the telephone, he would by no means discuss to her once more. she stated.
Jurors had been then proven footage of Cassie and Combs at a film premier quickly after the resort assault. Cassie described bruises on her physique that had been seen within the images and stated she was unable to cowl up all of the injury with make-up. She wore darkish sun shades to cowl up her black eye.
Throughout her first day of testimony on Tuesday, she spent hours recounting grotesque and humiliating particulars of life with Combs, together with the various “freak offs” held over a decade till about 2017 or 2018.
She described being pressured into multiday sexual encounters with paid intercourse employees whereas Combs watched and gave instructions. She additionally recounted being overwhelmed quite a few occasions by Combs when she did issues that displeased him – like smiling at him the improper method.
The “freak offs” happened in personal, usually in darkish resort rooms, not like Combs’ very public White Events within the Hamptons that attracted A-list celebrities.
Cassie accused Combs of gaining her submission by threatening to publicly launch movies of her with male intercourse employees, and he or she feared extra violence if she refused his calls for.
Cassie met Combs in 2005, when she was 19 and simply in the beginning of a profession as a singer, mannequin and actor. She had successful track, “Me & U,” in 2006 off an album launched by Combs’ Dangerous Boy Data.
Combs, who was 37 after they met, nurtured her profession early on and in addition grew to become her boyfriend for a decade.
Cassie left Combs’ file label in 2019 after which sued him in 2023, accusing him of years of bodily and sexual abuse. The swimsuit was settled inside hours however dozens of comparable authorized claims adopted, sparking the legal investigation in opposition to him.
She informed jurors throughout her testimony Tuesday that there have been loving moments throughout their relationship however that Combs was all the time controlling and infrequently violent.
Cassie stated she was 22 when Combs first requested her to do a “freak off” sexual encounter, with the primary one occurring in his Los Angeles residence with a male stripper. It left her feeling soiled and confused, however relieved that Combs was comfortable, she stated.
“It was his fantasy,” she stated. “He was controlling the entire scenario. He was directing it.”
Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at the least 15 years in jail if convicted. The trial is anticipated to final about two months.
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