Sean "Diddy" Combs' ex-girlfriend R&B singer Cassie was given a witness performance Tuesday at his sex trafficking trial, a time when prosecutors showed jurors videotapes where music tycoons beat her in a hotel in 2016.
Testimony at the trial began on Monday. Prosecutors told jurors that Combs had been forcing women to suffer abuse and become violent in the event of rejection for years as his strong executive capacity.
Cassie was obviously pregnant at the witness stand and was excited from the beginning. She would take a deep breath and sometimes stop while speaking.
When the prosecutor asked her about the "freaks", she said she was only 22 when Combs first asked her to make them. She said she was "confused, nervous, but also loved him very much."
Asked about how the comb first proposed a “freak”, Cassie said: “I just remember my stomach falling on my ass. That moment was just nervous and confused.”
She said she didn't feel like she could say no to the comb because she "don't know what's possible, or what 'no' could become," she said she knew that it could include violence and blackmail threats.
Cassie testified: "Sean controls my life, whether it's a career, how I dress, everything, everything. I didn't have much say in that at the time."
"Freaks" are well-planned sex parties, she said, stemming from combs' interest in voyeurism. Cassie said they will need to hire escorts and “build this experience so that I can perform for Sean.”
Cassie, who beat her up at the Los Angeles Hotel, still images shown in the 2016 security camera footage of a coma that was shot in her phenomenon, said before the argument: "We had an encounter called "freaks" and I'm leaving there."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson asked her age, 38, and her career began asking Casey, who she said was “a musician, an entertainer.” She said she has a relationship with the comb for only over a decade.
Cassie testified that her relationship with the combs ranges from good times to arguments and physical disputes.
"If they are violent arguments, it usually leads to some kind of physical abuse and drag, just different things," Cassie told the jurors.
She testified that the comb would smash her head, drag her, kick her and step on her head when she fell.
Asked how often she was violent with her, Cassie replied softly: “It’s too often.”
The judge ruled that her husband, Alex Fine, could enter the court in most (but not all) testimony.
Judge Arun Subramanian acted on a defense request and said the fine had to leave the court when questioned, a charge that Cassie raped her in 2018. This is because Combs' lawyers say they may use the fine as a witness later after the trial in an attempt to discredit Cassie Cassie's allegations.
Prosecutors believe that the fine is part of Cassie's emotional support system, who is pregnant with a third child and should be in court when he testifies.
Cassie, a principal witness in prosecution, is expected to testify on Tuesday and meets the 37-year-old comb in 2005 at the age of 19. He signed her to his bad boy record label and a few years later they started dating.
In a 2023 lawsuit, Casey accused the comb of the comb had plunged her into a "abuse, violence and sexual trafficking cycle" for more than a decade, including raping her and forcing her to have sex with male sex workers. The next day, the comb settled the lawsuit.
Among other things, Cassie accused the comb of raped her while trying to leave him and frequently punched, kicked and beaten, causing injuries including bruises, bursting lips, dark eyes and bleeding. She also claimed that when he learned that Cudi was interested in her romance, Combs was involved in blowing up rival rapper Kid Cudi's car, who claimed that when he learned that rival Suge Knight (competitor's producer) had a meal at nearby Diner, the comb ran out of the gun.
Tuesday's proceedings also included a lawyer for hip-hop man tycoon asking male stripper Daniel Phillip, who said he was paid for having sex with Cassie while watching Combs.
Defense attorney Xavier Donaldson pointed out that Phillip's past statements to federal prosecutors attempted to show inconsistencies in recalling events. Donaldson hints that Phillip has become obsessed with Cassie and wants to isolate her from the comb so he can be romantic with her. Philip denied this, but admitted: "I was attracted to her. If she gave me a chance to date her, I would definitely have it."
After Donaldson's end, a prosecutor asked Phillip more questions, highlighting the earlier testimony of the eyewitness that the comb had sex with Cassie.
Subramanian had previously admitted that in his opening remarks, there were clear videos and images of sexually explicit Cassie expected to present to the jury during the testimony that should be viewed by media members.
He said while many people had been dealt with before the trial, “we are now in trial and the focus on the First Amendment is getting higher and higher.”
In a discussion on whether sexually explicit videos should be viewed through media members, attorney Robert Balin told the judge on behalf of the media that news agencies were not interested in reporting “some mean things” rather than looking for copies of the exhibition.
He also suggested alternatives, allowing a group of pool journalists to watch the exhibition.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson objected to having the media viewed clearly, saying there was a good legal precedent to remove the material from public records.
Combs' lawyer Marc Agnifilo said the video was not "in the nature of adult pornography." They all contain images of people who are naked or are about to have sex, he said.
Bahrain represented the news media and told the judge that the First Amendment was “at the peak” in this type of case and that it is important that “even people, the media, can see justice.” He said that as the prosecutor said, the best evidence of whether a forced documented sexual act is coerced is the video itself.