Cassie Ventura (left) and Sean Combs were at the Met Gala in New York City in 2017. Combs pleaded not guilty to all charges. Nelson Barnard/Getty Images Closed subtitles
After spending most of the time in the witness stands, Cassie Ventura Summarize Her testimony exist Sean Coms' criminal trial On Friday afternoon. Ventura has been dating a comb for more than a decade, and he is The first week of the trial. But the extent and details of her testimony show how central she is about the government’s case against the comb.
Ventura submitted the first one Famous civil litigation In the 2023 confrontation comb, accused rappers and record executives of assaulting, trafficking and raping her. The lawsuit was settled soon, but Comb was sued In September 2024, prostitution and extortion conspiracy was transported on charges of sexual trafficking. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Starting Tuesday afternoon, Ventura, who is obviously pregnant, testified that her relationship with the comb marks violence, drug use and power imbalances. The singer signed a 10-year deal with Combs’ tag Bad Boy Records at the age of 19. Ventura told prosecutors that during the first year of a relationship, the comb began physically abused her. She testified that he forced her to drug with male escorts, a highly curated sex show that became "work is like a job" and put her career on the back foot (Ventura released only one of 10 albums in the deal with his record label). Ventura says she likes combs, but he is often "terrible" - she doesn't always feel like she can leave a relationship safely.
Anna Estevao, one of Combs' defense attorneys, stayed for two days Cross-examination Ventura. Time and again, she introduced the texts and emails exchanged between the comb and Ventura, which indicated that Ventura agreed to have sexual encounters with male sex workers and helped plan the logistics of these meetings. She also asked about Ventura's career and the opportunities she had obtained from her connection with the comb. When she asked Ventura if it was easy to leave her contract with the bad boy when she broke up with the comb in 2018, Ventura replied: "I had to fight."
Estevao's cross-examination focused on painting Ventura and Combs as mutually engaged relationships, and Ventura was a participant willing to participate in unconventional sexual contact. She asked Ventura to describe their use of drugs, both jealous of alleged infidelity and to try to keep the sexual performance secret from the escorts.
During a direct inquiry by the prosecutor, Ventura testified that the comb photographed these encounters and extortions with them as he tried to move forward from their relationship. She said that in 2014, people she worked with at an Atlantic City event suggested that he knew about Ventura’s gender video. She testified that she thought it was a "freak" video - she and the comb used to describe their encounter with their escorts - she anxiously texted the combs and they replied: "It's crazy. Don't let him get out of your sight." Ventura said she eventually "terrorized" the man with Combs' security.
During Friday's cross-examination, Esteva mentioned the testimony and played a recording of Ventura at that meeting, where she could repeatedly threaten to kill the man if she didn't cooperate. "I never killed anyone in my life, but I will kill you," she said in the recording. "It won't be the blood on my hands. Others will do it."
Estevao questioned whether Ventura was also worried about the leak of the videos and whether they would also damage his reputation, not just hers. Ventura agreed.
When the prosecutor resumed asking her, Ventura said she was following the instructions of the comb while recording. She also testified that after they had a dispute in Cannes, Ventura insisted on sitting next to her next flight from France to New York. She said he spent the entire trip, showing her clear video of Ventura and accompanying her, then forcing her to participate in the performance hours after landing.
At the end of the defense's cross-examination, Estevao asked Ventura about the settlement she received from the civil lawsuit against Combs. Ventura confirmed that the settlement amount was $20 million. When asked about settlements during a difficult economic period for family members, Ventura denied that the fact was the case. Later, the prosecutor also asked Ventura for a solution. "If I never had to be weird, I would give me the money back." "If I never had to be weird, I would have agents and autonomy. I didn't have to work so hard to recover it."
Ventura's testimony ended Friday afternoon, two other witnesses were called to the stands. The first was Agent Yasin Binda and Homeland Security Investigation. Binda says she works with HSI’s human trafficking team, testifying that she helped plan logistics The comb was arrested In September 2024, a search warrant was conducted in his room at the Hyatt Regency in Parker, New York. Binda testified that her character was taking pictures of items found during the search. The items include multiple bottles of baby oil and lubricants, illegal substances, a lighting fixture that can be used for "mood lighting", and $9,000 in cash - all items matched Ventura's testimony to prove that she and the comb were used for "freaks."
After Binda finished his testimony, singer Dawn Richard picked up his stance. Richard was a member of the Danity Kane group and Combs helped in the mid-2000s as part of the reality TV competition. Make a band. Danity Kane was signed to Combs' Bad Boy Records for several years. Richard is also a member of Electrosoul Trio Diddy Dirty Money of comb and singer Kalenna Harper. Last year, Richard proposed Civil litigation Comb against a toxic and abusive work environment in his professional relationship with him - the lawsuit also noted that she had witnessed the violent attack on Ventura on multiple occasions.
Richard testified briefly; she will stay in the stands next week. When she began her testimony on Friday, Richard described a dispute at Combs' home that turned into "believer" when he was trying to make his eggs. Richard testified that the comb grabbed the frying pan Ventura was using and tried to hit her in the head with it. She accused Ventura of falling in fetal position while the comb slammed and kicked her, eventually placing his arm around her neck and dragging her hair upstairs. "I'm scared of her," Richard told the court. "I've never seen anything like this before."