Singer Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, the ex-girlfriend of Sean "Diddy" Combs and a leading witness to the federal sex trafficking and blackmail music tycoon, returned to the stands for cross-examination Thursday.
Anna Estevao, a Combs lawyer, asked: "You have been in love with Sean Combs for 11 years and have questioned Ventura, right?"
"Yes," Ventura said.
During the first few hours of cross-examination, the comb stared at Ventura as he answered the question. His son and mother attended the court, as well as his public relations staff. Ventura's husband was also present.
When Ventura entered the courtroom, she hadn't seen the comb and hadn't seen him as of Thursday's lunch time. She has been looking straight forward or showing exhibits on the screen.
The defense team built the trust and love that once was between Ventura and the comb in the first half of the interrogation.
"He is charismatic - with a big personality, bigger than life." "The relationship begins very quickly, with a fast pace, and is terrible. But the more time I spend with him, the more his true personality comes out - sweet, attentive."
Then, the defense asked about the "freak".
"So, to make him happy, you tell him you want to be a 'freak', right?" Estevao asked.
"No, there are many more," Ventura said.
The defense quoted messages through text and emails, comb and Ventura to portray their relationship with the jury.
"In order to make what I do in bed more open, I need to feel safe, like home... like my husband, this is the only one who has this aggressive sexual aspect," Ventura wrote in an email that was shown in court. "When we were once frightened when we were in love, there was no problem, and it felt right. It made sense to the next step in our sex life."
Ventura then told the defense that the “freak” was a “component” of her relationship with the comb.
Ventura told Combs in another message that she “has never felt so loved, safe and authorized since we were together” but on the other hand, you (Sic) keeps getting tired of me…”
Ventura commented on the news: "It's usually the message, usually one-way street."
The shared comb and other information between Ventura is more graphic and detailed, depicting the various wishes of the two former partners.
Then, COMBS's lawyers filed a Ventura lawsuit in 2023.
"When your lawsuit was released in November 2023, you knew his career was ruined at the time, right?" Estevao asked.
"I can understand, yes," Ventura said.
She also told the court that she brought ecstasy or MDMA to "becoming high during the 'freak'" and said that she and the comb were addicted to opium in terms of their relationship.
Sometimes, during cross-examination, I saw the comb nodding and whispering to the lawyer. Sometimes he would turn around to see who was in court.
Just during lunch break, Judge Arun Subramanian reminded their defense that they will end their cross-examination by tomorrow because Ventura is pregnant. If necessary, Ventura should be able to come back on Monday, prompting Subramanian to say, “In what universe, you don’t understand what this is going to happen… You’re not telling me that this is what everyone understands is going to do this week?”
During the exchange, Ventura was in the side chamber. After returning from a break, she was asked again about the information between her and the comb, especially suggesting that Ventura likes the freak.
She testified: "What I want to say is that the 'fos' of love at that time was just words."
In a conversation quoted in court, Combs said he wanted to "have a fo now," Ventura replied, "I'm also, I'm lol," adding, "Well, I want to play with you."
After going back and forth with defense attorneys about freaks and how they discussed, Ventura was asked about her feelings about Kim Porter, another former Combs partner, who died in 2018.
“I’m a little jealous of Ms. Porter,” Ventura said.
The court also showed the court a 2013 message that portrayed Ventura's jealousy Combs, Porter traveling with his children.
From there, Ventura's mutual jealous defense lawyers felt about finding Combs had other partners and how Ventura was dating others, including Kid Cudi and actor Michael B Jordan.
"For you, he would date other women, which is hypocritical to you.
"He has a bad temper and has a poor response to information he doesn't like," the lawyer said.
When she was about Ventura, the comb suspected her feelings when she was meeting someone else, and she testified: "It's a little scary."
In her second day testimony on Wednesday at Ventura, she provided more details about the physical and psychological abuse she experienced in her comb that lasted for about 11 years and blamed the music tycoon for rape and blackmail.
At one point in the stands, Ventura cried, and she testified that the comb raped her at her home in 2018 after they broke up.
The alleged rape was first mentioned in 2023, when Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against the comb. The lawsuit accused him of physical and sexual abuse. The comb denied the allegations.
The two reached a settlement within one day. On Wednesday, Ventura revealed that she received a $20 million settlement from Combs and his company.
The lawsuit prompted a federal investigation that led to the arrest of COMBS last September.
The comb is facing charges, including extortion, sex trafficking and transportation for prostitution. He pleaded not guilty and denied all charges. If convicted, Combs, who has been sentenced to jail since his arrest last year, could spend the rest of his life in jail.
In the last hour of Wednesday's testimony, prosecutors asked Ventura why she decided to testify against the comb.
"I can't carry it anymore," Ventura said. "I can't bear the shame, introvert, I'm being guided to treat people like a seat. The right thing is, wrong is wrong. I'm doing the right thing here."
The Ministry of Defense's cross-examination of Ventura is expected to extend to Friday.