Sean "Diddy" Combs trial: Cassie Ventura testifies she was blackmailed into releasing sex tapes

R&B singer Casandra Ventura, the musician's ex-girlfriend, known as Cassie, testified Wednesday in the federal sex trafficking trial against Sean "Diddy" Combs, detailing an alleged cycle of abuse and exploitation perpetrated by the music mogul.

On her second day on the stand, Cassie claimed that Combs forced her to participate in sexual encounters with male sex workers, threatening to publish videos of these acts to ruin her reputation and career.

Cassie explained to the court that she could not refuse Combs' demands due to the fear that he would release the videos, which would have portrayed her as promiscuous.

In that regard, she noted, "I feared for my career. I feared for my family. It’s just embarrassing. It’s horrible and disgusting. No one should do that to anyone.”  The encounters, according to her testimony, left her feeling humiliated and disgusted, but she continued to participate out of fear of Combs' retaliation.

For its part, the prosecution accuses Combs of exploiting his power as a music executive to violently force Cassie and other women to participate in drug-fueled sex parties, charging him with five counts, including forced sex trafficking, fraud, and coercion.

Combs denies all allegations, and his attorneys maintain that the sexual relationships were consensual and not criminal.

Testimony

During testimony, prosecutors showed Cassie a binder of photos, from which she identified 13 male sex workers who she said were hired on Combs' orders for encounters in cities including Las Vegas, Miami and Los Angeles.

By Tuesday, Cassie had already identified a half-dozen additional escorts in court. Although she claimed to have had sex with all of them, she did not remember all of their names.

Cassie also recounted an assault captured on surveillance video from a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, where Combs is seen punching her, kicking her, and attempting to drag her back to her room.

The singer described the injuries sustained, including a black eye and a swollen lip, and explained that although her friend called the police, she refused to identify Combs at the time. "I wasn't ready," she claimed, adding that she didn't want to cause him harm in that way at the time. Following the leak of the video last year, Combs issued a public apology.

The testimony included details of a decade of private confrontations with Combs, often in hotel rooms, contrasting with Combs' public, glamorous white parties in the Hamptons.

Cassie described trying to cope with bouts of anxiety with intravenous serums, massages, and chef-prepared meals, eventually developing an addiction to opioids as a defense mechanism. "Just really empty, and I felt just gross," she said, though she also felt she “felt like I did my job” after the encounters.

Combs' ex-girlfriend concluded her direct testimony by telling jurors that she took the witness stand to rid herself of "the shame" and "guilt" she had carried.

For her part, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson asked Ventura why he went through this process.

“I can’t carry this anymore, the shame the guilt, what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong, people aren’t disposable,” she replied.

End of the day

U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian sent the jurors home for the day, telling them to return for proceedings that will begin at 9:30 a.m. "on the dot" Thursday.

For their part, Combs' defense attorneys are set to begin what could be a lengthy cross-examination of Cassie Ventura tomorrow.