Cassie Ventura returned to the witness stand for a second day of testimony about her decade-long relationship with Sean "Diddy" Combs for his ongoing federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial on Wednesday.
Combs, 55, has been charged with sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering. He faces a life sentence behind bars and has pleaded not guilty.
Cassie is a key witness for the prosecutors, who allege Combs used his money, power and fame to orchestrate an empire of exploitation and coerced women into abusive sex parties. The music mogul's lawyers said he may have been violent at times, but maintain that all sexual acts were consensual.
Combs' family, including six out of seven of his children, have attended the trial each day, but his teenage daughters were notably missing on day three.
The prosecution started the third day of the trial by questioning the 38-year-old singer about the infamous 2016 hotel attack that was caught on security footage and released to the public by CNN last year.
The court was presented with the footage of the violent incident during the first day of the trial, which showed Combs repeatedly kicking and assaulting Cassie as she tried to flee to an elevator at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles.
Cassie said they were at the hotel for one of Diddy's so-called "freak offs" — a marathon of sex with male prostitutes and various drugs that she testified on Tuesday could last anywhere from one to four days.
On Monday, a hotel security guard testified that he saw the damage when he arrived upstairs and told Combs he would have to pay for it.
Cassie said Combs threw a vase of flowers at her during the assault at the hotel. Jurors were shown pictures of her injuries, which included a swollen lip, black eye and other bruises.
Just days after the publicized attack, Cassie attended a movie premiere for her starring role in "The Perfect Match." She told the court she had to cover the bruises to walk the red carpet.
According to Cassie's testimony, the violent attack at the Los Angeles hotel was just one of many.
Cassie spoke about another occasion in 2013 where Combs allegedly threw her into a bed frame while she was packing to go to Drake’s music festival in Canada.
She said she suffered a “pretty significant gash” above her left eye. Combs’ security personnel brought her to a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills to get the wound stitched up.
Afterward, she texted Combs a photo of her injured face and wrote: “So you can remember.”
Combs replied: “You don’t know when to stop. You pushed it too far. And continued to push. Sad.”
Later, Cassie testified that the first time Combs allegedly assaulted her was in 2007, right when the two started dating. According to The Associated Press, Cassie said he attacked her in a car after they left a dinner with friends.
DIDDY TRIAL DAY 2: Baby oil, Glade candles, prostitutes: Cassie details 'freak offs' in Diddy's sex trafficking trial
Much of Cassie's first day of testimony centered around the "freak offs," which she said became a full-time job. Many of the orchestrated sexual encounters were recorded, and Cassie claimed that Combs consistently threatened to release the videos whenever she tried to leave.
During her testimony on Wednesday, jurors were shown still images taken from some of the graphic videos of Cassie and male sex workers. The Associated Press reported that one juror's eyes widened at the first image while another juror shook his head.
Cassie testified that she was consuming different drugs for every "freak off" to feel numb and developed an opioid addiction.
Cassie is currently eight months pregnant with her and husband Alex Fine's third child, so she is limited to 90 minutes of testimony at a time. Her husband has been allowed in the courtroom, but the judge said he must leave when Cassie starts talking about anything in 2018, as Fine could be called as a witness for the defense.
Cassie met Combs when she was 19 and he was 37. He signed her to his Bad Boys Records label and the two began dating a few years later.
According to her testimony on Tuesday, Combs became more controlling of her over time. She claimed that if she didn't respond to his calls or texts right away, there would be incessant attempts to reach her by him and his staff.
The singer said the relationship was psychologically and physically abusive, but that she was young and in love and feared leaving him.
Cassie previously alleged in a lawsuit filed in 2023 that Combs raped her when she tried to leave him and often punched, kicked and beat her. The lawsuit was settled.
This is a developing story that will continue to be updated.
