Cassie testifies in Sean “Diddy” Combs trial, says “management was all the things”

Ventura, who performs beneath the title Cassie, rose to fame with the only “Me & U” on her self-titled debut album. The music landed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Sizzling R&B/Hip-Hop chart in 2006. She and Combs dated on and off from about 2007 to 2018.

The safety video of Combs attacking Ventura at a Los Angeles resort in 2016 is a key piece of proof within the trial. The video, obtained and printed by CNN final yr, exhibits Combs throwing Ventura onto the ground earlier than kicking and dragging her.

In 2023, earlier than the video was printed, Ventura filed a federal lawsuit towards Combs, accusing him of rape and bodily abuse. 

“After years in silence and darkness, I’m lastly prepared to inform my story, and to talk up on behalf of myself and for the advantage of different ladies who face violence and abuse of their relationships,” Ventura mentioned in a press release to CBS Information on the time. “With the expiration of New York’s Grownup Survivors Act quick approaching, it grew to become clear that this was a possibility to talk up in regards to the trauma I’ve skilled and that I will probably be recovering from for the remainder of my life.”  

A settlement was introduced someday after the submitting, however the particulars weren’t disclosed.

Combs later apologized for his conduct within the video, however denied the allegations within the lawsuit. 

The court adjourned for lunch shortly after 12:20 p.m. It will resume at 1 p.m.

Ventura says that she recorded hundreds of songs and nine albums that were never released. 

When asked what else she was doing, she replies the “freak offs” became her job, with no space for anything else. 

She says she would stay up for days on end, partying, drinking and having sex with strangers. 

Ventura says the “freak offs” took anywhere from 36 to 72 hours of her time each week, and the longest one lasted four days. 

She says she would then have to recover from staying up for so long, plus the drugs and dehydration. 

Ventura says they traveled to Miami, where they did ecstasy and had sex for the first time.

She says she fell in love and they spent time traveling together or in the studio. She says they kept their relationship private at first, out of respect for their careers and for his family. 

“I think I was just enamored by him. We were just having a good time. It was really fun at this point,” she says. 

Ventura says over time, she began to see a different side of Combs and he became controlling. She says if she didn’t answer his messages right away, he would have his staff track her down. 

“Control was everything — from the way that I looked, to what I was working on that day, who I was speaking to,” she says. “Control was an all around thing to a certain point.”

That’s when the psychological and physical abuse started, she says. 

She goes on to say they both saw other people over the years and she was jealous. 

She also says Combs rented her an apartment in Manhattan as a birthday gift. She adds it was located near his residence, and he would stop by unannounced. 

Ventura says she celebrated her 21st birthday in Las Vegas with Combs and some friends. She says that’s when he first kissed her in the bathroom of his suite. 

She says she cried, ran off and told her friend, adding she was naive — a new artist who didn’t know the lay of the land when it came to attention from executives. 

Ventura says after that, she continued to meet Combs in hotels to work on music, but that he called the shots. 

She also says they started to develop a more comfortable relationship, and Combs taught her about oral sex, which she did not reciprocate at first, but later did. 

She describes feeling nervous and curious during these meetings, adding she was sexually inexperienced and still seeing someone else. 

Asked why she wanted to be around Combs, she replied, “For the same reasons as everyone else at the time.” 

“Just this exciting, entertaining, fun guy,” she says, adding he had her career in his hands and it felt special to spend time with him. 

Ventura recalls being a fan of Combs’ music, saying he was larger than life, but that she didn’t know much about him personally. 

She says she signed a contract with Bad Boy Records in 2006, when she was 19 years old. 

Ventura says, at that point, it was a platonic relationship, and Combs looked out for her.   

She released her first and only album later that year, and her single “Me & U” landed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart.

Ventura says in the first year of their relationship, Combs suggested a sexual encounter he called voyeurism. 

She says it involved hiring an escort or dancer so he could watch her engage with another man while he directed them. 

She says she was 22 years old, confused and nervous, “but I also loved him very much and wanted to make him happy.”

She also says, over time, she realized it wasn’t something that she wanted to be doing so regularly, but she didn’t feel like she had a choice to say no. 

She says she worried about making angry because he controlled much of her life, including her career and how she dressed. She also worried he could blackmail her by releasing images from the “freak offs.”

Ventura appears on the stand in a brown, long sleeve dress. She describes herself as a musician and an entertainer. 

She testifies she and Combs dated for a little over 10 years, with breaks in their relationship. 

She describes allegations of physical abuse, including being knocked over, dragged, kicked and stomped in the head. When asked how often the abuse occurred she replies, “frequently.”

She also describes getting black eyes and bruises on her body. 

Ventura, one of four accusers expected to testify against Combs, is called to take the stand at 11 a.m.

She and Combs dated off and on for more than a decade, and she came forward with a federal lawsuit against him in 2023. 

A key piece of evidence in the case is video of Combs attacking Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. She is also expected to testify about a rape allegation from 2018. 

Ventura, who performs under the name Cassie, is now married to another man and pregnant with her third child. Combs’ defense team said in their opening statements they haven’t seen each other since 2018. 

Ventura’s husband and brother are both in the courtroom for support.

The second witness, Daniel Phillip, is back on the stand to continue his cross examination Tuesday. 

Combs’ defense team asked him about the nature of his relationship with Ventura, whether they ever had sex without Combs being present, and if she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 

The defense also asked about an incident that Phillip testified about Monday, when he said Combs became angry and threw a bottle against a wall, then dragged Ventura by her hair into a bedroom. 

The defense asked Phillip if Combs told him to leave so he could “deal with this,” citing Phillip’s earlier statements to investigators. Phillip responded that he did not remember saying that. 

He reiterated his testimony from Monday, saying Combs did not instruct him to leave, but rather tried to get him and Ventura to have sex again after the violent outburst. 

Asked if he ever tried to get Ventura alone, Phillip said he wanted to make sure she was OK and, “If she ever gave me a chance to date her, I absolutely would have.”

The first witness called Monday was Israel Florez, who worked as a security officer at the Los Angeles hotel where Combs was seen on video attacking his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016.

Florez was a U.S. Army reservist for more than 15 years and he now serves on the Los Angeles Police Department. 

He testified that he responded to a call about a woman in distress at the hotel and found Combs and Ventura in the sixth floor hallway. He said Combs had on a towel and socks, and Ventura was covered up in a hoodie.

Florez said Ventura appeared scared and wanted her bag and phone, and that Combs told her “you’re not gonna leave.”

Combs and Ventura continued arguing before she, ultimately, left the hotel, Florez said. He said he asked Ventura if she wanted to call the police, but she kept saying that she just wanted to leave.

Florez said Combs threw a stack of money at him and said, “don’t tell anyone,” but he did not take it. 

He also said he saw a third man in the room with them, and that Combs grabbed a security guard’s phone when he thought he was being recorded.

On cross-examination, Florez said Combs was cordial and he didn’t see Combs making aggressive movements toward Ventura when he arrived. He also said Combs did not appear drunk or high. 

Combs’ mother, Janice, and his six children are back at the courthouse for the second day of testimony. 

On Monday, they were seated in the second row behind the defense. 

Combs gave them a thumbs up, made a heart shape with his hands and blew a kiss. The kids smiled and pumped their fists.

The morning started off with jury selection being finalized. The 12 jurors range in age from 30-74 and include eight men and four women. One is a social worker, another is a scientist and some are retirees. 

The all-female prosecution team began its opening statement by telling the jury “to the public, he was Puff Daddy or Diddy, a cultural icon, a businessman, larger than life… but there was another side to him.” 

Combs’ defense team, however, said the case is about voluntary adult choices in consensual relationships.

“You are not here to judge him and his sexual preferences,” the defense said.

The first witness to be called was Israel Florez, a security officer at the California hotel where Combs was seen on video attacking his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016. 

The second witness called was Daniel Phillip, who testified he was paid to have sex with Ventura with Combs present. 

Check all the details from Day 1 here.