Cassie Ventura took to the stand at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse in lower Manhattan on Tuesday and was in tears as she discussed moments with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Tuesday saw the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial enter its second day. The rapper, 55, is facing a number of charges, including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution. The Bad Boy Records founder was arrested in September. He strongly denies all allegations made against him.
Combs has been in prison since his arrest, with a number of bail requests rejected. Today (Tuesday, May 13) saw Cassie Ventura take to the stand. She faced the 12 jurors who were sworn in at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse in lower Manhattan on Monday.
Here are the biggest moments from the day’s proceedings.
Ventura fell in love with Combs before seeing ‘different side’
After explaining to the jury how the pair first met, Ventura went on to explain how she fell in love with the mogul after a trip to Miami. She told the court: “I travelled with him everywhere, I was in studios, I was just like [his] little shadow for a while.” She explained their relationship was “fun”, and it was her “first adult, real adult relationship.”
His life was “much different” to hers, she said, explaining: “He had assistants at his beck and call. He could get anything done quickly. He had respect from everyone. He travelled quite a bit.” Although she was “enamoured” by the musician, she told the court she later went on to “experience a different side of him, which was his abusive side.”
Ventura broke down into tears on the stand
Partway through her questioning, Ventura was in tears. She had been asked what she enjoyed, or if she enjoyed anything about the Freak Offs, when she burst into tears. She said: “The time spent with him,” was what she felt was the only time she could spend with Combs. She told the court: “I felt disgusting. I was humiliated. I didn’t have the words to put together at the time how horrible I really felt, and I couldn’t talk to anybody about it.”
Ventura ‘chose to leave’ after hotel altercation
Ventura recalled the altercation she had with Combs and said: “It got violent and I chose to leave.” She went on to tell the court: “Sean followed me into the hallway by the elevators. He grabbed me up, threw me on the ground, kicked me, tried to drag me back to the room, took my stuff.”
The incident took place during a Freak Off, with Ventura telling the court: “I’m not sure what happened, but I got hit by Sean and I had a black eye, and at that point all I could think about was getting out of there safely. I had my premiere, I didn’t want to mess it up, so I left.”
She was in a separate room from an escort when Combs hit her. She left the room when Combs was in the shower.
Combs ‘frequently’ assaulted Cassie
After the jury had viewed the CCTV footage of the Los Angeles hotel incident, Emily Johnston asked how many times Combs had beaten her in this way. Ventura responded: “Too many to count, I don’t know.
Johnson then asked: “Are there occasions when you tried to fight back when Sean hit you?” “No,” Ventura said.
How the Freak Offs would start
Ventura spoke about the Freak Offs. She told the court: “It was established pretty early on in doing the Freak Offs that Sean [Diddy] enjoyed a lot of conversation and describing.” She then said they would start with “oil and touching”.
Ventura went on to claim that those involved would engage in oral sex before sexual intercourse. She added it was a gradual process before claiming that while she wanted to move to the next process to speed it along, Diddy was “controlling” the situation.
“He was directing it,” she alleged to the court. She also told the court that she was tasked with finding escorts to engage in the Freak Offs, explaining how she would find adverts online at Combs’ request.
The jury looked at a text message between Ventura and a man she claimed would facilitate the escorts. She claimed he would send her images of the male escorts, saying: “I’d usually show them to Sean [Diddy] and see if that person was of interest for a Freak Off.
“I definitely had to show him,” she added before claiming the escorts were often paid between $1,500 and $6,000. She said they were mostly men, with a few exceptions.
She labelled the Freak Offs “disgusting” and “overwhelming” and said the longest Freak Off was four days.
Ventura took ‘all kinds of drugs’ to numb herself
During her testimony, Ventura claimed she took various drugs in a bid to numb herself. She said: “For me, it was dissociative and numbing. I couldn’t imagine myself doing any of that without having some sort of buffer or just way to not feel it for what it really was.”
She claimed that Diddy provided the drugs, and his staff would drop them off on occasions. She claimed: “Someone would drop off drugs to me, wherever I was.”
For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit www.aafda.org.uk
If you’ve been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
Source: Mirror
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