The trial against Sean “Diddy” Combs is unfolding in New York with the world watching — and it's ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura who has commanded the courtroom with four days of harrowing and graphic testimony, detailing what she describes as more than a decade of abuse.

Charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, transportation to engage in prostitution, arson, and bribery, Combs faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison if convicted.

Both the rapper and his legal team continue to assert his innocence.

Cassie takes the stand: "People aren't disposable"

Ventura - who is currently eight and a half months pregnant - has delivered a week of testimony that paints a disturbing portrait of their 11-year relationship with Combs, which started with her signing to his Bad Boy Records label in 2005 and ending in 2018.

Speaking to the jury, she described their early connection as fast-paced and intoxicating: “The beginning of the relationship was really ... fast, fast-paced, scary but the more time I spent with him and got to know him, his real personality -- at least what I thought was his real personality -- and I liked what it was," per ABC7.

But her testimony soon veered into allegations of violent abuse, sexual coercion, drug use, blackmail, and emotional manipulation.

She said, per Sky News: “What’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. People aren't disposable.”

Ventura’s courtroom testimony has peeled back the layers on a deeply troubling chapter of her relationship with Sean “Diddy” Combs. At the center of her account were the couple’s so-called “freak offs” — a term referring to sexual encounters involving paid escorts — which she initially embraced but later described as exploitative, painful, and emotionally scarring.

'It Was an Integral Part'

During cross-examination, the defense revisited the topic repeatedly, probing Ventura’s earlier email descriptions and text messages about the “freak offs.”

Ventura confirmed to the jury that they were “an integral part” of her relationship with Combs.

In a 2009 email, she characterized the experiences as the “next stop” in their relationship but also stated the importance of safety. “In order for me to be more open with the things we do in bed, I need to feel safe, like home… like this is my husband, and this is the only man that will ever have this aggressive sexual side of me," she wrote, per CNN.

But her tone darkened in later messages. “The last time was a mistake but since has made me feel a little dirty and grimy as opposed to sexual and spontaneous,” she wrote. “That’s the only reason why I go back and forth in my mind with wanting and not wanting to do it.”

Reflecting on their early relationship, she testified: “When we used to freak off when we were so in love there were no questions asked, it felt right. Like it literally made sense for the next step in our sex life together.” Over time, however, she said the emotional connection waned. As the love faded, so did her willingness.

Text messages presented in court showed conflicting moments — one from August 2009 had her replying, “I'm always read to freak off,” after Combs asked when she wanted to participate again. According to coverage, the texts included graphic details, which Ventura read aloud in court.

Defense attorney Anna Estevao pressed Ventura about her feelings at the time. “At the time you were afraid that you were being treated as someone who he could just get his fantasies off with?” she asked. “That was a concern,” Ventura admitted. She testified she hoped their bond would evolve emotionally, though when it came to deeper conversations, it was “usually a one-way street.”

'I Felt Trapped'

Ventura said she didn’t speak to friends or staff about the “freak offs,” and made a conscious effort to keep them private. While Combs’ assistants sometimes arranged hotel rooms, she testified, she "definitely didn’t” want anyone to know about what happened inside. She deleted videos and photos from her phone and said she asked Combs to do the same. Yet she claimed he didn’t always follow through.

In one account, she said she saw him watching an old video on a laptop during a commercial flight from Cannes in 2013. “He was showing them with other people around. I said, ‘You are embarrassing me.’ I was scared, I felt trapped, how do you get out of this situation? I felt trapped.”

She said Combs threatened to release the footage. “That he was going to embarrass me and release them.” These threats allegedly continued whenever he was upset. One such incident came after he accused her of stealing drugs and kicked her off a friend’s boat. Another time, he got angry when she refused to leave a party for a “freak off.”

“It could ruin everything I worked for, make me look like a slut,” she testified. “I wasn't supposed to be on those videos. I didn't want to be in them.”

In March 2014, Ventura said she learned that an explicit video of her had leaked. “Immediately my thoughts went to a ‘Freak Off’ video,” she said. When she told Combs, she recalled him urging her to investigate: “You gotta tell him this is your life, this is serious.”

Health Toll and Drug Use

Ventura testified that participating in the “freak offs” led to health complications, including gastrointestinal issues, mouth sores, and recurring urinary tract infections. “I tried to flush it out with water. I got to the point where CIPRO didn’t work anymore. It was a mess,” she told the jury.

She often used ketamine to dissociate, especially when she didn’t want to participate. “Opiates made me feel numb, which is why I relied on them so heavily,” Ventura said. She described post-encounter recoveries involving IVs, massages, and medication.

“I definitely felt just gross,” she said, especially when Combs didn’t stay with her afterward. “Okay I did my job and now I’m going about the rest of my life. The same feelings over and over.”

Her reliance on drugs grew. “I had an addiction to opiates, so I would take pills to come down. I wanted to feel numb and not know what was going on in my mind.”

Cassie also opened up about relying on "marijuana, ketamine, mushrooms, whatever was the drug of choice at that point" in order to get through a "freak off", per NBC News.

Graphic Accounts and Humiliation

According to Ventura’s testimony, there was a typical structure to the “freak offs.” “It was established pretty early on in doing the Freak Offs that Sean enjoyed a lot of conversation and describing,” she said.

The sessions began with “oil and touching,” then oral sex, and eventually intercourse.

They were recorded frequently — first with a video camera, then with phones and other devices. She deleted the videos on her devices and asked Combs to delete his, fearing that his staff might see them. “I never wanted anyone to ever see me like that," Ventura said.

She said she couldn’t go through with the experiences without drugs. “I couldn’t imagine myself doing any of that without having some sort of buffer," she said, before testifying that Combs once made an escort urinate on her, then did it himself.

“It was too much. I choked, I didn’t want to be doing that, I was in a position I couldn’t easily get out of. I eventually put my hands up and Sean saw and told him to stop," she told the court.

Asked why she didn’t say no outright, she explained: “I was squeamish immediately, but high in the moment. That’s about it, you don't have a lot of control at that moment.”

Ten Bottles of Baby Oil

Ventura shared how much Combs fixated on baby oil. “Sean wanted it heated and he wanted it to be glistening so we applied every five minutes,” she said.

One incident at the Montage Beverly Hills involved a pool “filled with baby oil.” She said, “If Sean wanted it to happen, that was what was going to happen, there was no way around it. We used 10 bottles of baby oil, regular size.”

Finding Escorts

Ventura resumed her testimony by detailing how she had to find male escorts at Combs’ direction. She looked through ads on Craigslist and Backpage, and even contacted dancing and stripping services. She would present options to Combs for approval.

“I’d usually show them to Sean and see if that person was of interest for a ‘Freak Off,’” she said. If they hadn’t been used before, she had to confirm they weren’t law enforcement.

The escorts were paid between $1,500 and $6,000 after each session. She said she was responsible for handing them the cash, which Combs provided. Some were flown to participate in different states, with travel coordinated through Combs’ team under the guise of being “new staff members.”

Ventura also broke down when asked if Diddy would "beat her" during "freak offs", to which she said: "Yes."

She also stated that, "more than once", she told Combs that she "no longer wanted to do them".

Her closing words: “I will never forget”

Ventura ended her testimony with a public statement read by her attorney outside of court.

“This week has been extremely challenging, but also remarkably empowering and healing for me," it read. "I hope that my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors.”

“For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember. And the more I can remember, the more I will never forget,” she added.

She thanked her family and advocates and asked for privacy as she prepares to give birth.

If you or somebody you know has been affected by any of the issues in this article, please contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org.

Featured image credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images 

Warning: the article below contains images some may find distressing

Disturbing new images of Cassie Ventura's injuries that she sustained from alleged beatings by Sean "Diddy" Combs have been released by police.

The disturbing images, over a dozen in total, were shown to jurors last week during Combs’ ongoing federal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial.

The photos display deep purple bruises on Ventura’s back and thigh, a bloodied gash over her eyebrow, and visibly swollen lips, per the New York Post.

Among the most chilling are three selfies Ventura snapped from the backseat of an Uber.

Taken just after she fled the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles on March 5, 2016, the photos show her wearing oversized black sunglasses, hiding what she said were the effects of a brutal beating.

“That’s me,” Ventura, now 41, testified. “Just a selfie of my fat lip wearing sunglasses … Because I had a black eye underneath. Just trying to cover it.”

The March 2016 assault was captured on surveillance footage and has become one of the most discussed incidents in the case.

Ventura, now eight months pregnant with her third child, described the harrowing aftermath as part of four days of intense courtroom testimony.

But the photos don’t stop there.

Two days after the hotel attack, Ventura appeared in public - posing in glamorous outfits alongside Combs at a movie premiere and its after-party.

One photo shows her at Combs’ home during a fitting, wearing a gold gown and dark sunglasses. The eyewear, she testified, concealed her black eye.

Another image shows her seated beside Combs at the after-party in a green cocktail dress, a faint bruise visible on her leg.

Ventura has accused Combs of a decade-long pattern of violent and controlling behavior during their relationship, which ended in 2018.

Her allegations include not only repeated physical abuse but also being forced into disturbing sexual acts.

She told the jury that Combs orchestrated “freak-off” sessions - where she was forced to have sex with male escorts while he watched and filmed.

Further evidence shown to jurors included images taken by law enforcement after raiding Combs’ suite at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan.

The September 2024 raid, captured in photos introduced Friday, uncovered $9,000 in cash, baby oil, personal lubricants, and bags of pink pills.

Homeland Security Special Agent Yasin Binda, who took the photos, testified that the items were seized during Combs’ visit to New York, where he had planned to negotiate a surrender with federal agents.

The 55-year-old music executive has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Among the images released Monday were two taken by Ventura's mother in December 2011, showing bruises on her lower back and thigh.

Ventura claimed Combs assaulted her after discovering she had been romantically involved with rapper Kid Cudi.

In another instance, she described a violent episode in 2013. Ventura testified that Combs threw her onto a bed during a rage after she fell asleep instead of packing for a trip to Drake’s OVO Fest in Toronto.

Photos from that incident show a bloody gash on her right eyebrow.

More disturbing photos show Ventura on a trip to Jamaica that same year. She’s seen once again hiding her injuries behind sunglasses - bruises she said came from another alleged beating.

But perhaps the most haunting image is a picture of a kitchen knife jammed into the door handle at her home near the end of their relationship in 2018.

Explaining the bizarre setup, Ventura testified: “I was getting a lot of unannounced visits from Sean and I was trying to kill two birds with one stone.”

“Lock [the door] and I had a weapon,” she added.

The trial is ongoing, and Combs has denied the allegations against him.

Featured image credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images for SHOWTIME

Dawn Richard has taken the stand in court, where she has claimed that she allegedly witnessed Diddy being abusive to Cassie.

On May 14, the singer and actress, full name Cassandra Ventura Fine, resumed her explosive testimony in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ongoing federal sex crimes trial.

Cassie and Diddy dated on and off for a decade before splitting in 2018.

But behind the red carpets and music videos, she alleges a dark pattern of violence and control — including r*pe, coercion, and disturbing “freak-off” parties where she and others were allegedly exploited.

Now, former Bad Boy Records singer Dawn Richard has taken the witness stand with disturbing claims.

Richard, 41, who was signed to Diddy’s label from 2005 until 2011, testified in court that she witnessed multiple alleged incidents of abuse involving the R&B singer and producer, including beatings that left Cassie visibly hurt and traumatized.

Per Inner City Press, prosecutor Christy Slavik questioned Richard in front of the jurors.

“When Mr. Combs told you people could go missing, how did you interpret it?” Slavik asked.

Richard didn’t hesitate with her chilling reply: “That people could die. I couldn't believe that this could be the beginning of a journey for us.”

Cassie began working with Combs when she was just 19.

The pair officially began dating in 2007 and had an on-and-off relationship that spanned more than a decade. Combs, who was 37 at the time he signed her, wielded significant power in both her personal and professional life.

Slavik pressed further, asking Richard about the violent episodes she allegedly witnessed.

“What did you observe?” Slavik asked.

Richard stated: “He would drag her and kick her and punch her in the mouth.”

According to Richard, these alleged attacks would often occur “when she would speak up for herself.”

She said she wasn’t the only one who saw the abuse, adding that two members of Combs’ own security team were also present during some of the incidents.

When asked specifically where Cassie was hit, Richard replied: “Her knees, her face, all over.”

One particularly harrowing account came from an incident at Combs’ residence while Richard was in town for a Central Park music festival.

“He punched Cassie. She came into the bathroom crying. You could see her upset. Like, she was hurt—” she began before Combs’ attorney, Nicole Westmoreland, objected. The judge sustained the objection, halting the line of testimony.

Richard didn’t stop there. She told the court she saw Cassie with a “swollen eye” and recalled Combs allegedly yelling at Cassie and saying, “shut the f*ck up” while slapping her in the mouth.

The singer admitted she never confronted Combs, fearing the consequences of speaking out.

“I asked myself, if he did that to someone he supposedly loved, what he do to an employee? So I'd approach Mr. Combs with softness,” she said.

Among her many allegations, Cassie told jurors that in 2018 — while in a new relationship — she met Diddy at a Malibu restaurant where he was “really nice.” She claimed he later brought her back to his apartment and sexually assaulted her, per E News.

“I went inside, he came in and raped me on the living room floor,” she told the court. “I just remember crying and saying no, but it was very fast. His eyes were black, he wasn’t himself, it was like somebody taking something from you."

Diddy has denied all charges. His legal team maintains that he has never engaged in non-consensual sex and claims that all encounters were voluntary.

Featured image credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images 

A revolting text message Diddy sent to his ex, Cassie Ventura, just days after he brutally assaulted her in a hotel corridor has been revealed in court.

Messages shared between Cassie and Diddy have been shared in court. Credit: Jason LaVeris / Getty

In May 2024, CNN shared incredibly distressing footage from the now-defunct InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, which had been filmed in 2016.

The surveillance camera footage, dated March 5, 2016, shows Diddy - real name Sean Combs - confronting and assaulting his then-girlfriend Ventura in the corridors of the hotel, appearing to grab, shove, drag, and kick Ventura.

After the footage went viral, Combs shared a video apologizing for his actions, and the pair reached a private settlement to Ventura's 2023 lawsuit against the rapper and record producer.

The high profile trial began on Monday (May 12) as Combs faces charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, and racketeering among other accusations, all of which he denies.

His former partner Ventura, 38, took to the stand this week to share a harrowing testimony detailing the alleged abuse she endured at the hands of the 55-year-old rapper and record producer.

The pair dated on and off for nearly a decade before finally splitting for good in 2018, with Ventura claiming in court documents obtained by NBC News that she was “lured” into dating Diddy — who she described as a “vicious, cruel, and controlling man” — shortly after signing with his record label, and claimed she feared retaliation if she rejected his advances.

The 2016 incident was brought up in court as Ventura described running out of the couple's hotel room following a brutal "freak-off" session - degrading sex sessions which often included others, including sex workers, and copious amounts of baby oil.

After Ventura ran from the room, Combs - who was filmed running after her wearing nothing but a towel around his waist - appeared to violently throw her to the ground by her hair as she tried to make it into an elevator, before repeatedly kicking her and dragging her back.

Ventura revealed to the court that days after the horrifying video was filmed, Combs had sent her a text message telling her: "I’m so horny for you!!!"

Cassie has testified against her ex, Sean 'Diddy' Combs. Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images for SHOWTIME

Still reeling from the incident, Ventura replied: "You are? What made you feel that way?"

Combs then responded that he had "felt that way from Friday," referring to the day of the incident, adding: "What you doing?"

Ventura, who is currently eight months pregnant with her third child with husband Alex Fine, testified that she found it "a little strange" that Combs would send her that message after having hit and kicked her days earlier.

She had text him back to say that what happened that day "wasn't a good vibe," adding: "We need a different vibe than Friday."

Combs appeared to agree, replying: "F**k Friday lol. I don’t even want to do that again," to which Ventura replied: "Lol true."

Ventura had been on the stand last week where she testified and was cross-examined by Combs' defense team, who sought to claim that the couple's participation in "freak-offs" was consensual and that the pair had a loving - though turbulent - 11-year relationship.

One message exchange from 2009 - the early days of the pair's relationship - shared by Combs' defense team showed the rapper asking "When do you want to do freak off?", to which Ventura replied: "I'm always ready to freak off."

Ventura had previously brought a civil case against Combs which was settled for $20 million.

He was then arrested in September 2024 on five criminal counts including one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, all of which he has denied.

Since his arrest, Combs has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, and could face a maximum term of life in prison if convicted on all counts.

Featured image credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images