Cassie breaks down in court as she reveals what Diddy would allegedly do to her during 'freak-offs'

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.

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

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.

Cassie spoke in detail about the alleged "freak offs". Credit: Jackson Lee/FilmMagic/Getty Images

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.

Cassie and Diddy. Credit: Jason LaVeris / Getty

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