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Sean
‘Diddy’
Combs
with
defense
lawyers
in New
York
City on
Friday,
in a
courtroom
sketch.
Photo:
jane
rosenberg/Reuters |
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Family
and
supporters
of Sean
“Diddy”
Combs
arrive
to the
courthouse
in New
York,
Monday,
May 12,
2025.
(AP
Photo/Seth
Wenig) |
| |
Diddy
Trial:
Cassie
Set to
Resume
Testimony
in Sex
Trafficking
Case
NEW YORK
- Sean
"Diddy"
Combs'
criminal
trial
will
enter
its
third
day on
Wednesday,
with his
former
girlfriend,
singer
Casandra
Ventura,
expected
to
continue
her
emotional
testimony
in
Manhattan
federal
court.
Ventura,
known
professionally
as
Cassie,
is the
prosecution’s
key
witness
in the
case
accusing
the
music
mogul of
sex
trafficking
and
related
crimes.
On
Tuesday,
Ventura
recounted
her
decade-long
involvement
in what
she
described
as
Combs’
drug-fueled
sex
parties—referred
to as
“Freak
Offs”—testifying
that she
participated
out of
fear for
her
safety.
“I was
afraid
of what
would
happen
if I
said
no,” she
told the
jury.
Jurors
were
also
shown
disturbing
surveillance
footage
from a
2016
incident
at a Los
Angeles
hotel.
The
video
shows a
towel-clad
Combs
throwing
Ventura
to the
ground
and
kicking
her. She
testified
the
assault
followed
one of
the
parties,
during
which
Combs
allegedly
gave her
a black
eye.
“I made
it to
the
elevators,
I had my
sneakers
on, and
the next
thing I
knew, I
was
thrown
to the
ground,”
Ventura
recalled.
When
asked
why she
stayed
down,
she
answered:
“I felt
like it
was the
safest
place to
be.”
Combs,
55, has
pleaded
not
guilty
to five
felony
charges,
including
racketeering
conspiracy,
sex
trafficking,
and
transporting
individuals
for
prostitution.
If
convicted
on all
counts,
he faces
a
minimum
of 15
years in
prison
and
potentially
a life
sentence.
The
trial,
which
could
stretch
over two
months,
is being
held in
Manhattan
federal
court.
Combs is
currently
being
held in
a
Brooklyn
detention
facility
when not
in
court.
In
addition
to the
criminal
case,
Combs
faces
numerous
civil
lawsuits
from
both
women
and men
alleging
sexual
abuse.
He has
denied
all
allegations,
maintaining
that his
relationships
were
consensual.
Ventura,
38, said
her
relationship
with
Combs
began in
her
early
20s and
was
initially
her
first
serious
adult
relationship.
However,
she
testified
that
over
time, he
became
increasingly
controlling,
and
their
relationship
was
consumed
by the
“Freak
Offs,”
which
she
claimed
could
last up
to four
days and
ultimately
derailed
her
music
career.
Combs
has
since
apologized
for the
hotel
incident
shown in
the
video.
His
attorneys
argue
that the
charges
are an
attack
on his
private
lifestyle,
describing
the
parties
as part
of a
consensual
“swingers”
culture.
They are
expected
to begin
cross-examining
Ventura
once her
direct
testimony
concludes.
Known
over the
years as
Puff
Daddy
and P.
Diddy,
Combs
rose to
fame in
the
1990s as
the
founder
of Bad
Boy
Records,
playing
a major
role in
the
careers
of
artists
like
Mary J.
Blige,
Faith
Evans,
Notorious
B.I.G.,
and
Usher.
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