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An emotionally packed day of testimony from Diddy's ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, ended with shocking revelations - how she claimed the abuse from the music mogul lasted for years, how she tried to harm herself and how the superstar raped her when they broke up in 2018.
"I can't carry this anymore. I can't carry the shame, the guilt, the way I was guided to treat people like they were disposable," Ventura told a New York federal courtroom Wednesday. "What's right is right. What's wrong is wrong. I'm here to do the right thing."
She spoke feet away from Diddy - whose real name is Sean Combs - who was once her partner but now is a defendant facing decades behind bars in what prosecutors described as a years-long sex trafficking and racketeering scheme to fulfill his desires. Diddy has been held in federal custody since September 2024. Investigators have said he used abuse, coercion and his "freak offs" to control women.
Ventura has spent more than two days on the witness stand and is expected to resume her testimony Thursday. Towards the end Wednesday, she made several revelations about his relationship with Diddy. She also testified that he paid her a $20 million settlement to end her civil suit against him.
It was part of a day of testimony that included several shocking moments including:
- How she couldn't refuse his demands for hundreds of sexual encounters with men because she feared he would make the videos of the encounters public
- One time, Diddy threw her into a bed frame, leaving her with a gash on her eye
- She lied to her mother in 2011 at Christmas, claiming that was the first time Diddy had hit her - when really there had been years of abuse
- How she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder before ending their relationship
- In 2023, her flashbacks were so strong she nearly walked into traffic and eventually went to rehab
“I was spinning out,” Ventura said while crying. “I didn’t want to be alive anymore at that point.”
Ventura, wearing a long gray dress that hugged her baby bump, offered immediate responses in a soft, raspy voice. She appeared to try to stay calm by taking frequent sips of water, flipping her hair over her shoulders, and rubbing her pregnant belly. Except for taking a deep breath after seeing the stills from the "freak off" videos, her responses were often brief and reserved.
She gave a detailed history of the relationship that culminated with the 2018 break up. It was then that Combs raped her, Ventura said.
At the time, Ventura was dating her now-husband, Alex Fine. She met Combs for dinner and went back to her house. There, Combs forced himself onto Ventura and raped her, despite Ventura saying “no” the entire time. She described how his eyes went lifeless and ignored her tears during the alleged attack.
Ventura said the incident made her question the value of her life.
“I didn’t want to be alive anymore at that point,” Ventura said. “I couldn’t take the pain that I was in anymore, and so I just tried to walk out the front door into traffic and my husband would not let me.”
Ventura’s alleged sexual assault was just part of the picture she painted for the jury about the years-long abuse she and others allegedly suffered.
She described an incident where Combs dragged his former personal assistant, known as Mia, out of her hotel bed when she refused to give him her phone. Another time, Combs dangled one of Ventura’s friends over the balcony of a 17-story apartment.
Ventura said Combs became angry when she began dating rapper Scott Mescudi, known as Kid Cudi, and he threatened to hurt Mescudi as well as Ventura as a result. Ventura said Combs threatened to “blow up” Mescudi’s car. Eventually, Mescudi’s car did catch fire, though it’s unclear what or who caused it.
Ventura eventually broke up with Mescudi out of fear, she said.
At the beginning of the day, Ventura told jurors that Combs gave her a black eye, “fat lip” and bruises all over her body after he assaulted her in the InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.
Jurors were shown hotel surveillance footage of Combs throwing her to the ground, kicking her and dragging her by her hair the day of the assault. Some of that infamous footage was released by CNN last year.
Jurors also saw a selfie that Ventura took of herself after sustaining the busted lip.
Ventura said Combs punched her in the face, giving her a black eye, while the two were engaging in a “freak off.” As a result, Ventura stormed out of the hotel room and intended to go home, but Combs ran after her, wearing only a towel and assaulted her.
The abuse forced her into rehab and trauma therapy in 2023, she claimed. She added that she was prompted to seek treatment after “I couldn’t take the pain that I was in anymore. So I tried walking out the front door into traffic and my husband would not let me.”
It was also in 2023 that Ventura filed her lawsuit against Diddy. The lawsuit described similar claims to those she described on the witness stand. It ended with an undisclosed settlement a day after being filed. That was until Wednesday, when Ventura revealed she was paid $20 million in the case.
“Sean and his companies,” Ventura, 38, said when asked who paid.
A year later, Combs was facing federal arrest and now the criminal trial over the allegations.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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