‘Control was everything’: What Cassie Ventura testified at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s trial

Sean “Diddy” Combs is now on trial for racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He is pleading not guilty to these charges. The singer Cassie Ventura was in an on and off relationship with Combs from 2007 to 2018. She testified in court, and detailed her experiences of being in a relationship with him. Here’s what Cassie Ventura said in court about her time with Sean Combs.

She claimed Combs tried to ‘control’ her life

Ventura said: “Control was everything, from the way that I looked… to what I was working on.”

She said Combs paid for her apartment, car, phone, laptop and jewellery, and would take these things away from her as punishments. Ventura added that Combs would also take away her “self-confidence”.

Ventura claimed Combs would hire escorts to have sex with Ventura while he watched. He would allegedly choose the high-heeled shoes she wore, the lighting and exactly what she did with the escorts. Ventura told the court: “If Sean wanted something to happen, that was what was going to happen. I couldn’t say no.”

Ventura accused Combs of being violent towards her

Ventura told the jury that Combs would also use violence to control her. She claimed he would often bash on her head, knock her over, drag her and kick her.

Combs’s record label Bad Boy Records released Cassie’s song Long Way 2 Go in 2006
(Image via YouTube)

Cassie Ventura described her experiences of Diddy’s ‘freak-offs’

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Ventura described her emotions when Diddy first asked her to participate in his “freak-offs“. “I remember my stomach falling to my butt, just the nervousness and confusion… I had just turned 22.” She said she participated in these events because she “wanted to make him happy”.

The events sometimes lasted as long as four days, and took place in various cities including Ibiza, Las Vegas and New York. Ventura told the court she would take drugs – including ecstasy, ketamine and marijuana – to perform to Combs’s satisfaction, and also to “disassociate” from “having sex with a stranger [she] didn’t really want to be having sex with”.

“I felt pretty horrible about myself,” she testified, “It made me feel worthless.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Contact the national domestic violence helpline on 0808 2000 247. Lines are open 24/7.

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Featured image credit: Hahn Lionel/ABACA/Shutterstock.