The so-called “freak-offs” orchestrated by Sean “Diddy” Combs often left his girlfriend of nearly 11 years, Cassie Ventura, bruised and battered after she says she was punched, kicked and dragged so severely the antibiotic she used after the often-violent sexual encounters stopped working because she used it so frequently, she said in federal court on Wednesday.
Ventura also revealed that the settlement in her civil case against the rap mogul, after what she said was a decade of abuse that stifled her career and left her deeply traumatized, was for $20 million. That settlement came the day after Ventura filed the case and has opened the door for a flood of civil cases against Combs. Ventura also revealed she had been writing a book about her experiences with Combs at the time.
“I wanted to be compensated for the time and the pain and the many, many years of having to try to fix my life,” she told the court. “I can’t carry the shame, the guilt.”
Prosecutors contend Combs, the 55-year-old rapper, producer and fashion mogul, “engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice, among other crimes” over 20 years. Combs, who was arrested in September, has pleaded not guilty to all charges in the five-count indictment and has claimed he is innocent of all crimes of which he has been accused.
Ventura testified about a bevy of alleged crimes and violence perpetrated by Combs against her over their decade-plus relationship. Ventura testified that in 2018 as the couple was breaking up, he raped her in her living room. The two had an amicable dinner aiming to find closure of their relationship, she told the court, and because he was being sweet, she invited him to her apartment. At the time, Venrtura was dating the man who is now her husband.
“And then he raped me in my living room,” Ventura told the court. “On the floor.”
Ventura and Combs had sex one more time after this, Ventura said, explaining that a long-term relationship isn’t easy to turn off when you have developed a connection with the person. She has had a few exchanges with him since 2018, she said.
Ventura also detailed how Combs discovered that she was dating rapper Kid Cudi during a “freak-off” while going through her phone messages. Combs, upon learning this, threatened to release two sex tapes featuring her and that he’d send an individual to harm her and Cudi; she also testified that Combs had threatened to blow up Cudi’s car in his driveway. In another incident, Ventura had gone with girlfriends to a party at Prince’s house, hoping to see him perform. Combs turned up at the party, leading Ventura to flee and fall into a bush. Later, she said, he turned up at her apartment and threw luggage at her, leading her to flee to a friend’s home.
During much of their time together, Ventura said she lived in fear that Combs would release “freak-off” videos featuring her performing sex acts publicly.
“I feared for my career. I feared for my family. It’s just embarrassing, all of it,” Ventura said. “It could ruin everything I worked for. Make me look like a slut.”
In an incident foreshadowed in the feds opening statements, Ventura detailed a time that Combs beat and stomped on her in a car, bruising her face. Combs then ordered her to go to the hotel for a week, she told the court, explaining that his security staff would show up to check on her and ensure she was staying inside. She also testified that she witnessed an encounter at her apartment that has become the subject of a civil suit filed by one of her friends. Bryana “Bana” Bongolan, alleges in a sexual battery lawsuit against Combs that in September 2016, he “dangled her off of a 17-story-high balcony, and then slammed her onto the patio furniture on the balcony.”
The morning testimony session at the lower Manhattan courthouse between Ventura and prosecutor Emily Johnson mostly consisted of discussion of the “freak-offs” she says Combs forced her into, which involved sex with male sex workers while he looked on, masturbating. Ventura said that she felt “trapped” in a terrible string of situations with Combs, who had signed her to his Bad Boy Records label before they began a romantic relationship. Ventura only released one album on the label.
Ventura explained to the court that one “freak-off” ended with her passing out, she said, and she woke up in a hotel bathtub to find Combs and a hired escort standing above her in distress, not knowing what to do with her. On a trip to the Cannes Film Festival, she said, a fight led to her changing seats on the plane home; Combs switched seats too and remained by her side, where she says he proceeded to play videos of two “freak-off” sessions on the plane, in view of other passengers.
On Wednesday morning, Ventura also told the court about visits the couple took to sex clubs in New York and Los Angeles. These visits at times included hired escorts and were always Combs’ idea; this was not something she was into, Ventura testified.
“I was always terrified, and would drink quite a bit,” she told the court.
At a point, she said she developed an opiate addiction so she could feel numb following the “freak-off” sessions.
Ventura’s direct testimony ended on Wednesday afternoon. She will return to the stand for cross-examination on Thursday.
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