CONTENT WARNING: This article contains graphic details that may distress some readers.
Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura has taken the stand in the high-profile racketeering and sex-trafficking trial of her ex-partner and record label boss Sean “Diddy” Combs, providing details of the infamous “freak-offs” which she says “became a job” and dominated her life. She also named insiders who allegedly helped arrange the encounters.
Ventura, 38, described a turbulent relationship with the hip-hop mogul, who is accused of coercing women into sexually abusive and violent encounters with male escorts, aided by his staff.
Addressing the court on Tuesday (local time), she described the “freak-offs” as “the hiring of an escort and setting up this experience so that I could perform for Sean”, explaining he would watch and direct her with the other person. She alleged he provided drugs, including ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana, ketamine and mushrooms.
Ventura testified that she would be directed to find the escorts — who were paid anywhere between $1,500 to $6,000 in cash for the encounters — through classifieds ads.
The freak-offs would take place in various cities, including New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, Ibiza, and Turks and Caicos.
The first “freak-off” took place during the first year of the relationship, at Combs’ LA home in 2008 when she was 22 years old. Ventura said she felt dirty and confused afterwards, but was relieved that Combs was “really happy with me” that “I did something right”, per ABC News.
They became nearly weekly occurrences, she claimed. Much of her time was spent recovering from the days-long sex and drug binges, rather than making music. Ventura had been signed to a 10-album deal with Combs’ Bad Boy Records, though only one of which was ever produced.
“The freak-offs became a job where there was no space to do anything else, but try to recover,” Ventura told the jury.
While the marathon sexual encounters would typically last between 36 and 72 hours, “the longest one ever was four days”, she said.
Sometimes Combs would make her repeat sex acts with the escorts, she said, and multiple escorts were involved on other occasions.
“I was an object being heavily objectified by men in that scenario,” she said, per the publication.
Ventura stated she used drugs during every freak-off she participated in, which helped her disassociate from the “emotionless sex with a stranger that I didn’t really want to have sex with.” She also claimed Combs insisted their bodies were oily and shiny, with the sessions involving large amounts of baby oil, sometimes up to 10 large bottles.
The relationship — which lasted just over 10 years — saw Combs become “abusive” and “controlling”, Ventura told the court, adding that he would drag her by the hair, kick her, and stomp on her head.
She alleged he was an “incessant caller” and if she did not return his calls or messages, he would have his security guards and assistants track her down. This meant they would sometimes show up at her apartment unannounced.
In her testimony, Ventura named several members of Combs’ inner circle who she alleges helped arrange freak-offs, including his former chief of staff Kristina Khorram and Neil Dominic. She also mentioned other security guards, including Roger Bonds, Uncle Paulie, Faheem and Malik, per the Daily Mail.
Khorram, among the associates most often named in sexual assault complaints against Combs, was compared to Ghislaine Maxwell (to Combs’ Jeffrey Epstein) in a lawsuit filed by producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones. She has not been accused of any wrongdoing or charged with any crimes.
Ventura also accused Combs’ security guard, known as R. Rock, of taking “away her things as punishment” at the hip-hop mogul’s request.
Ventura launched a civil case in 2023, alleging years of abuse, which was settled out of court.
But it has been a catalyst for the federal charges in this trial, with Combs facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution-related offences. He has pleaded not guilty.
The jury also heard about a freak-off that took place at the InterContinental Hotel in LA in March 2016. Video of Combs assaulting Ventura in the hotel hallway has already been played to the jury. It aired on CNN last year.
In her testimony, Combs had already hit her in the hotel room, and she had sustained a black eye.
“I knew I had to get out. I just grabbed my stuff and ran out as fast as I could,” she told the jury, per the Sydney Morning Herald. However, when Combs caught up with her in the elevator foyer, he threw her to the ground.
When asked by prosecutors how many times Combs had thrown her to the ground during their relationship, Ventura said: “Too many to count.”
The trial reconvenes on Thursday (local time).
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