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| Actress and singer Cassie Ventura, right, with Sean "Diddy" Combs. |
There would be no federal case against Combs without Ventura and her bombshell 2023 lawsuit accusing him of physical abuse and sexual coercion.
Spending four days on the witness stand last month, Ventura accused Combs of rape as well as physical and emotional abuse. She said over their 11-year relationship, Combs coerced her into participating in drug-fueled “freak-offs,” in which she would have sex with male escorts.
She claimed Combs filmed these alleged encounters and supposedly threatened to ruin her budding singing and acting career by releasing the footage.
Ventura's initial suit was settled one day after it was filed in November of 2023, but that didn't end Comb's troubles.
Her lawsuit created a domino effect, resulting in several additional lawsuits against Diddy and a federal investigation into the allegations. The rapper was arrested in September 2024 and indicted on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
"The case rises and falls with Cassie. Especially the sex trafficking charges,” says former prosecutor Mark Chutkow. She testified last month.
Ventura, 38, is at the center of many of the charges, and other witnesses, including her friends and mother, have corroborated her testimony.
Still, Chutkow believes hotel the hotel's surveillance video from 2016, in which Combs is seen beating Ventura and kicking her while she’s on the ground, is damning to Combs' not guilty plea and overrides any single testimony. “You can’t really cross-examine videotape,” he says. “It’s like a crime scene frozen in time.”
The details of these allegations have become a central focus of both the civil lawsuits and the criminal proceedings against Combs have shed light on serious allegations of abuse and exploitation.
According to Ventura's testimony last month, Combs began physically, sexually and emotionally abusing her in 2007, around the same time the two of them began dating.
She had just recorded her biggest R&B hit, "Me & You," and was seen as an upcoming star in the recording and motion picture industry.
She signed with Combs' Bad Boy Records to a long-term contract, which in hindsight, she says, was a means of control. She nver replicated her first hit despite several
Under oath, Ventura said that during her 11-year relationship with Combs, she recorded hundreds of tracks under his direction. She now calls those efforts busywork, saying that her main job was organizing and participating in multi-day marathons of sex and drug use directed by Combs, which Ventura alleged happened "hundreds" of times over the years.
Combs' defense lawyers say her participation was entirely consensual, and Combs has pleaded not guilty to all the criminal charges against him.
The 38-year old actress/singer's husband, Alex Fine, whom she married in 2019, was in the courtroom during her testimony The couple share two daughters, and welcomed their third child, a son, later last month.
While her parents have been mostly out of the spotlight, she has been vocal about their support throughout her life. During a February 2007 conversation with The New York Times, Ventura opened up about her parents' influence, saying, "My parents raised me right."
"I work hard, and I want to prove I deserve what I have. I talk to them every day,” she said, adding that they "keep (her) focused."
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. If found guity, Combs could face life imprisonment.
Since then, new witnesses have emerged, including other former girlfiends and former employees, some using psuedonym, have corroborated Ventura's allegations as they recounted their own alleged abuse by Combs.
FYI: If you or someone you know is struggling with intimate partner violence, there are resources available, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline.According to the indictment, prosecutors claim that Combs forced or coerced women into participating in "freak offs" and would allegedly leverage his power and influence to do so.
"The case rises and falls with Cassie. Especially the sex trafficking charges,” says former prosecutor Mark Chutkow. She testified last month.
Ventura, 38, is at the center of many of the charges, and other witnesses, including her friends and mother, have corroborated her testimony.
Still, Chutkow believes hotel the hotel's surveillance video from 2016, in which Combs is seen beating Ventura and kicking her while she’s on the ground, is damning to Combs' not guilty plea and overrides any single testimony. “You can’t really cross-examine videotape,” he says. “It’s like a crime scene frozen in time.”
The details of these allegations have become a central focus of both the civil lawsuits and the criminal proceedings against Combs have shed light on serious allegations of abuse and exploitation.
According to Ventura's testimony last month, Combs began physically, sexually and emotionally abusing her in 2007, around the same time the two of them began dating.
She had just recorded her biggest R&B hit, "Me & You," and was seen as an upcoming star in the recording and motion picture industry.
She signed with Combs' Bad Boy Records to a long-term contract, which in hindsight, she says, was a means of control. She nver replicated her first hit despite several
Under oath, Ventura said that during her 11-year relationship with Combs, she recorded hundreds of tracks under his direction. She now calls those efforts busywork, saying that her main job was organizing and participating in multi-day marathons of sex and drug use directed by Combs, which Ventura alleged happened "hundreds" of times over the years.
Combs' defense lawyers say her participation was entirely consensual, and Combs has pleaded not guilty to all the criminal charges against him.
The 38-year old actress/singer's husband, Alex Fine, whom she married in 2019, was in the courtroom during her testimony The couple share two daughters, and welcomed their third child, a son, later last month.
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INSTAGRAM / CASSIE VENTURA Rod Ventura, Cassie Ventura's father, with one of her children. |
While her parents have been mostly out of the spotlight, she has been vocal about their support throughout her life. During a February 2007 conversation with The New York Times, Ventura opened up about her parents' influence, saying, "My parents raised me right."
"I work hard, and I want to prove I deserve what I have. I talk to them every day,” she said, adding that they "keep (her) focused."
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. If found guity, Combs could face life imprisonment.
Ventura was raised by her parents — an "army brat" mom and "navy brat" dad — in Connecticut, as she said during a January 2008 interview with Blackfilm.
"My Dad is Filipino and my Mom is Mexican, Black and West Indian."
"My Dad is Filipino and my Mom is Mexican, Black and West Indian."
"My childhood was fun," she told the outlet, adding that it was "pretty carefree."
"I tried a little of everything when I was little," Cassie said. "I tried karate, I tried ballet, I tried piano lessons and singing lessons. ... I was a pretty normal kid, for the most part."
"I tried a little of everything when I was little," Cassie said. "I tried karate, I tried ballet, I tried piano lessons and singing lessons. ... I was a pretty normal kid, for the most part."
Friday is the 23rd day of Combs' trial. Because he was denied bail, Combs remains in detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, while the trial continues.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge. Now on BlueSky.
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