Cassie’s Testimony, 7 Greatest Takeaways

Casandra “Cassie” Ventura spoke publicly for the primary time concerning the alleged sexual, bodily and emotional abuse she endured throughout her decade-long relationship with Sean “Diddy” Combs, going into painstaking element concerning the drug-fueled “freak-offs” which have turn into synonymous with the accusations in opposition to Combs. 

The 38-year-old R&B singer, mannequin, and actress took the stand on Tuesday within the first week of Combs’ intercourse trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial. The hip-hop mogul has pleaded not responsible to the 5 expenses in opposition to him. 

Tuesday marked the primary time the previous celeb couple have seen one another in individual since their 2018 breakup. Supported in courtroom by her husband, Alex Wonderful, her brother, and different family members, a composed Ventura testified for almost all of the day concerning the alleged ritualistic and “choreographed” sexual encounters that she “hated” however felt had no alternative however to conform. 

Ventura instructed jurors that after her first freak-off at age 22 — a time that she described herself as “naive” and “enamored” along with her label boss Combs — the days-long, “humiliating” sexual encounters with Combs and male escorts occurred virtually weekly. Ventura testified the male escorts had been paid 1000’s of {dollars} in money, and their fee was contingent on the completion of their efficiency throughout the sexual encounter.  

She alleged that Combs managed almost each facet of her every day life and that she was fearful of creating him offended, which might end in bodily violence. When it got here to testifying about collaborating in freak-offs, Ventura — who’s greater than eight months pregnant along with her third baby — briefly grew to become overwhelmed with emotion and cried when attempting to elucidate why she continued to have interaction in freak-offs and the general toll it took on her. 

Ventura is anticipated to testify for a second day on Wednesday about her decade-long “abusive” relationship with Combs. Prosecutors indicated they might be asking additional questions concerning the InterContinental Lodge assault from March 2016 that was caught on surveillance video, in addition to introducing photograph proof associated to videotaped freak-offs. Following direct examination, Combs’ all-star protection crew plans to query Ventura effectively into Thursday.

Listed here are seven of the largest takeaways from Ventura’s testimony.

1. Contained in the Alleged “Freak-Offs” 

Ventura walked jurors by way of each step of the extremely ritualistic “freak-offs” that she claimed Combs orchestrated and managed. Though the places diverse, Ventura testified, the setup was often comparable: the resort suites and private bedrooms had been stocked with bottles of child oil, lubricant, and strong-smelling temper candles. In later years, Ventura stated the lighting was switched to LED-colored lights utilized in recording studios. 

The sexual encounters with male escorts adopted a sample, Ventura stated, with the pair rubbing child oil on one another till they had been “glistening.” Touching and massaging got here subsequent, in accordance with Ventura, adopted by oral intercourse after which intercourse. “It was his fantasy,” Ventura stated. “He was controlling the entire scenario. He was directing it. He was doing the lighting. He was telling us the place to be, what to say, the right way to act within the room.” 

Typically, Ventura stated, she’d attempt to “pace up” the occasions as a result of she simply needed to be alone with Combs. “I, as a rule, would simply need to have the ability to get to the opposite room the place we might simply spend time with one another alone,” she stated.

2. Combs’ “Controlling” Nature 

Ventura stated she signed to Combs’ document label as a “naive” 19-year-old, and by the point they entered right into a relationship, she was “enamored” with him. Ventura claimed that Combs asserted dominance each over her profession and private life. 

Combs allegedly directed Ventura on her coiffure and the colour she ought to paint her nails, even suggesting sure physique piercings. “Sean managed numerous my life, whether or not it was profession, the way in which I dressed, like, all the things,” Ventura testified. “I simply didn’t really feel like I had a lot say in it at the moment being a very tremendous younger, naive, complete people-pleaser.” 

Concerning her dwelling scenario, Combs paid for almost all of Ventura’s residences in New York Metropolis and Los Angeles — all handy distances from his residence. 

Regardless of signing a 10-album cope with Combs’ label Unhealthy Boy, Ventura solely launched one studio album. Ventura stated she was continuously recording new music, but it surely wasn’t getting launched.  Numerous the songs she recorded “simply didn’t see the sunshine of day,” Ventura testified. 

Enterprise stated that Combs needed to know the place she was always, and if he couldn’t come up with her by cellphone instantly, Combs would incessantly name till she responded. Different occasions, Combs allegedly despatched his crew of safety guards to bodily monitor down Ventura. She claimed he’d typically take away her automotive and cellphone, and kick her out of her residence as a type of punishment.

3. Allegations of Frequent Bodily Abuse

Ventura claimed Combs started bodily abusing her by the point she was 22 years outdated. “He would mash me in my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, um, stomp me if I used to be down,” she testified.  

She stated the abuse occurred “too often,” leading to “knots in my brow, busted lips, swollen lips, black eyes, the whites of my eyes can be purple, um, bruises throughout my physique.”  

Ventura stated that the bodily beatings might stem from a shift in Combs’ temper. “I make the incorrect face, and the subsequent factor I knew, I used to be getting hit within the face,” she testified. Ventura stated she was critically involved about doubtlessly setting Combs off and would go to nice lengths to keep away from making him offended. 

4. The Psychological Toll of Freak-Offs 

Throughout her a number of hours of testimony, Ventura broke down when she tried to elucidate her rationale for persevering with to take part in freak-offs with Combs. “I simply didn’t need something unhealthy to occur,” Ventura stated, clarifying that “something unhealthy” could possibly be Combs “being violent” along with her in addition to him discovering one other girl prepared to do freak-offs with him. “Whenever you actually care about someone, and also you’re in love with them, you don’t need to disappoint them,” she added. 

However persevering with to take part within the freak-offs, Ventura testified, took a detrimental toll on her psychological well being. “I simply felt, like, it was all I used to be good for to him,” she stated shakily. “I simply felt fairly horrible about myself. I felt disgusting. I used to be humiliated. I didn’t have these phrases to place collectively on the time, like, how horrible I actually felt.” 

5. Male Escorts’ Cost Was Contingent on Efficiency 

Ventura alleged that the male escorts had been usually paid a couple of thousand {dollars} on the finish of freak-offs. She stated that some males had hassle sustaining an erection. “It was truly fairly frequent with people who we didn’t know effectively,” Ventura stated. “They might categorical … each time Sean would discuss, it will throw them off, or if he moved a candle, simply was distracting.”

Those that had been unable to carry out in the way in which Combs anticipated, Ventura claimed, “positively didn’t receives a commission the traditional quantity” for the encounters. 

6. Making Certain Escorts Had been “Secure”

Ventura claimed Combs directed her to rent the male escorts for freak-offs and provides them a spiel concerning the scenario once they arrived on the resort suite or one in every of their houses.

She stated she was chargeable for making certain the individual was “protected.”  Ventura clarified that it meant that Combs “needed me to make clear if the individual was a cop,” she stated. “At first, I didn’t perceive, and I realized later why.”

7. “Humiliating” Sexual Acts  

Ventura testified that Combs made her and the male escorts carry out sexual acts that she discovered “humiliating,” together with having freak-offs whereas she was menstruating and males urinating on her. 

“It was disgusting,” Ventura stated. “It was an excessive amount of. It was overwhelming. I choked. There couldn’t have been something on my face that was studying that I needed to be doing that. I simply laid on the ground ready that I couldn’t simply get out of.”