During Sean “Diddy” Combs’s federal sex trafficking trial in Manhattan, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura accused the Bad Boy Records founder of abuse over the course of their 11-year on-again, off-again relationship, including a claim that Diddy, 55, raped her in 2018 after a dinner during which she tried to end the relationship. Ventura, 38, said the music mogul drove her home after the dinner. “I went inside, he came in and raped me on the living room floor,” she testified. “I just remember crying and saying ‘no.’ ”
Cassie also said Diddy exerted control over her personal life, sometimes confiscating her phone and laptop. The “Me & U” singer claimed he coerced her to participate in the elaborate “Freak Offs” at the center of the prosecution’s case. She said she feared challenging her powerful boyfriend, who she claimed had the hours-long encounters with sex workers recorded and kept as “blackmail material.”
After her testimony, Cassie’s husband, Alex Fine, 32, spoke out, addressing Combs and “all those who helped him”: “You did not break her spirit.” Cassie is 8 1⁄2 months pregnant with the pair’s third child.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. The trial is expected to last several weeks. —LIAM QUINN
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