NEW YORK — R&B singer Cassie Ventura, the ex-girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs, testified in federal court Wednesday that the music mogul raped her in 2018, just months after their decade-long relationship ended. Ventura also revealed that Combs agreed to pay her $20 million in a settlement just one day after she filed a civil lawsuit against him in November 2023.
The explosive testimony came on the third day of Combs’ criminal trial in Manhattan federal court. The 55-year-old rapper and music executive has pleaded not guilty to five felony charges, including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted, Combs could face a minimum of 15 years in prison and up to life behind bars.
Ventura, 38, visibly emotional, told the jury that Combs assaulted her in her own living room. “I just remember crying and saying no, but it was very fast,” she said, choking up on the stand. She described the aftermath as psychologically devastating, leading her to trauma therapy and a point where she “didn’t want to be alive.”
“I can’t carry the shame, the guilt, the way he treated people like they were disposable,” Ventura said. “What’s right is right, what’s wrong is wrong. I came here to do the right thing.”
Ventura is considered the prosecution’s star witness and has detailed years of alleged physical and emotional abuse by Combs, including his so-called “Freak Offs”—drug-fueled sex parties with escorts where Ventura said she was beaten and threatened. According to her testimony, Combs warned her that he would ruin her career and release explicit footage if she spoke out.
“He would grab me, push me down, hit me in the side of the head, kick me,” Ventura said. She recalled showing Combs a photo of a gash above her eyebrow from a 2013 assault. His response: “You. Don’t know. When to. Stop. You have pushed it too far.”
Prosecutors introduced still images from videos of these alleged “Freak Offs,” showing Ventura with other women. The disturbing images, seen only by the jury, reportedly left some visibly shaken.
Jurors were also shown photos of Ventura’s bruises, taken by her mother, which she said were from kicks delivered by Combs. Ventura described a cycle of violence that escalated when she tried to fight back. “It would just make him more violent,” she said.
She admitted to once initiating physical altercations but said Combs showed no signs of injury. Ventura also testified that she became addicted to opiates during their relationship and experienced PTSD, sleepwalking, and blackouts by the time they broke up.
Ventura said she quit drugs in 2022 and is now pregnant with her third child.
Combs’ attorneys are expected to begin their cross-examination Thursday, with questioning potentially lasting two days. They have signaled they may probe into what they allege is Ventura’s own history of violence.
The trial, which could extend up to two months, marks the first criminal proceeding against Combs but follows a growing stack of civil lawsuits accusing the rapper of sexual abuse by both women and men. Combs has repeatedly denied all allegations, asserting that his past relationships were consensual.
While in court, Combs wore a cream sweater and collared shirt, sitting behind his mother and two children. Ventura appeared in a turtleneck dress and dark jacket, composed yet tearful.
Known variously as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, and now Diddy, Sean Combs was a central figure in the evolution of 1990s and early 2000s hip-hop and R&B. As founder of Bad Boy Records, he played a pivotal role in launching the careers of Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Usher, and The Notorious B.I.G.
Now, his legacy faces a potentially devastating reckoning as prosecutors pursue charges that, if proven, could send him to prison for life.
