In Early Testimony, Cassie Says Combs ‘Controlled a Lot of My Life

In Early Testimony, Cassie Says Combs ‘Controlled a Lot of My Life

Casandra Ventura said during Sean Combs’s sex-trafficking and racketeering trial that his demands for sexual freak-offs became a full-time job, stifling her music career.

The star witness of the federal sex-trafficking trial of the music mogul Sean Combs took the stand for the first time on Tuesday: his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, the singer known as Cassie, who filed a civil suit in 2023 that accused him of rape and years of physical abuse.

Ms. Ventura’s suit, which was quickly settled, was followed by a criminal investigation that led to the trial in Federal District Court in Lower Manhattan. Parts of the indictment against Mr. Combs, who is also known as Diddy and Puff Daddy, closely mirror the details and language of the lawsuit.

Here’s what else to know:

Cassie’s testimony: When asked to describe her long-term relationship with Mr. Combs on Tuesday, Ms. Ventura, who is the prosecution’s star witness, testified that “there were violent arguments that would usually result in some sort of physical abuse.”

Sexual encounters: Daniel Phillip, the prosecution’s second witness, who said he was paid for sexual encounters with Ms. Ventura while Mr. Combs watched, completed his testimony on Tuesday. “Is it fair to say she was in complete control of everything she did?” asked Xavier Donaldson, a lawyer for Mr. Combs. “I cannot say that,” Phillip responded.
Hotel video: Israel Florez, a security guard at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, told jurors on Monday that Mr. Combs was caught on security cameras striking, hitting and kicking Ms. Ventura in a hallway in 2016. Mr. Florez said that Ms. Ventura had a “purple eye,” and that Mr. Combs offered him cash.

Opening statements: Emily A. Johnson, one of the prosecutors, sought to portray Mr. Combs as a serial abuser and sex trafficker who hurt and manipulated women for decades, and controlled an organization that helped him do it. One of Mr. Combs’s lawyers, Teny Geragos, said that the music mogul had been violent toward Ms. Ventura but that any sex was consensual. Read about the prosecutors and defense lawyers ›

Who is Cassie? The criminal charges against Mr. Combs stem from Ms. Ventura’s decision to pour her allegations into a lawsuit. She was a piano player and dancer as a child before pursuing modeling and music.

Who is Sean Combs? Mr. Combs played a major role in making hip-hop a global cultural force, and helped turn rap and R&B artists like the Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige into household names.

The jurors: Eight men and four women, who range in age from their 30s to their 70s, were sworn in as anonymous jurors. They will not be sequestered so must shield themselves from the media coverage about the case.

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