WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of physical and sexual violence.
All eyes were on Casandra “Cassie” Ventura as she took the witness stand on Tuesday, May 13, in the federal high-profile sex trafficking case against her former boyfriend, Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The 38-year-old R&B singer arrived at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Lower Manhattan, New York City, with a prominent baby bump, and testified about the contentious relationship she had become embroiled in with Diddy for roughly a decade, which began when she was 19 and newly signed to his Bad Boy Records label for a 10-album deal, CNN, NBC, and CBS reported.
During her testimony, the singer described years of alleged physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of Diddy. She accused the disgraced rap mogul of, at times, controlling every aspect of her life, from her finances to her music career to where she lived to what she would wear and ultimately her sexual exploits.
She shed even more light on the notorious drug-fueled sex parties dubbed “freak-offs,” where it’s alleged Diddy would force Ventura and others to perform sex acts with male sex workers. In vivid detail, she described some of the acts she and others were coerced to do, including he and other sex workers urinating in her mouth. The topic of baby oil resurfaced when she claimed they would be forced to lather up in the oil at Diddy’s command and use, on average, up to 10 bottles per “freak-off.” According to her, it would take days to recover from the parties, which could also last days.
“The [freak-offs] became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and try to feel normal again,” she said, per NPR.
The outlets reported that she broke down in tears when asked what she liked about participating in the “freak-offs” and replied virtually nothing.
“I felt pretty horrible about myself. I felt disgusting. I felt humiliated,” she said, according to CNN. “I didn’t have the words to show how horrible I felt. I couldn’t talk to anyone about it.”
Ventura alleges that given how young she was when she first came into the rapper’s orbit, she was completely inexperienced in navigating his demanding, violent nature. She also admitted to initially genuinely being in love with the rapper and desperately wanting his approval.
“I was just so young and did not have the vocabulary for some of the things we talked about. I was just trying to understand it, just completely inexperienced at that point,” she said, per NBC.
She also claims Diddy directly thwarted her music career throughout her relationship with the music executive. Of the ten albums she was initially signed to make, despite recording hundreds of songs, only one ever came to fruition.
Even though she settled her civil lawsuit out of court within hours after she filed it almost two years ago, her testimony could provide broader context to the claims that Diddy has been racketeering, or running a criminal enterprise, to maintain his sexual abuse. Ventura alleges that she dealt extensively with members of Diddy’s staff who would handled many things, including finances, trashed hotel rooms, and even monitored her injuries sustained after multiple instances of physical abuse.
