Diddy trial live: Cassie Ventura to continue testimony after detailing shocking ‘freak off’ demands – UK Times

It’s a dreary, damp day in downtown Manhattan, writes reporter Kelly Rissman from outside Manhattan Federal Court.

I’m outside the federal courthouse, where there are about a third as many people waiting to get in compared with Monday, the first day of the sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs. A lot of space is being taken up by tents where some had camped out overnight.

A star in her own right since being discovered by Sean “Diddy” Combs in the early 2000s, Casandra Elizabeth Ventura was born in New London, Connecticut, on August 26, 1986.

Ambitious to become an R&B superstar like her idol Janet Jackson, she met music producer Ryan Leslie in 2004 and was signed to his label NextSelection Lifestyle Group before being picked up in turn by Diddy for his own Bad Boy Records.

Her debut single, under the name Cassie, “Me and U,” appeared in 2006, and it was quickly followed by her self-titled debut album and another single, “Long Way 2 Go.”

Cassie subsequently began a relationship with Combs in 2007, which would run until 2018, and released a string of further singles with guest collaborators including Lil Wayne, Akon, and Combs himself, who appeared on “Must Be Love.”

After ending her relationship with Diddy, Ventura married personal trainer Alex Fine in September 2019, with whom she went on to have two daughters. The couple announced in February that they are currently expecting their third child.

Day two testimony in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal sex trafficking trial concluded Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.

Key testimonies have come from his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who described being forced into drug-fueled group sex events branded “freak-offs,” and male escort Daniel Phillip, who claimed he was paid to engage in sexual acts with Ventura while Diddy watched and directed.

Diddy has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody. If convicted, Diddy could spend life in prison.

Erin Keller has outlined the key players in Combs’ trial:

A pool of 43 jurors was finally whittled down to 12, with an additional six alternates, on Monday. But who are the people set to decide Sean “Diddy” Combs’ fate?

Eight men and four women comprise the dozen New Yorkers selected to sit for the 55-year-old music mogul’s federal criminal trial, which is expected to last at least eight weeks.

Those selected are between the ages of 30 and 74, living across Manhattan, the Bronx and neighboring Westchester County.

They hail from a variety of professions, including an investment analyst, a massage therapist and a physician assistant.

Several of the younger jurors in their 30s and 40s said they listen to hip-hop and R&B music, genres aligned with Combs.

Some of the jurors have said they were familiar with a video of Combs assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassandra Ventura, the R&B singer known as Cassie, in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.

The court was yet to resolve the issue of whether the “freak-offs” videos would be made available to the media as Tuesday’s hearing concluded.

Lawyers representing several news organizations, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, have asked Judge Arun Subramanian to keep the courtroom open when the jury watches videos of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged “freak offs.”

If this isn’t possible, their attorneys are asking that news organizations covering the trial be allowed to collectively appoint three pool reporters who can “watch and listen” to the videos.

Attorneys said that “given the central role that the videos may play in the determination of Mr. Combs’ guilt or innocence in this case, those privacy interests cannot overcome the public’s powerful First Amendment interest in monitoring the judicial process.”

Combs’s defense attorney, Marc Agnifilo, has asked Subramanian to edit the videos, claiming the footage is essentially pornography.

“It’s a privacy issue and it’s pornography, what would the press do with it if they had it?,” he said.

Casandra Ventura, the R&B singer known as Cassie, said about 10 bottles of baby oil were used per “freak off” while testifying Tuesday in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex-trafficking trial.

The 55-year-old music mogul is accused of using his status as a powerful executive to coerce women, including Ventura, into abusive sexual encounters and becoming violent if they refused.

Ventura, 38, who dated Combs on and off for over a decade, divulged graphic details in Manhattan federal court about the “freak-offs,” during which Combs instructed her to have sex with an escort or other third-party individual.

Each “freak off” used “quite a bit” of baby oil because Combs wanted them to be “glistening,” Ventura testified, according to CNN.

Isabel Keane reports from New York City.

Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura is set to return to the stand after testifying about an alleged pattern of physical abuse, psychological control and sexual degradation at the hands of her former boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs.

Prosecutors said they would need “half the day” to finish questioning Ventura on Wednesday as the 55-year-old hip-hop mogul’s sex trafficking trial enters its third day.

Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sex trafficking trial has adjourned for the day.

The Independent’s live coverage will resume on Wednesday morning.

Cassie Ventura became emotional while describing the details of her relationship with Sean “Diddy” Combs on Tuesday.

At multiple points, Ventura was visibly uncomfortable and began to cry when she spoke about how she felt participating in the “freak offs.”Ventura was also crying when she said she was “humiliated” and felt “disgusting” participating in them, but felt it was the only way to make Combs happy and spend time with him.

The singer said the only reason she even participated was because she loved him, and the “freak offs” were among the few times she had one-on-one time with him.

The singer’s voice broke and she spoke through tears as she said she felt “worthless” after participating in the “freaks offs.”

Day two of Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sex trafficking trial has ended after star witness Cassie Ventura revealed the details of her alleged “freak offs” with the music mogul.

She testified about how much baby oil was used, how often drugs were used, which drugs were used, which escorts they called and how they found the escorts.

Ventura said she called Combs “Pop Pop,” the name that she called her grandfather, because Combs wanted her to call him something she did not call anyone else.

Ventura also said she was heavily drugged and lying on the floor during one “freak off” when Combs directed the male escort to pee in her mouth. Both Combs and the escort urinated in Ventura’s mouth, but she had to signal them to stop because it was “too much.”

Throughout her testimony, Ventura emphasized she felt she could not say no to these “freak offs” due to alleged threats of violence and blackmail from Combs.