Editor’s note: This story contains graphic descriptions that some readers may find disturbing.
The scope of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged sexual abuse and violence continues to be scrutinized as his criminal trial resumes hearing witness testimony.
Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura Fine, a rhythm and blues singer known as “Cassie,” is expected to testify as the prosecution’s star witness in the rapper’s sex trafficking case, a day after jurors saw a video of Combs hitting and kicking her in a hotel in 2016.
Throughout a two-month trial, jurors are expected to hear testimony from three and possibly four of the Combs’ female accusers, as well as ex-employees who prosecutors say helped arrange and cover up his actions.
Prosecutors have claimed Combs lured women into romantic relationships, forced them to take part in days of drug-fueled sex parties and then blackmailed them with videos he recorded of the encounters. Combs, 55, faces sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
Meanwhile, Combs’ defense lawyer Teny Geragos countered that prosecutors were trying to twist his romantic relationships into a racketeering and sex-trafficking case.
Daniel Phillip is continuing his testimony on May 13 as court proceedings kick off. Phillip previously told the court that he and Ventura Fine had multiple sexual encounters during their first meeting and that Combs recorded the pair having sex once or twice in the scope of that time.
He also claimed the rapper asked for his driver’s license, so he could take a picture of it “for insurance,” which Phillip said he perceived as a threat.
During another alleged incident, Phillip said Combs became violent with Ventura Fine after she failed to enter Combs’ bedroom immediately. The man recalled that Combs threw a bottle of liquor in Cassie’s direction and proceeded to drag her back to the room by her hair while she was screaming.
Cassie set to testify as star witness in Diddy trial
Ventura Fine is set to testify against Combs, her ex-boyfriend and former label boss, in his trial on May 13.
Previously known as “Victim-1,” she is one of two accusers who form the government’s key witnesses and are expected to describe the “freak offs” in detail.
Ventura Fine sued Combs in November 2023, accusing him of trafficking, raping and viciously beating her over the course of a decade, beginning a few years after signing to his Bad Boy Records label in 2006 and ending after he allegedly raped her in 2018. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount a day later.
Aside from a lengthy letter to fans in 2024, the singer has yet to speak publicly about what she says occurred behind closed doors amid their high-profile relationship. Ventura Fine is expecting her third child with husband Alex Fine. They share two daughters.
One factor remained constant during the jury selection process: Potential jurors told the court over and over again that they’ve seen the much-talked-about video that allegedly shows Combs beating, kicking and dragging Casandra “Cassie” Ventura Fine.
Prosecutors played the 2016 video for jurors during the May 12 hearing, which shows the rapper assaulting Ventura Fine in the hallway of a Los Angeles-area hotel.
Combs, wearing only a towel, is then seen grabbing Ventura Fine’s belongings and dragging her into the hallway. He leaves Ventura Fine behind. She lies motionless on the ground for a moment before getting up and walking to a hotel phone mounted on the wall.
Combs returns to the scene shortly thereafter and appears to grab at the phone. He then sits in a chair opposite Ventura Fine and throws a vase in her direction, shattering it. Combs apologized after the video first aired on CNN in 2024.
Prosecutors claim the video took place during one of Combs’ “freak offs” and is evidence that he was trafficking Ventura Fine for sex.
As prosecutors lay out their accusations against Combs, they called their first witness Israel Florez, a former security officer at the Los Angeles hotel where surveillance video captured the music mogul appearing to beat then-girlfriend Ventura Fine.
During court testimony, Florez detailed Combs’ alleged 2016 assault of Ventura Fine at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel, which resurfaced in leaked footage of the incident in May 2024.
The prosecution played the hotel security footage multiple times, first in full and then slowed down and broken into multiple parts, including Combs stalking the hallway, Cassie trying to put on shoes and Combs striking her back, kicking her repeatedly and dragging her back into the room.
Upon his arrival at the scene, Florez said Ventura Fine looked “scared” and that Combs gave him a “devilish stare.” Florez testified that Ventura Fine just wanted to gather her belongings, a phone and a bag, and leave. Combs then allegedly attempted to stop Cassie’s departure, telling her, “You’re not going to leave.”
Florez said he escorted Combs back to his room and told him the damages from the incident would be charged to his room, after which Combs allegedly offered him a stack of money in exchange for staying silent about the altercation. (Florez testified he declined the offer.)
Geragos addressed the footage in her opening statement, calling the video “horrible” and “dehumanizing.” She said it shows domestic violence. But, she told jurors, the fight was about a phone Combs was trying to get from Cassie, not about forcing her into sex.
Prosecutors say Combs kept women under his power and trafficked them using force, fraud and coercion. But Geragos painted a picture in which Ventura Fine was entirely free.
“For Cassie, she made a choice, every single day for years,” Geragos said. Ventura Fine was choosing to stay with Combs until one day she chose to leave him.
Racketeering is the participation in an illegal scheme under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute, or RICO, as a way for the U.S. government to prosecute organizations that contribute to criminal activity.
Using RICO law, which is typically aimed at targeting multi-person criminal organizations, prosecutors allege that Combs coerced victims, some of whom they say were sex workers, through intimidation and narcotics to participate in “freak offs” — sometimes dayslong sex performances that federal prosecutors claim they have video of.
Largely stoic throughout prosecutor Emily Johnson’s opening statement, Combs showed a rare reaction when the U.S. attorney was laying out his alleged criminal conduct in his “freak offs.”
When she explained that he would direct Ventura Fine on what drugs to take ahead of the sexual performance, Combs took a big breath and moved in his chair.
Ventura Fine’s husband, Alex Fine, was spotted at the courthouse on May 12 during the first day of opening arguments.
Fine, who wed Ventura Fine in 2019, shares two children with the singer, with a third on the way.
Prosecutors told jurors to expect to see videos of Combs’ alleged “freak offs” – highly coordinated, sometimes days-long sexual performances that the music mogul is accused of orchestrating.
The “freak offs,” which federal officials have said were fueled by illicit substances and featured male escorts, were used in part to blackmail his ex-girlfriend, Ventura Fine.
Combs used lies, drugs, threats and violence to force the accusers to have sex in front of male escorts, Johnson told the court. She said the incidents often lasted multiple days and with multiple escorts and sometimes forced them to travel out of state.
She repeatedly said Combs directed everything and frequently had staff on hand to replenish lubricant, linens and drugs for the women and himself, as well as cash for the escorts. He “fed them drugs” such as MDMA so they could “stay awake and perform for him for hours and days on end,” Johnson said. She also told the court he often masturbated throughout the “freak offs.”
Referencing the alleged “freak offs,” Johnson said Combs forced Ventura Fine to have sex on camera with male escorts and kept the tapes as blackmail. The videos, Johnson said, are “souvenirs of the most humiliating nights” of her life.
Ventura Fine entered her first “freak off “reluctantly, but she “loved” Combs and “wanted to make him happy,” Johnson continued. The prosecutor said the rapper “beat her viciously,” whether she was taking too long in the bathroom, missed his calls or left a “freak off” early.
Johnson described one instance in 2009 during which Combs allegedly threw Ventura Fine on the floor of an SUV and “stomped repeatedly on her face.” She will testify about another instance when she said Combs allegedly forced another escort to urinate in her mouth, Johnson said.
Members of Combs’ family turned out to court for the start of his sex-crimes trial.
Combs’ mother, Janice Combs, was spotted arriving at the courthouse on May 12, as were his children Quincy Brown, Justin Combs, Christian Combs, Chance Combs, D’Lila Combs and Jessie Combs.
Combs is facing federal sex-crimes and trafficking charges in a sprawling suit that has eroded his status as a power player and kingmaker in the entertainment industry.
He was arrested in September 2024 and has been charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Racketeering is the participation in an illegal scheme under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute, or RICO, as a way for the U.S. government to prosecute organizations contributing to criminal activity.
Per Combs’ indictment, prosecutors say his racketeering activity included “multiple acts of kidnapping,” arson, bribery, witness tampering, forced labor, sex trafficking, transportation for the purposes of prostitution and distribution of narcotics.
His indictment emerged alongside dozens of separate civil suits suggesting a pattern of abusive behavior and exploitation spanning decades, including accusations of rape, sexual assault and physical violence.
The trial will not be televised, as cameras are typically not allowed in federal criminal trial proceedings.
USA TODAY will be reporting live from the courtroom.
Contributing: USA TODAY staff; Reuters
