By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — R&B singer Cassie finished testifying in the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking trial Friday after four emotional days on the witness stand during which she was questioned about the deepest, most disturbing secrets of her sex life and described being beaten and raped by a man she once loved.
When Judge Arun Subramanian told her she could leave, saying, “You’ve been here a long time,” Cassie glanced once toward the jury but never looked in Combs’ direction as she walked out of the courtroom for the final time.
After departing, Cassie, who dated Combs for a decade, released a statement through her lawyer saying she hoped her testimony helps others “heal from the abuse and fear.”
“For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember,” she said. “And the more I can remember, the more I will never forget.”
Combs, 55, is on trial in New York on charges that he exploited his status as an entertainment executive to force women, including Cassie, into drug-fueled “freak-offs” with male sex workers and engaged in other abusive acts against people who relied on him for their careers.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. His lawyers say that, although he could be violent, nothing he did amounted to a criminal enterprise. And Combs insists all the sex at the freak-offs was consensual.
Shortly after Cassie finished testifying, prosecutors called another witness who was once close to Combs: Dawn Richard, a singer who appeared on his reality show “Making the Band,” which launched her group act Danity Kane.
Richard testified that she witnessed Combs physically attack Cassie on multiple occasions. During a visit to Combs’ home recording studio in 2009, Richard said she and another woman saw Combs hit Cassie “on the head and beat her on the ground.”
Combs brought them back the next day, she said, giving Richard flowers and putting a spin on what happened.
“He said that what we saw was passion and what lovers in relationships do,” she testified.
But he also locked them in his recording studio and threatened them to stay silent or else, she said.
Richard sued Combs last year, accusing him of physical abuse, groping and psychological abuse during the years they worked together. Her testimony is to resume Monday.
Throughout Friday’s testimony, Combs kept lowering his head to write a steady stream of messages on small sheets of paper that he passed to his defense attorneys.
Cassie’s texts to Diddy are a key part of cross-examination
Over her hours of testimony during the week, Cassie said she was ashamed and loathed taking part in “hundreds” of the freak-offs, which could go on for days. But she said she felt compelled because Combs threatened her with violence, and was physically abusive “a lot” during the encounters. He also threatened to publicly release sex videos of her if she made him angry, she said.
Combs’ lawyers, however, have sought to portray her as an eager participant.
On Thursday and Friday, they had Cassie read texts and emails in which she expressed willingness to engage in the encounters.
In a 2012 exchange, Combs told Cassie he wanted to “FO one last time tonight,” using initials for freak-off. Cassie replied, “What?” Combs said, “You can’t read?” Then Cassie replied, “I don’t want to freak off for the last time. I want it to be the first time for the rest of our lives.”
Combs’ lawer, Anna Estevao, ended her questioning there, but prosecutor Emily Johnson had Cassie read more messages for context.
“I want to see you, but I’m emotional right now,” Cassie wrote. “I don’t want to do one last time. I’d rather not do it at all.”
Cassie testified she was initially open to the encounters because she wanted to make Combs happy and spend time with him, but grew weary as the years went on.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has.
Cassie filed a lawsuit in 2023 accusing Combs of physical and sexual abuse, but they settled within hours for $20 million — an amount she disclosed publicly for the first time during the trial. Dozens of other people have since made similar legal claims.
Cassie’s testimony ended with another disclosure: She said she recently reached an estimated $10 million settlement with the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles, where a security camera in 2016 recorded Combs hitting her, kicking her, and dragging her down in a hallway.
After that incident, Cassie texted Combs saying, “I’m not a rag doll. I’m somebody’s child.”
Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, also told Combs in a text that he was out of control from drugs and alcohol that day.
Yet, days later, according to texts read at the trial, she and Combs were expressing love for each other. “We need a different vibe from Friday,” she wrote.
After hotel security video of the assault was released last year, Combs apologized and said he was “disgusted” by his actions.
Scrutiny of rape claim against Combs
Estevao also questioned Cassie on Friday about her testimony that Combs raped her in 2018 after she ended their nearly 11-year relationship, noting that she gave differing descriptions of his demeanor and the timing of the alleged assault in interviews with investigators and in her trial testimony.
Cassie contends the rape happened at her Los Angeles home after she and Combs had dinner in Malibu, California, to discuss their breakup, either in August or September 2018.
While Cassie testified this week that Combs was “really nice” and “playful” at the dinner, Estevao pointed out that Cassie told investigators in 2023 that Combs had been “acting very strangely” that night. Cassie clarified, “Nice, but strangely.”
Cassie also testified this week that Combs, during the dinner, was trying to get her to go to the Burning Man festival in Nevada, but previously told investigators that the dinner and rape happened after Combs returned from Burning Man.
Cassie acknowledged she stayed in touch with Combs and had consensual sex with him a few weeks after she says he raped her. She also exchanged warm messages with Combs after they broke up, even after she married Alex Fine in 2019.
The trial is expected to last well into June.
___
Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.