Sean “Diddy” Combs ex-girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, also going by Cassie professionally, testified in court on Wednesday that the music mogul raped her in 2018 after a ten-year romance was over. Ventura, 38, also testified that Combs settled for a $20 million settlement just a day after she filed a civil lawsuit against him in November 2023.
The news broke on the third day of Combs criminal trial, in which the 55-year-old rapper is charged with five felonies, including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transporting people for prostitution. Conviction could lead to a minimum of 15 years and possibly a life sentence.
Tearing up as she testified, Ventura described the 2018 rape: “I just remember saying no and crying, but it happened really fast,” she cried. She said the civil lawsuit followed a period of trauma therapy and rehabilitation as a result of recurring flashbacks.
“I can’t bear the shame, the guilt,” Ventura told the jury. “Right is right, wrong is wrong. I came here to do the right thing.”
Combs lawyers will begin cross-examining Ventura as early as Thursday, possibly focusing on her history, which they claim includes a history of domestic violence.
Ventura recounted years of claimed physical and emotional abuse, such as violent “Freak Off” sex parties featuring drugs, escorts, and threats. She alleged Combs attacked her so viciously in 2013 that it caused a gash on her eyebrow. When she presented a photo of the injury to him, she said, he responded by blaming her for having goaded him.
Jurors were presented with static photographs of the “Freak Offs” from videos, eliciting visible unease in court. The celebrity trial, commanding widespread public and media interest, will likely last for a maximum of two months.
