Sean Combs sex trafficking trial updates: Cassie's testimony ends after days of describing abuse

The hip-hop mogul is charged with sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

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Last updated: Friday, May 16, 2025 11:26PM GMT
DIDDY ON TRIAL: First week of witness testimony recap

NEW YORK -- After four days on the witness stand, Cassie Ventura concluded her testimony Friday at the trial of her ex-boyfriend, Sean "Diddy" Combs.

It came shortly after the defense concluded nearly two days of cross-examination.

Prosecutors allege Combs, 55, used his fame and fortune to orchestrate an empire of exploitation, coercing women into abusive sex parties.

If Combs is convicted on all charges, which include racketeering, kidnapping, arson, bribery and sex trafficking, he would face a mandatory 15 years in prison and could remain behind bars for life.

This story may contain accounts and descriptions of actual or alleged events that some readers may find disturbing.

"Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy," a new podcast from "20/20" and ABC Audio, traces how the whispers of abuse came to light and led to the downfall of Sean "Diddy" Combs, who was once among the most influential entertainers and entrepreneurs in hip hop. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and more.

Kemberly Richardson reports from Lower Manhattan.

(ABC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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May 13, 2025, 8:19 PM GMT

Messy scene described after 'freak offs'

Cassie Ventura participated in freak offs at nearly every one of Sean Combs' homes and, most frequently, in hotels in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Ibiza, and Turks and Caicos, she told the jury.

"After a freak off the room was pretty bad off," she said. "Oil, candle wax all over the place."

The candles were used for lighting along with studio-type lights that gave the room a reddish hue, she testified. The jury saw a photo of Combs on a bed with a wad of cash in a room that was glowing with red light.

FILE - Singer Cassie Ventura arrives for the screening of Killing Them Softly at the 65th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 22, 2012.
FILE - Singer Cassie Ventura arrives for the screening of Killing Them Softly at the 65th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 22, 2012.

Ventura said she remembered the smell in the room being "super pungent" from candles, body odor and urine.

Ventura said Combs liked participants' bodies "to be glistening" with baby oil. They would go through ten large-sized bottles at a time, she testified.

Ventura told the jury that the freak offs fulfilled Combs's alleged desire for voyeurism. She described in graphic detail what she said were "disgusting" acts.

When the freak offs became more frequent, Ventura said she and Combs used an escort service to supply them with participants at locations across the country.

Combs sat back in his chair listening to Ventura's testimony, with his mother and children seated in the second row behind him.

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May 13, 2025, 6:56 PM GMT

Each 'freak off' involved about 10 large bottles of Johnson's brand baby oil, Cassie says

Cassie said the "freak offs" were a "very choreographed experience," with lots of baby oil.

The substance would be heated up - a closed bottle placed in a sink filled with hot water - and applied liberally because Combs wanted her glistening constantly, she said.

Combs would call out Cassie when she "looked dry" and ordered her to reapply, sometimes requiring a new coat of baby oil every five minutes, or so, she said.

On one occasion, she said, a blow-up pool of baby oil and lubricants was placed in a hotel room and she was told to get inside in her "outfit" and shoes.

She said close to 10 large bottles of baby oil would be used during a "freak off."

"It was such a mess," she said. "It was like, 'What are we doing?'"

As she questioned Cassie, prosecutor Emily Johnson returned again and again to a simple, but important question: Whose decision was it?

"Sean," Cassie replied each time, referring to Combs.

It was his decision, she said, to involve her in "freak offs," to incorporate baby oil and male sex workers, to pour candle wax on her body, and more.

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May 13, 2025, 7:02 PM GMT

Ventura breaks down on witness stand describing 'freak offs'

Cassie Ventura broke down on the witness stand as she described her participation in freak offs.

Ventura said she had just turned 22 when Sean Combs first proposed these marathon, drug-addled sex performances with male prostitutes and eventually, they "became almost weekly." She said it would be impossible to remember participating in all of them.

The average length was two or three days. She was awake the whole time, fueled by ecstasy, molly and cocaine given to her by Combs.

Darla Miles reports on the atmosphere in the courtroom as Cassie testified in the trial of Sean Combs.

"Who decided when a freak off was over?" prosecutor Emily Johnson asked.

"Ultimately that would be Sean," Ventura responded.

"Did you want to participate in every freak off?" Johnson asked

"No," Ventura answered. "I felt like it was all I was good for. It was disgusting. I felt humiliated. I didn't have the words for how horrible I really felt."

If she refused to participate, Combs "would be violent with me."

"His look would just change over. He would become a different person and I didn't know what was going to happen," Ventura said.

When Johnson asked if there was any part of the freak off she enjoyed, Ventura began to sob. She grabbed a tissue and, through tears, said "I thought it was the only time I could get."

The first freak-off occurred at one of the homes Combs was renting in Los Angeles. The jury saw a photo of the male escort who participated. Ventura did not remember his name. She said she wore "really high platform shoes" and a masquerade mask.

"Every freak off was directed by Sean. He knew specifically where he wanted everyone to be, the lighting," Ventura said.

The case against Combs also involves those around him and Johnson asked Ventura about associates Toni Fletcher and Kristina Khorram and security guards named Fahim and Uncle Paulie.

Ventura, who added a long camel coat to her witness stand wardrobe, recalled seeing guns in several of Combs' properties, "just laid out."

She recalled an evening when one of his employees told Combs record executive Shug Knight was nearby. Combs and others donned black clothing and guns.

"I was crying, I was screaming. Like, please don't do anything stupid," Ventura testified.

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May 13, 2025, 6:07 PM GMT

Cassie says she saw Combs and his bodyguard grab guns to confront Suge Knight

Cassie recalled an incident where Combs left her during a "freak off" at his Los Angeles home to confront rival record executive Suge Knight at Mel's Drive-In, a landmark diner nearby.

Combs sprang into action after his bodyguard came in and told him of Knight's whereabouts, she said. Combs and the bodyguard dressed in black clothes, grabbed guns from a safe and loaded into an SUV, she said.

"I was crying. I was screaming, like 'Please don't do anything stupid,'" Cassie testified. "I was really nervous for them. I didn't know what they were going to do."

She said, "It's like I wasn't even there."

Cassie said Combs later returned, but she didn't say if he told her what happened. It's unclear if he ended up encountering Knight at the diner.