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

After Cassie Ventura testified that one way Sean Combs controlled her was to mandate her appearance, from her manicure color to her clothing, her hairdo and piercings, the defense elicited testimony from her on cross-examination that established Combs as someone whose thoughts on fashion were in demand.

"Do you believe Mr. Combs has good taste?" defense attorney Anna Estevao asked. "I think he does," Ventura responded.

"Is he known for his impact on fashion?" Estevao asked. "Yup," Ventura answered. "I would say he's had a big impact on fashion over many decades." She added, "Sometimes I got information without asking for it."

The defense also asked Ventura about Combs' drug use. She said she witnessed a lot of drug use by Combs during their relationship and testified there were points when both of them were heavily dependent on opiates.

She said withdrawal from them made Combs "irritated."

The defense has attributed some of Combs' violence to his drug use.

"You would say he was an addict?" Estevao asked. "I would say he was an addict," Ventura replied.

"What was he addicted to?"

"Success," she responded, earning a chuckle from the courtroom. She then said Combs was addicted to various substances over the years.

Defense lawyers made it clear before the trial that they intended to label a lot of Combs' sexual behavior as reflective of a swingers lifestyle.

Now Estevao is asked Cassie directly if she thinks "freak-offs" were related to this lifestyle.

"In a sexual way," Cassie responded, before adding: "They're very different."

A day earlier, Cassie told prosecutors they went to swingers clubs together several times in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

While prosecutors focused on Combs' desire to see Cassie having sex with other men in marathons of sexual activity, she acknowledged under defense questioning that she sometimes watched Combs have sex with other women.

Cassie testified that this happened maybe four times throughout the course of their decade-long relationship, and that Combs told her it was part of a "swingers lifestyle."

After going through a pile of Cassie's years-old emails and text messages, defense questioning pivoted to the highly orchestrated encounters in which Cassie says Combs watched as she engaged in sex acts with male sex workers.

Early on, Cassie testified, she disguised herself with wigs and masquerade masks because while Combs was a recognizable star, she was an up-and-coming R&B singer and neither of them wanted people finding out.

"The encounter itself was pretty crazy," Cassie told jurors. "I really followed his lead on that because I had never done it before."

Nearly two hours into cross examination, the questioning of Cassie seems to have taken a turn from what had been mostly friendly questioning.

Estevao asked Cassie if it's "fair to say" that Combs' career was ruined after she sued him in November 2023, making public for the first time the concept of "freak-offs."

"I could understand that," Cassie responded.

Cassie testified earlier this week that when she tied to end their relationship, Combs threatened to end her career by releasing degrading sexual videos of her.