Sean Combs’ federal criminal trial began this week. Federal prosecutors charged him with racketeering, sex trafficking and more. He’s facing life in prison if convicted. The federal investigation into Combs only began after Cassie sued him in civil court. As soon as her lawsuit filing came out and people got a glimpse of everything Combs did to her, suddenly the authorities were very interested in investigating Combs. Combs ended up settling with Cassie within 48 hours of her lawsuit being filed, but Cassie has been providing information to federal prosecutors this whole time. Cassie is now the star witness (and victim) of this whole federal criminal case. On Tuesday, Cassie began her multi-day testimony. She’s eight-months pregnant with her third child with husband Alex Fine. Her testimony was quite direct about what Combs did to her but you can read some of the more lurid coverage elsewhere.
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ so-called “freak-offs” were described at length during his sex trafficking and racketeering trial in New York on Tuesday by Cassie Ventura, his ex-girlfriend and the woman whose civil complaint launched a federal investigation into the rap mogul that led to his arrest on a five-count indictment where she is names as “Victim-1.”
Ventura also revealed from the witness stand on Tuesday that the video of Combs attacking her in 2016 in a hallway at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles shows her fleeing a “freak-off” that suddenly turned violent. She told the court that back in March of 2016, she had her first big movie premiere coming up and beforehand had told Combs that she was eager to do a freak-off but was worried about “wrecking” her body before the event. At the hotel, she recalled to the court, she was suddenly punched in the eye by Combs, bruising her face; at this point, she fled the room while he was “in the bathroom or on the phone.” Jurors viewed for a fifth time in two days the video footage of the horrible beating that followed.
Ventura’s arrival at Combs’ trial was touted on Monday during the opening statement by the defense as a six-year reunion for the former on-and-off couple, whose tumultuous relationship went on for a decade after the R&B singer signed to his label, Bad Boy Records. On the first day of her testimony, a heavily pregnant Ventura described in detail the frequent outbursts of violence and drug-fueled hotel room sexual trysts she says she was forced into participating in, and often initiated, by Combs as a victim of his abuse and coercive control.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson asked Ventura hundreds of questions over the 7 hours that she testified about her relationship with Combs on Tuesday….At times, Ventura testified, she would be punished by Combs if he disapproved of her behavior by having his staff take away her possessions. This included her jewelry and her car, she said, and at times she was kicked out of her apartment. The involvement of Combs’ staff with Ventura and the crimes of which he stands accused is crucial to the feds proving the racketeering element of their indictment and that a criminal enterprise existed.
I read through her hours of testimony about the freak-offs and… yeah. Combs is a sick man. Cassie is incredibly brave, she’s been brave this whole time. One of the important parts of her testimony were the parts about Combs’ coercive and violent control of her. Even if she technically “consented” to various parts of Combs’ depravity, she was in an extremely abusive relationship where Combs exerted control over every part of her body and life. He controlled what she ate, what plastic surgery she had, what she wore, who she had sex with, where she slept, who she saw, who she spoke to. He controlled her finances, her body and everything else.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
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