On Monday, federal prosecutors presented video footage of apparent “freak offs” Cassie Ventura participated in while dating Sean “Diddy” Combs.
According to ABC, the footage originated from a laptop that Ventura provided to the prosecutors. The jurors, rather than the general audience, examined videos that the prosecutors assert demonstrate Ventura and male escorts were brought to New York City for illicit sexual activities.
ABC mentioned that one of the videos extended for almost 40 minutes, although the jurors only viewed a portion of it. The sexually explicit footage was not shown to the public. Additionally, prosecutors presented a 2013 text message in which Combs proposed to Ventura, “Want to celebrate Christmas and have a ‘freak-off?’”
Three women have testified, accusing Combs of either physical or sexual abuse. Among them was Cassie Ventura, who was in a relationship with Combs from 2007 to 2018. She claimed that Combs hindered her music career while coercing her to engage in “freak offs,” which typically involved her engaging in sexual activities with other men while Combs watched. Ventura recounted that these drug-induced episodes left her exhausted and dehydrated, as they sometimes persisted for several days.
Another victim, who used the alias “Mia,” worked as Combs’ assistant for eight years. She accused Combs of forcing her to perform oral sex and sneaking into her bed to penetrate her without her consent. She also claimed Combs hurled objects at her and threw her against a wall.
A third woman, who used the pseudonym “Jane,” dated Combs from 2021 to 2024. She testified about “hotel nights,” which allegedly were sexual rendezvous arranged by Combs. Combs reportedly watched these encounters, which Jane said she had to be under the influence of drugs to participate.
Combs was arrested on September 16, 2024, outside a Manhattan hotel on federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has been denied bail three times, as Judge Andrew L. Carter determined there was a “serious risk” of witness tampering in this case.
Federal authorities raided Combs’ homes in Holmby Hills, California, and Miami in March 2024. Reports indicated that the raids were connected to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation that resulted in his arrest months later.
The raids also occurred four months after Ventura accused him of sex trafficking and abuse. In a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, she alleged that Combs drugged her and forced her to have sex with other men. The pair settled the lawsuit a day after its filing.
However, in May 2024, CNN publicized hotel surveillance footage allegedly showing Combs assaulting Ventura. Two days later, Combs released a video expressing remorse for his behavior.
“I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry,” he said.
Two more accusers came forward a week after Ventura’s lawsuit. One of the women claimed Combs drugged and raped her at Syracuse University in New York in 1991. Combs denied those allegations before a third accuser, Liza Gardner, levied similar allegations against him.
Days after footage of the Ventura assault was publicized, two more women filed lawsuits against Combs. One of those women was April Lampros, a New York Fashion Institute of Technology student who reportedly met Combs in 1994. Lampros accused Combs of sexually assaulting her on four occasions between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s.
Combs has been accused of committing or facilitating sexual abuse in at least 30 other lawsuits — including one, filed in October, which alleges he and Jay-Z raped a 13-year-old girl in New York in 2000. The accuser in that case had her lawsuit dismissed in February.
Combs turned down a plea deal days before jury selection began. His trial is expected to last two months.
[Feature Photo: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP]
