NEW YORK – R&B singer and actress Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, started her testimony on Tuesday in the sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The music producer faces charges related to his alleged use of power to pressure women, including Cassie, into abusive sexual situations, resorting to violence if they resisted. He has denied the charges. In 2023, Cassie filed a lawsuit against Combs accusing him of years of sexual assault and abuse, which was swiftly settled. This lawsuit has led to numerous similar claims and initiated a criminal investigation.

Here’s what you need to know about the 38-year-old star witness:

A talented performer

Cassie, known for her talents in singing, acting, dancing, and modeling, pursued her career goals from a young age. She was signed by the renowned Wilhelmina talent and modeling agency while still a teenager. Her journey in music began when she moved from her native Connecticut to New York. There, she signed with manager Tony Mottola and initially met Combs.

Cassie is perhaps best known for the 2006 hit single “Me & U,” which secured the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 all genres chart. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The Ryan Leslie-produced song was the lead single of her only studio album, released by Combs’ Bad Boy Records, and was self-titled. She left the label in 2019.

As an actor, she appeared in several television and films projects including Fox’s “Empire,” “The Perfect Match” and “Spenser Confidential.” She made her acting debut in 2008 in “Step Up 2: The Streets” and contributed the song “Is It You” to its soundtrack.

She’s appeared in a number of music videos as well, including Wiz Khalifa’s “Roll Up” and Mario’s “Just A Friend 2002.”

Although she never released her long-teased sophomore album, at once point tentatively titled “Electro Love,” she did drop a few tracks: the R&B-pop “Official Girl” with Lil Wayne, “Must Be Love” with Combs, and “Let’s Get Crazy” with Akon. And in 2012, Nicki Minaj tapped her for a feature on “The Boys” from Minaj’s “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded — The Re-Up.”

Cassie is also a wife and a mother. She married personal trainer Alex Fine in September 2019. Their first daughter, Frankie Stone Fine, was born that same year and they welcomed their second daughter, Sunny Cinco Fine, in 2021. She is currently pregnant with their third child, a son.

The Combs’ connection

Cassie met Combs in 2005 when she was 19 and he was 37. He signed her to his Bad Boy Records label and, within a few years, they started dating.

In her 2023 civil lawsuit, Cassie alleges Combs trapped her in a “cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking” for more than a decade, including raping her and forcing her to engage in sex acts with male sex workers. Combs settled the lawsuit the next day.

In May 2024, CNN aired video that showed Combs attacking Cassie in hotel hallway in 2016. The video closely mirrored an assault described in her lawsuit, which said Combs had already punched her that night, and she was trying to leave the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles when he woke and came after her. In the footage, a man who appears to be Diddy, wearing only a towel, punches Cassie, kicks her, and throws her on to the floor. The lawsuit alleges Combs paid $50,000 to bury the video at the time.

Later, Combs apologized for the assault on Cassie in his first real acknowledgment of wrongdoing since the stream of allegations began.

Among other things, Cassie alleges Combs raped her when she tried to leave him and often punched, kicked and beat her, causing injuries including bruises, burst lips, black eyes and bleeding.

She also alleges that Combs was involved in blowing up rival rapper Kid Cudi’s car when he learned that Cudi was romantically interested in her, and she alleges that Combs ran out of his home with guns when he learned that Suge Knight, a rival producer, was eating nearby.

On the first day of Combs’ sex trafficking trial, a witness, Daniel Phillip, said he was a professional stripper who was paid $700 to $6,000 to have sex with Cassie while Combs watched and gave instructions, with the first encounter in 2012.

Phillip told jurors that he stopped meeting with the couple after he saw Combs throw a bottle at her and then drag her by her hair into a bedroom as she screamed.

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AP writer Mike Sisak contributed to this report.