The husband of Cassie Ventura has spoken out in support of his wife after she spent four days giving testimony at the New York trial of her former partner, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
Former footballer, musician and actor Alex Fine, 32, married singer and actress Ventura, 38, in 2019 after meeting at the gym as her personal trainer.
Since then, Fine has been vocal in support of his wife – who spent the past week giving testimony to the violence and abuse she allegedly suffered while in a relationship with rapper and producer Combs, 55, between 2007 and 2018.
In 2023, she filed a lawsuit accusing Combs of a decade of abuse over the course of their relationship – in particular, a viral incident at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City in 2016, in which CCTV footage showed a half-naked Combs apparently grabbing, shoving and kicking Ventura across the floor.
Taking to the stand to share her account of the alleged abuse, eight-and-a-half months pregnant Ventura also shared her account of so-called ‘freak offs’ – marathon sex parties she says she had been coerced into – which the musician is accused of organising.
Combs, who has repeatedly denied all charges filed against him, faces the rest of his life in prison if convicted of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
In a statement released by his lawyer on Friday, Fine shared a message of support for Ventura, saying: ‘Over the past five days, the world has gotten to witness the strength and bravery of my wife freeing herself of her past. I have felt so many things sitting there. I have felt tremendous pride and overwhelming love for Cass. I have felt profound anger that she has been subjected to sitting in front of a person who tried to break her.’
In seeming reference to Diddy, he continued: ‘So to him and all of those who helped him along the way, please know this: You did not. You did not break her spirit, nor her smile, that lights up every room. You did not break the souls of a mother who gives the best hugs and plays the silliest games with our little girls. You did not break the woman who has made me a better man.
He also denied ‘saving’ Ventura, stressing how her continued strength was of her own doing, rather than any one else.
‘Cassie saved Cassie. She alone broke free from abuse, coercion, violence and threats. She did the work of fighting the demons that only a demon himself could have done to her,’ Fine finished.
Fine previously released a message of support on social media in 2019, telling the world: ‘I promise you that I will do every single thing in my power to support you and help you.
‘I promise that you will never be alone. I promise that you will be loved beyond expectation and we will show our children how to be in a healthy relationship.’
The couple currently share two daughters, Frankie and Sunny together, with a third also on the way.
During an extensive four-day testimony this week, Ventura grew emotional as she recalled the abuse she allegedly suffered during her 11-year relationship with Combs.
She told the court of how Combs would ‘bash on my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me’, with alleged assaults occurring ‘too frequently’.
As her testimony came to an end, Ventura revealed how she and her team had come to an agreement with the California hotel where the viral video took place – having negotiated a settlement of $10,000,000 (£7.5m) in the past month.
This sum is in addition to the $20million (£15.1m) settlement she and Combs reached following her November 2023 abuse and assault filing.
Ventura also spoke of how she became involved in the ‘freak offs’ said to have been organised by Combs, in which it is alleged that he coerced multiple alleged victims into sex acts.
The federal indictment claims that he organised such ‘freak offs’, while ‘directing, masturbating during and often electronically recording’ them – and forcing, or coercing, women to participate with male sex workers, who were reportedly flown in to take part.
The BBC reports that Ventura described the experience as a ‘sexual encounter called voyeurism’ in which he would watch her having sex with another man.
She claimed that she felt as though she were unable to say no, as she ‘didn’t know what “no” could be, or what “no” could turn into.’
In order to get through these sex parties – which could last up to 36 or 48 hours, with four days being the longest – Ventura spoke of how she consumed different drugs which ‘made me feel numb, which is why I relied on them so heavily.’
She also told the court that she suffered from gastrointestinal issues as a result of the drugs, and ‘horrible’ UTIs from the sex sessions.
In relation to the $20million settlement she reached with Combs, she told the prosecutor: ‘I’d give that money back if I never had to have freak-offs.
‘If I never had to have freak-offs, I would have agency and autonomy. I wouldn’t have had to work so hard to get it back.’
As Ventura’s testimony concluded, her lawyer read a statement to the press outside the courthouse, thanking her family and supporters for standing with her.
This statement ended with the information that she now wishes to move forward by focusing on her forthcoming pregnancy.
The trial continues.
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