Cassie Ventura, the ex-girlfriend of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, is set to receive an eight-figure payout from a Los Angeles hotel.
Ventura, 38, took the stand today for the fourth time in Combs’ New York trial, where he is charged with racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
He has repeatedly denied all charges, facing the rest of his life behind bars if convicted.
The American musician, who is nearing the end of her pregnancy, dated Combs, 55, from 2007 to 2018, and, in 2023, she filed a lawsuit accusing him of a decade of abuse.
While giving evidence, Ventura has been questioned on one incident in particular, having been shown CCTV footage from inside the InterContinental Hotel in Century City in 2016.
In the clip, originally obtained and broadcast by CNN last spring, a half-naked Combs aggressively grabs, shoves, drags, and kicks Ventura across the floor and throws things at her while she cowers.
The surveillance footage has been widely circulated both in and out of court over the past year, with Combs himself allegedly purchasing it himself for $50,000 (£37.6k) the day after the beating, seemingly in an attempt to prevent it from becoming public.
Earlier today, as her testimony came to an end, Ventura revealed that she and her team had come to an agreement with the California hotel.
Under questioning from Combs’ attorney Anna Estevao over finances, Ventura said that the arrangement ‘had been reached in the past month’, having negotiated a $10million (£7.5m) sum.
When the video of the 2016 assault first went viral, Combs issued a public apology. While his lawyers have also described it as ‘indefensible’ and ‘dehumanising,’ they argue it is not evidence of the sex trafficking charges he faces.
On Monday, the jury listened to testimony from Israel Florez, a security guard at the InterContinental who witnessed Combs assaulting Ventura. Florez recorded the footage on his own phone without reporting it to the police.
He said that when he arrived at the scene of the attack, he escorted Combs back to his room. Asked by him if she wanted the police to be called, Ventura is believed to have said: ‘I just want to leave.’
Ventura is yet to receive her $10million, but it is in addition to the $20million (£15.1m) settlement she and ex-partner Combs reached in November 2023 following her abuse and assault filing.
In an emotional moment, however, Ventura told the court today that she would give up the staggering amount of cash if it allowed her to turn back the clock and not go through Combs’ drug-fueled sex parties.
A sobbing Ventura added to a 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.’
Upon being reminded of the physical violence she suffered, as well as the urinary tract infections (UTIs) Ventura previously told the court she endured regularly, she put her head in her hands and began gasping through tears.
‘I’m sorry,’ she repeated, keeping her head down. ‘You can continue. I’m sorry.’
Asked how those situations made her feel, Ventura said that she felt ‘worthless’.
The performer has spoken in detail this week about the ‘freak-offs’ she participated in while dating Combs. This is the name given to the often days-long sexual encounters where Combs would watch, film, and often masturbate while Ventura had sex with escorts.
Ventura testified that, after splitting from Combs, she never took part in another freak-off, which once occurred weekly. Combs did remain in contact with her for a while, having congratulated her on her pregnancy in 2019.
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After Ventura finished testifying, her lawyer read a statement to press outside the courthouse, thanking her family and supporters for being behind her.
The statement concluded by saying she now wishes to focus on her pregnancy, as Ventura is expecting her baby with husband Alex Fine, 32.
The statement also said Ventura found it ‘extremely challenging’ to testify and recall her relationship with Combs, but also described it as ‘remarkably empowering and healing’.
In his own statement, Fine, whom Ventura married in 2019, praised his wife’s ‘strength and bravery’.
Ending with a direct message to Combs, he said: ‘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.’
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