Diddy’s violent attack on ex-girlfriend Cassie played in full in court as he faces sex trafficking and racketeering charges
14 May 2025, 14:33
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ violent attack on his ex-girlfriend has been made public after footage of the incident was shown in full in court on Tuesday.
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Cassie Ventura has claimed the disgraced music mogul forced her into four-day long “freak off” orgies that became a full-time job.
The singer, known as Cassie, shared the information while in the witness box for the second day of Combs’ sex trafficking trial in Manhattan federal court.
The court was shown surveillance footage of Combs appearing to throw Ms Ventura to the ground before kicking her in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel.
Ms Ventura, who was in a decade-long relationship with Combs, 55, from around 2008, said this footage was taken following a “freak off” in which she was given a black eye by the rapper.
Diddy seen attacking Cassie Ventura in unedited hotel video
She told the court on Tuesday: “I made it to the elevators, I got my sneakers on, and the next thing I knew, I was thrown to the ground.
Asked by a prosecutor why she stayed on the ground, the 38-year-old said: “I felt like it was the safest place to be.”
Combs shook his head as the court was shown the footage, which was played without sound, for the first time.
The footage shows Combs running after Ms Ventura in a hallway at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City before slapping her and pulling her to the ground as she waits for the lift.
The rapper then kicks her several times as she lay on the ground, before picking up her bag and dragging her back.
Israel Florez, an assistant to the hotel’s security director, then appears in the shot, looking to diffuse the situation.
Florez told the court he identified Combs after responding to a call of a woman in distress on the sixth floor of the hotel.
He told the court Combs had "a blank stare, like a devilish stare, just looking at me", and told Ms Ventura she was not allowed to leave despite her pleading.
Combs allegedly offered Florez money and said "don't tell nobody".
Combs is charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex-trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
If convicted on all counts, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and could face life in prison.
He has pleaded not guilty on all counts and denied all allegations of sexual abuse.
Read more: Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex trafficking trial begins as rapper accused of '20 years of crime'
Ms Ventura, who is due to continue giving evidence on Wednesday, revealed that after being forced to take part in drug-fuelled sex sessions with male escorts, she would need to recover from drug use, dehydration and sleep deprivation.
Her testimony is believed to be likely to play a central role in the proceedings.“Staying out for days on end, taking drugs and drinking, having sex with a stranger… They would be 36, 48, 72 hours, the longest one was four days,” she said.
“The freak-offs became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again.”
The sex sessions took priority over her music career and Combs “decided I could not release another album”, she said.
Ms Ventura alleged the music producer would physically abuse her, telling the court: “I’d get knots in my forehead. Busted lips, swollen lip, swollen eyes… Bruises all over my body.”
Combs' trial began on 1 May 2025. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
In October 2024, it was reported that a team of lawyers will be filing as many as 120 more lawsuits, covering assaults that took place during the 2000s and 2010s.
Plaintiffs, 25 of whom are minors, are both male and female. Half of the alleged victims say they reported the assault to police, to a doctor, or to the FBI. Some claim to have been drugged or offered hush money.
Additional potential defendants other than Combs are also to be named in the lawsuits.
During the trial, federal prosecutor Emily Johnson told the jury that Combs had “an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and cover them up”.
Those crimes, she said, included kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes, bribery and obstruction.
