After an explosive opening day, the criminal trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs has moved onto the prosecution's star witness — the hip hop mogul's ex-girlfriend, Casandra Ventura.
Warning: This story contains details of sexual abuse and domestic violence.
The heavily pregnant 38-year-old took the stand to describe her turbulent relationship with Mr Combs, who is accused of heading up a criminal enterprise used to serve his every desire.
As part of that, Mr Combs allegedly forced and coerced women — including Ms Ventura — into marathon sexual encounters known as "freak-offs".
He has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution-related offences.
Here's what Ms Ventura — known by her stage name, Cassie — has so far told the jury in New York.
'Abusive' and 'controlling'
Ms Ventura was asked about the beginning of the couple's relationship, describing falling in love with Mr Combs after a trip to Miami.
"I was his little shadow," the R&B singer said. "We had fun. It was my first adult relationship."
The relationship lasted just over 10 years, Ms Ventura said, and over time Mr Combs became "abusive" and "controlling".
"Make the wrong face and the next thing I knew, I was getting hit in the face," Ms Ventura said.
She told the jury Mr Combs would hit and kick her, drag her by the hair and stomp on her head.
When asked how frequently he was abusive, she replied: "Too frequently."
Ms Ventura launched a civil case in 2023, alleging years of abuse. It settled out of court but appears to have been a catalyst for the federal charges.
On day one of the trial, the jury was shown a video from 2016 of Mr Combs kicking and dragging her outside an LA hotel room.
Mr Combs's lawyers conceded it was evidence of domestic violence, but said it did not prove the charges he was facing in this case.
When she was shown images from the CCTV footage, Ms Ventura said it happened after "we were having an encounter called a 'freak-off' and I was leaving there".
Details of 'freak-offs'
Ms Ventura said when Mr Combs first proposed she take part in the so-called freak-offs, her stomach fell.
"I was confused, nervous," she said. "But I also loved him very much, so I wanted to make him happy."
Describing the term "freak-off", Ms Ventura said: "It basically entails the hiring of an escort and setting up this experience so that I could perform for Sean."
"The performance involved … Sean being able to watch me with the other person and direct us with what we were doing sexually."
She said while initially Mr Combs had arranged everything, ultimately it was her job to set up the encounters, even though "pretty quickly I knew it was something I didn't want to be doing".
'Freak-offs became a job'
Ms Ventura said the encounters continued because "I just didn't feel like I had much of a choice".
"I didn't know what 'no' would turn into," she said.
When asked what she meant, Ms Ventura said she feared both blackmail and physical violence.
"It was always in the back of my mind that I would somehow be hurt by him."
The longest freak-off she was involved in lasted four days, and others took anywhere from 36 to 48 hours, she said.
The prosecution alleges Mr Combs used lies, drugs, threats and violence to force women to participate in freak-offs.
But his lawyers say prosecutors are wrongly trying to make a crime out of a party-loving lifestyle that may have been indulgent, but not illegal.
"Freak-offs became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again," Ms Ventura said.
Combs was 'controlling the whole situation'
Ms Ventura testified that her first freak-off occurred in Mr Combs's Los Angeles home when she was 22, around 2008.
She said a male Las Vegas stripper came to the home, just months after Mr Combs told her about his interest in voyeurism.
Ms Ventura said she felt dirty and confused afterwards, but also relief that Mr Combs was "really happy with me" that "I did something right".
She said she felt obligated to go along with future freak-offs.
"I just didn't want to make him upset," she said. "I just didn't want to make him angry and regret telling me about this experience that was so personal."
Asked if there was anything she enjoyed about freak-offs, an emotional Ms Ventura said: "The time spent with him."
Wiping away tears, she said those encounters provided some of the only one-on-one time she had with Mr Combs.
Soon, she said, she was doing freak-offs weekly. The final one, she said, occurred in 2017 or 2018.
She said Mr Combs dictated every aspect of the encounters and that he would get mad if they ended too soon. "It was his fantasy," she said.
"He was controlling the whole situation. He was directing it."
Ms Ventura said sometimes Mr Combs would make her repeat sex acts with the escorts. On other occasions, she said, multiple escorts were involved.
"I was an object being heavily objectified by men in that scenario."
Drugs to dissociate and many bottles of baby oil
Ms Ventura said she used drugs during every freak-off she participated in.
When a prosecutor asked why, she replied: "For me, it was dissociative and numbing. I couldn't imagine myself doing any of that without having some sort of buffer or way to not feel it for what it really was, which was emotionless sex with a stranger that I didn't really want to have sex with."
She said close to 10 large bottles of baby oil would be used during a freak-off.
"It was such a mess," she said. "It was like, what are we doing?"
The bottles would be heated in a sink of hot water before the oil was applied so she was glistening constantly, she said. If she looked dry, Mr Combs would order her to reapply, sometimes every 5 minutes or so.
On one occasion, she said, a blow-up pool of baby oil and lubricants was placed in a hotel room and she was told to get inside in her outfit and shoes.
Male escort's evidence
On day one, the court heard from sex worker Daniel Phillip, who testified he was paid to have sex with Ms Ventura while Mr Combs watched, directed and masturbated.
He said he witnessed Mr Combs assault Ms Ventura on at least two of these occasions.
On the second day of the trial, he faced cross-examination from the defence.
He was asked by defence lawyers if Ms Ventura appeared drunk or high during these encounters, to which he said: "No."
However, when the defence asked if it would be fair to say she was in complete control, Mr Phillip responded: "I cannot say that."
He also said that after Mr Combs assaulted Ms Ventura, he instructed the pair to have sex, but Mr Phillip could no longer get aroused.
Under cross-examination, Mr Phillip was asked how many times Ms Ventura appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol during their six or seven encounters.
He spoke of only one time when he arrived for a sexual encounter and said she was "completely unresponsive" and passed out on a couch. He said Mr Combs told him: "I don't think it's going to happen today."
The defence suggested Mr Phillip had developed a crush on Ms Ventura and wanted to isolate her from Mr Combs so he could be with her romantically.
Mr Phillip denied that but said: "I was attracted to her. If she ever gave me the chance to date her, I absolutely would have."
ABC/wires
