Day 4 of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal trial in New York noticed continued and emotionally charged testimony from singer and former girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
Thursday marked the start of her cross-examination, shifting the courtroom focus from prosecutors’ direct claims of abuse and coercion to protection efforts aimed toward reframing the pair’s decade-long relationship as consensual, complicated, and mutually harmful.
Combs has pleaded not responsible to 5 prices, together with intercourse trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, centered round allegations that he exploited girls by means of a community of staff and orchestrated unlawful actions. Ventura, pregnant and visibly composed, returned to the witness stand for a 3rd consecutive day, recounting intimate particulars of their relationship whereas heading off protection attorneys’ makes an attempt to undermine her credibility.
A Relationship Below the Microscope
The protection started by carefully scrutinizing Ventura and Combs’ 11-year on-and-off relationship, presenting a slew of textual content messages that painted a portrait of intimacy, jealousy, and entanglement. Ventura acknowledged she had as soon as been in love with Combs, describing him as “candy” and “attentive” within the early levels. However she additionally emphasised a shift over time. What started as passionate shortly morphed into manipulation and violence.
“You instructed him you needed to do ‘freak offs?’” one legal professional requested, referencing the group intercourse encounters which have come to outline a lot of the case’s public narrative. Ventura responded, “No, there’s much more to that,” indicating the state of affairs was layered with coercion and never as clear-cut because the protection implied.
Messages offered in courtroom included Ventura serving to Combs prepare these encounters. “We will’t choose them for being unlawful or prison if either side are prepared contributors,” legal professional Donte Mills, a authorized analyst not concerned within the case, commented. “The protection is attempting to construct the inspiration that this was a relationship she actively participated in.”
Medication, Management, and Complicity
A good portion of the cross-examination revolved round drug use—particularly, who initiated it, who equipped it, and who was accountable. Ventura admitted that each she and Combs had been addicts on the time, noting that drug use turned a shared a part of their life-style. She testified about utilizing ketamine, MDMA, and opiates—typically with Combs, and typically with out him.
The protection centered on messages the place Ventura requested Combs for capsules and mentioned partying at Burning Man. She acknowledged having associates who additionally equipped her with medication, and agreed that Combs grew more and more indignant when she used substances exterior of his management. “If the 2 of us weren’t getting excessive collectively, it was an issue,” she stated.
The courtroom additionally heard about an alleged 2016 try by Combs to chop Ventura off from medication, instructing Los Angeles sellers to not promote to her. The protection argued that this was an indication he was attempting to assist her get clear. Ventura’s response: it occurred, however not essentially out of concern—it was about management.
The Weight of Violence and Public Picture
The trial took a darker flip as Ventura confronted questions on incidents of bodily violence—a few of which she witnessed firsthand, and others she heard or realized about later. She recalled Combs allegedly throwing a hanger at a pal, and one other second the place he hurled somebody into patio furnishings throughout a balcony altercation. Although she admitted not seeing the hanger incident, she testified to seeing the aftermath—her pal injured and shaken.
The protection introduced up the menace of damaging movies—footage from “freak offs”—and Ventura’s worry that they may break her profession. In flip, they questioned whether or not her civil lawsuit towards Combs was timed for max publicity. When requested if she understood his profession may additionally be ruined on account of her lawsuit, Ventura replied, “I may perceive that.”
Jealousy, Secrets and techniques, and Emotional Turmoil
Ventura was questioned concerning the jealousy that plagued their relationship, significantly over Combs’ relationships with different girls. At one level, a message from Ventura learn: “You’re making me appear to be a side-piece and that’s not what I assumed I used to be.” She admitted she was typically “insanely jealous” when seeing him publicly with others, significantly in 2013 when she believed she was his principal associate.
The protection revisited her relationships with Child Cudi and, later, actor Michael B. Jordan, making an attempt to ascertain a sample of infidelity and retaliation. Ventura testified that her emotional unraveling was exacerbated by deception not solely from Combs however from his interior circle, who she believed turned complicit in defending him.
“I despatched the video of him with one other lady to his employees as a result of I had spent all my time with them. I assumed they had been my household,” she stated. “All people was mendacity.”
Love, Dependancy, and Twin Realities
In a surreal twist, the courtroom reviewed pages of affectionate messages between the 2. Ventura agreed that they had exchanged loving texts and acknowledged that Combs typically inspired her artistry and praised her look. On the identical time, she stated he put her down, emotionally destabilizing her whereas positioning himself as her savior.
Requested whether or not Combs was hooked on something, Ventura didn’t hesitate. “Success,” she stated. She then confirmed he had additionally been hooked on opiates, like her, and suffered seen withdrawals.
Regardless of the protection’s relentless efforts to reframe the connection, the courtroom has heard repeated testimonies from Ventura about manipulation, trauma, and emotional injury. The prosecution could have an opportunity to redirect questioning Friday after the choose instructed the protection to wrap cross-examination by midday.
Cassie Ventura stays on the middle of this high-profile case—not simply as a witness, however as a lady navigating the intersection of energy, fame, and survival.
SEE ALSO:
Inside Day 3 Of The Explosive Testimony Towards Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Sean Combs’ Authorized Crew Claims ‘Mutual Abuse’ In Relationship With Cassie Ventura