Cassie Details Black Eye, Bruises After Diddy Hotel Hallway Beating at His Trial

The R&B singer Cassie returned to the witness stand Wednesday in ex-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial, describing a vicious attack by Combs that was caught on surveillance video at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.

The infamous video shows Combs hitting, kicking and attempting to drag Cassie back to their room. She said it happened as she was leaving one of the degrading encounters with male sex workers that Combs orchestrated and called “freak offs.” After the footage was leaked last year, Combs apologized.

Prosecutors have accused Combs of exploiting his status as a powerful music executive to violently force women into drugged-up sex parties. Combs is charged with five counts, including sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. He denies all of the allegations.

Combs’ attorneys have acknowledged Combs could be violent but maintain that the sexual acts were consensual. They say nothing he did amounted to sex trafficking or racketeering.

Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, was being questioned by the prosecution. Combs’ lawyers were expected to begin their cross-examination later in the day — their opportunity to challenge her credibility or poke holes in her accounts of what happened.

Jurors on Wednesday were shown photographs of Cassie’s swollen lip after the attack. She testified that she took the selfies on her Uber ride away from the hotel. She said she wore sunglasses because she had a black eye. Once home, she said a friend of hers saw her injuries and was “super upset” because she’d “seen me with black eyes and busted lips before.”

Cassie said her friend called police, but she declined to reveal who had injured her once police arrived so they left. “In that moment, I didn’t want to hurt him that way,” she said. “I wasn’t ready.”

She also testified that Combs kept texting her after she left the hotel. She said he claimed that police were about to arrest him. And, when she refused to accept his phone calls, Combs told her that if she didn’t pick up the phone, he would never talk to her again. she said.

Jurors were then shown pictures of Cassie and Combs at a movie premiere soon after the hotel attack.

Cassie described bruises on her body that were visible in the photographs and said she was unable to cover up all the damage with makeup. She wore dark sunglasses to cover up her black eye.

During her first day of testimony on Tuesday, she spent hours recounting grotesque and humiliating details of life with Combs, including the many “freak offs” held over a decade until about 2017 or 2018.

She described being pressured into multiday sexual encounters with paid sex workers while Combs watched and gave directions. She also recounted being beaten numerous times by Combs when she did things that displeased him — like smiling at him the wrong way.

The “freak offs” took place in private, often in dark hotel rooms, unlike Combs’ very public White Parties in the Hamptons that attracted A-list celebrities.

Cassie accused Combs of gaining her submission by threatening to publicly release videos of her with male sex workers, and she feared more violence if she refused his demands.

Cassie met Combs in 2005, when she was 19 and just at the start of a career as a singer, model and actor. She had a hit song, “Me & U,” in 2006 off an album released by Combs’ Bad Boy Records.

Combs, who was 37 when they met, nurtured her career early on and also became her boyfriend for a decade.

Cassie left Combs’ record label in 2019 and then sued him in 2023, accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse. The suit was settled within hours but dozens of similar legal claims followed, sparking the criminal investigation against him.

She told jurors during her testimony Tuesday that there were loving moments during their relationship but that Combs was always controlling and often violent.

Cassie said she was 22 when Combs first asked her to do a “freak off” sexual encounter, with the first one occurring in his Los Angeles home with a male stripper. It left her feeling dirty and confused, but relieved that Combs was happy, she said.

“It was his fantasy,” she said. “He was controlling the whole situation. He was directing it.”
Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted. The trial is expected to last about two months.