This story was first published on Monday, May 12, providing an in-depth look at the opening arguments in Sean Combs’ sex trafficking trial. We are committed to delivering real-time updates as the case unfolds, with daily coverage of courtroom developments, witness testimonies, and breaking news.
Update as of May 13
Today, Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, 38, sat just a few feet away from the man she accused of rape and domestic abuse. The last time the two saw one another was at Kim Porter’s funeral. today, she’s in her third trimester of pregnancy.
Cassie cried on the stand as the jury looked on to hear in detail the second half of what she described in her federal complaint almost two full years ago.
Mrs. Ventura-Fine is a key witness in the prosecution’s federal sex-trafficking case against Sean Combs, 55. Two years ago, in November, the singer filed suit against her ex-boyfriend alleging among other things rape and domestic abuse. Cassie settled for an undisclosed amount within 24 hours of filing.
Before the prosecution and defense prepared to question Cassie, defense attorney Anna Estevao requested Cassie’s husband Alex Fine, be asked to leave the courtroom saying, “we’d like Ms. Ventura’s husband to not be allowed in the courtroom during her testimony. We may need to call him as a witness later, depending on the direct.”
Defense attorney Teny Geragos added, “We ask that he be excluded when the testimony gets into post 2018.”
Alex Fine and Cassandra Ventura married in August 2019. She’s pregnant with their third child. Fine was hired by Combs to be Cassie’s personal trainer.
“Men who hit women aren’t men. Men who enable it and protect those people aren’t men,” Fine once posted on Instagram.
Cassie met Combs in 2006 and signed a 10-record deal with Bad Boy Records. She released one album on the label.
When the two began to date, she says, “I was insanely jealous.”
Freak offs became more like a job for her. “The longest was four days,” Cassie said. “Sean said, you need to be glistening,” in reference to the baby oil.
But when Cassie testified to being urinated on by Phillip and Combs, there appeared to be a sense of shock in the room.
“Why were you chocking?” Cassie was asked by the prosecution.
“Too much urine in my mouth,” she replied.
When asked how often it happened. She replied, “often enough.”
The prosecution asked in graphic detail about what happened during various freak-off sessions. Cassie testified to scenes involving blood and baby oil from being on her menstrual cycle. She also spoke of being instructed by Combs to place semen on his nipples from male sex workers.
At several points during questioning, the prosecution asked if Cassie enjoyed the freak-offs, to which she always replied, no.
Cassie’s husband wasn’t spotted in the room at the point when she said the freak-offs “made me feel worthless,” as if “I didn’t have anything else to offer him.”
We now know that the third person in the InterContinental Hotel that Israel Florez testified about on Monday and did not mention in his incident report from March 5, 2016, was a sex worker named Jules. The assault witnessed in the now viral video was during a freak-off session.
The prosecution showed Cassie the video today. “At this point all I could think about was getting out of there safely,” she said, thinking back to 2016. The next day, the singer had a film premiere. She’d had a black eye—which was the same injury Florez referred to during his testimony on Monday.
Often, she recalled, she would take drugs as a numbing agent. “Whatever was the drug of choice at that point,” she said. That list included, ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana, ketamine, mushrooms.
Cassie has not been questioned by the defense and will take the stand again Wednesday.
Below is the originally published story on the opening of Sean Combs’ sex trafficking trial. For the latest updates and courtroom developments, see the updates posted above.
The prosecution and the defense told two versions of Sean Combs, 55, Monday morning as jury selection concluded and opening statements immediately followed in the US v. Sean Combs sex trafficking case.
Emily Johnson, attorney for the prosecution, gave opening remarks.
“To the public he was Puff Daddy or Diddy. A cultural icon. A businessman. Larger than life. But there was another side to him. A side that ran a criminal enterprise. You’re going to hear about 20 years of crime,” Johnson said pointing to a gray-haired Sean Combs as he leaned deep into his chair.
She said the courts would be hearing about Cassandra Ventura otherwise known as Cassie, and another victim they’d refer to as Jane. These women were forced into unwanted sex. They were drugged and physically assaulted and per the prosecution, Combs didn’t act alone. He used high-level employees and bodyguards.
“Together they agreed to commit different crimes, kidnapping, arson, distributing drugs to other people, exploiting employees for labor.”
In the coming days, texts, and video footage of Combs’ freak-offs will be shown as evidence.
Teny Geragos had Combs stand as she introduced the music mogul. She described him as “complicated” and “very flawed.”
The defense drew a clear distinction between jealousy-driven domestic violence, trafficking, and conspiracy charges.
“This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money,” Geragos said. “There has been a tremendous amount of noise around this case over the past year. It is time to cancel that noise.”
The Defense calls the 2006 video of Combs assaulting Cassie, indefensible—but argues that it is domestic violence, not sex trafficking.
Gossip, compounded with jealousy on both sides, per the defense, was at the center of Ventura and Combs’ relationship.
“She made a choice, every single day for years—a choice to stay with him, a choice to fight for him, because for 11 years, that was the better choice. That was her preferred choice. So she made the choice to stay with him until one day she decided she was going to break up with him, because that was her preferred choice,” Geragos said.
Jane was involved primarily in freak-offs with Combs according to the prosecution. The defense calls their relationship “toxic and dysfunctional.” The prosecution is alleging Jane was coerced into sexual acts which qualifies the sex trafficking charge.
“Being a willing participant in your own sex life is not sex trafficking,” per Geragos.
When Combs walked into court today, the first two rows behind him were filled with his children, sister and mother—to which he smiled. The mogul motioned a heart sign with his hands. His daughters and sons replied by tapping their hearts.
Celebrity stylist and the mother of his first child Justin Combs, Misa Hylton came, later in the day. Hylton, who is currently suing Mary J. Blige, was noticeably aided by a walker. When asked if she was injured, she had no comment.
The video of Combs assaulting Ventura at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City is a major part of the case. Last week, prospective jurors were asked if they could remain impartial after seeing the footage.
Several said no.
The prosecution called their first witness, Los Angeles Police Officer Israel Florez who was the security guard who was on the scene March 5, 2016. InterContinental’s security was handled by Securitas where he was the Assistant Director.
At around 11 a.m., Lorez testified, he received a call about a woman in distress. Additional footage shown in court today proves that the call came from Ventura who made the call from a phone in the hallway near the elevators. There, he said he saw Combs in a towel and some colored socks.
Florez filed an incident report which included images of the damage to the hotel. When the security guard arrived off the elevator, he said Combs was sitting looking at him with, “a devilish stare.”
As for Ventura, Florez said she looked scared with her hoodie pulled up.
Florez escorted the two back to the room after telling Combs that he would be responsible for the damage. Ventura said she wanted to leave to which Combs said no. Florez said he interjected, “If she wants to leave, she can leave.”
When they reach the room, Florez testified that he inserted his body in between the door’s opening to ensure that it would not close. There, he noticed a silent third person present.
Combs approached Florez with a stack of cash—Florez interpreted it to be a bribe—though no words were exchanged. Florez declined the cash. When Ventura retrieved her phone, she exited—but not before the security guard noticed she had a purple eye. He asked if she wanted him to call the police, to which she responded, “I want to leave.”
Later, Florez returned to Combs’ room with another hotel worker. When the mogul thought he was being recorded, he snatched the hotel worker’s phone at which point Florez testified that he pinned Combs to the wall.
The incident report for all of this was filed at 3 p.m. that same day and included Combs and Ventura’s names. The third unidentified man was not mentioned.
Florez didn’t call the police he said, because by the time he saw the surveillance video, everyone had left the hotel, “there was no victim there, obviously nobody was pressing charges.”
During questioning by the defense, he was asked about the incident report.
Brian Steel pointed out that Florez didn’t write about Ventura’s purple eye, or the look Combs gave him that he testified about today in the report, to which the officer replied, “It was my opinion then and now.”
Immediately after Florez exits, the prosecution calls their second witness—Daniel Phillip.
One minute into his testimony he’d told the jury that in 2012 upon meeting Ventura, he was given money “to have sex with her,” as he put it.
Combs’ daughters noticeably exit the courtroom for Phillip’s testimony.
The scene was Gramercy Park Hotel. At the time, Phillip was managing an all-male revue. When the prosecution asked him what that meant, he said, “strippers.”
Phillip arrived a little after midnight. It was supposed to be a small striptease. But when the door opened there was Ventura in lingerie. “When I arrived, Cassie opened the door and she asked me if I was okay if it was just going to be us,” he said.
She was dressed in red lace with red hair he said.
“Her husband wanted to do something special for her, so she asked me if I would mind rubbing baby oil on her and giving her a massage and wherever things went from there it went based on how comfortable it was,” he told the jury.
But there was a man in the room, Phillip said. He was wearing a white robe, a hat and a bandana covering his face from his nose down. He recognized his voice immediately—it was Combs who was masturbating as the two had sex. Ventura assured Phillip that her “husband” wasn’t gay and wouldn’t touch him during their encounter.
Phillip testified that he slept with Ventura while Combs watched multiple times through 2014. That first night, he was paid, “a few thousand dollars,” he said.
Often Combs would record Ventura and Phillip having sex, which included baby oil—per testimony. Phillip did not use a condom and had to bring an STD history at one point.
Combs was also said to have asked Phillip to urinate on Ventura as he masturbated.
According to his testimony, Phillip would get paid between $700 and $5,000-6,000. Sometimes he said, he wouldn’t get paid at all. “I was just excited that I was in this world, and happy to be involved with people with such notoriety.”
But Phillip remembered seeing Ventura being physically assaulted by Combs, he testified.
The couple were at home. Combs called for Ventura and when she didn’t come to him quick enough according to Phillip, he slapped her and began to grab her by her hair and drag her.
“I was shocked,” Phillip said hearing Combs tell Ventura, “B*tch, when I tell you to come here, you come. Now, not later.”
Phillip said he thought to himself, “In my mind, it was going through my head if I tried to do something, I might lose my life.”
Cross examination by the defense for Phillip is expected to fully commence tomorrow with Cassandra Ventura set to testify.
