> Cassie testifies that Sean 'Diddy' Combs raped her and threatened to release sex videos
Cassie testifies that Sean 'Diddy' Combs raped her and threatened to release sex videos
Clip ID 2499925
Clearance
Add to
Share
Add to Review Link
By Request
By Request assets are not available for immediate purchase.
This content has not been pre-checked for copyright.
Per clip rates are for 20 seconds of final usage. If you are using more then 20 seconds or need a different file format or have questions about clearances contact us
Description
The R&B singer Cassie testified Wednesday that Sean “Diddy” Combs raped her when she ended their decade-long relationship, after he locked her in a life of physical abuse by threatening to release degrading sexual videos of her.
Addressing the Manhattan courtroom for a second day in Combs' federal sex trafficking trial, Cassie said Combs forced his way into her Los Angeles apartment and raped her on the living room floor after she said she was breaking up with him.
Cassie also said she didn't feel she could refuse Combs' demands for her to have “hundreds” of encounters with male sex workers — which he watched and controlled for hours and even days — because he would make her “look like a slut" if he made the videos public.
“I feared for my career. I feared for my family. It’s just embarrassing. It’s horrible and disgusting. No one should do that to anyone," said Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura.
Prosecutors showed the jury five still images from the sex videos on Wednesday. Cassie said the images depicted her at various stages of the encounters Combs called “freak-offs.” One juror’s eyes widened. Another shook his head from side to side.
She sued Combs in 2023, accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse. Within hours, the suit was settled for $20 million — a figure Cassie disclosed for the first time Wednesday — but dozens of similar legal claims followed from other women.
Prosecutors accuse Combs of exploiting his status as a powerful music executive to violently force Cassie and other women to take part in sexual encounters. He is charged with crimes including racketeering and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. Several other accusers are set to testify.
Combs denies all of the allegations. His attorneys acknowledge he could be violent, but say the sex he and others engaged in was consensual and that nothing he did amounted to a criminal enterprise.
Combs’ lawyers were expected to begin cross-examining Cassie on Thursday, when they will get the chance to challenge her credibility or poke holes in her account of what happened.
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.