Former girlfriend Cassie Ventura is expected to testify Tuesday in the federal sex-trafficking trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, following explosive testimony from a security guard and male escort during Monday’s proceedings.
Ventura, who filed a civil lawsuit against Combs in November 2023 accusing him of rape and years of physical abuse, will be the prosecution’s star witness in the case. Her lawsuit, which was quickly settled, sparked a criminal investigation leading to the current trial in Federal District Court in Lower Manhattan.
During Monday’s proceedings, Los Angeles Police Department officer Israel Florez testified about responding to a distress call at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, California in 2016, where he found Combs in a white towel and Ventura in distress.
“She was scared. She was in the corner, hood on, covered up,” Florez testified. “I couldn’t see her face. She was pretty much in the corner. On the floor was a destroyed flower vase.”
Florez told jurors that he saw Combs striking, hitting and kicking Ventura in hotel security footage, and noted she had a “purple eye.” Florez claimed that as he was leaving, Combs attempted to bribe him.
“I started to leave and [Combs] called for me. He had a sack of money, and he threw it at me and said, ‘Don’t tell anyone,'” Florez testified.
In May 2024, CNN published surveillance footage showing Combs attacking Ventura in a hotel hallway. In the video, Combs, wearing only a towel, chases Ventura, throws her to the floor, kicks her repeatedly, and drags her down the hallway before throwing what appears to be a flower vase at her.
Surveillance footage of Diddy assaulting Cassie obtained by CNNpic.twitter.com/JUWCqnPwwA
— Kollege Kidd (@KollegeKidd) May 17, 2024
The trial’s most graphic testimony came from Daniel Phillip, a 41-year-old male escort who described sexual encounters with Combs and Ventura from around 2012 to 2014. Phillip testified he was paid between $700 and $6,000 on several occasions to have sex with Ventura while Combs watched.
“He was always sitting in the corner masturbating,” Phillip said of Combs.
Phillip testified that he witnessed Combs physically abusing Ventura on multiple occasions. In one incident, he saw Combs throw a glass bottle in Ventura’s direction, hit her, and drag her by her hair into another room.
“She was screaming, and he pulled her into the bedroom,” Phillip testified. “I could hear what sounded like him slapping her. She was screaming, ‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry!'”
Phillip said Combs told Ventura, “Bitch, when I tell you to come, you come now. Not later.”
When asked why he didn’t intervene or call police, Phillip claimed he was scared.
“In my mind … if I tried to do something I might lose my life. My thoughts were, [Combs] was someone with unlimited power. … My life was at risk.”
Phillip also testified that Combs took a photograph of his driver’s license “just for insurance,” which Phillip understood as a threat. He said Combs gave him drugs including MDMA and Cialis during their encounters.
In opening statements, prosecutor Emily A. Johnson portrayed Combs as a serial abuser and sex trafficker who hurt and manipulated women for decades, controlling an organization that helped him do it.
Defense attorney Teny Geragos acknowledged that Combs had been violent toward Ventura but maintained that any sexual activities referenced in the indictment were consensual.
Combs, 55, is facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty.
Ventura, 38, who dated Combs on and off for nearly a decade, is currently pregnant with her third child with husband Alex Fine. After the video of her assault became public, Combs posted an apology video on Instagram for his “inexcusable” behavior but did not mention Ventura specifically.
“I went and I sought out professional help, started going to therapy and rehab, had to ask god for his mercy and grace,” he said in the now-deleted video.
Eight men and four women ranging in age from their 30s to their 70s were sworn in as anonymous jurors for the trial. They will not be sequestered but must shield themselves from media coverage about the case.
In keeping with federal court rules, no video or photography is permitted in the courtroom during the proceedings.