Cassie has shared her experiences involving Diddy’s notorious ‘freak off’ parties and the unusual nickname she was told to use for him.
Sean Combs, also known as Diddy, was apprehended in New York last September and faces charges of racketeering and sex trafficking through force, fraud, or coercion—charges he consistently refutes.
The 55-year-old has been held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre since then, as he awaits the high-profile trial that began on Monday (May 12).
Cassandra Ventura, often referred to as Cassie, had a tumultuous relationship with the rapper spanning over a decade, from 2007 to 2018. She testified on Tuesday (May 13), sharing her account of the events in court.
At the age of 19, the now 38-year-old musician met Combs, who was 37 at the time, and she alleged that she endured physical abuse from her former partner.
During her testimony, Ventura recounted how disputes with Combs would often ‘result in violence,’ stating that he would ‘stomp [her] in the head if I was down.’
When questioned about the frequency of Combs’ alleged abuse, she replied: “Too frequently.”
Ventura also described being compelled to call Combs ‘Pop Pop,’ a nickname she associated with her grandfather, which she found ‘weird’.
“I did it but now I think it was disrespectful,” Ventura said.
The pair had a 17-year age difference, with Ventura describing him as her ‘first real adult relationship’ and expressing that she was ‘in love with him.’
Concerning the alleged ‘freak-offs,’ Ventura portrayed them as ‘sexual encounter[s] called voyeurism’ where Combs would observe her engaging in sexual acts with another man.
“I remember my stomach falling to my butt,” she recounted in court. “Just the nervousness and confusion… I had just turned 22.”
Despite her reluctance, she participated because she ‘loved’ Combs and ‘wanted to make him happy,’ adding: “The freak offs became a job. There was no time to do anything else but do them then try to recover. The longest was four days, significant periods of time.”
In a particularly distressing incident, she claimed Combs instructed an escort to ‘urinate in her mouth,’ which left her feeling like she was ‘choking’.
Ventura further testified that Combs would confiscate her belongings as a form of ‘punishment,’ including her car, home, jewelry, laptop, and phone.
Jurors were shown a CCTV video that was made public and went viral last year, purportedly depicting Combs assaulting her in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
In 2024, Combs addressed the footage, acknowledging that his behavior in the video was ‘inexcusable’ and he was ‘f**ked up’.
Ventura’s testimony follows her filing of a civil suit against Combs in 2023, accusing him of rape and physical abuse, although the case was settled out of court shortly thereafter.
The trial is ongoing.
If any of the matters in this article have affected you, you can reach out to The National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673), which is available around the clock. Alternatively, you can chat online via online.rainn.org.