Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ ex-girlfriend tells court he forced her into drug-fuelled sex parties
Singer Cassie Ventura says she continued taking part in the rapper’s ‘Freak Offs’ because he blackmailed her with videos
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, the star prosecution witness at his sex trafficking trial, testified on Tuesday that the rapper and hip-hop mogul forced her into repeated drug-fuelled sex parties he organised.
Ventura, a rhythm and blues singer known as Cassie, said she took part in Combs’ parties known as “Freak Offs” for about a decade, at first to please him and later because he blackmailed her with videos of the encounters.
“The ‘Freak Offs’ became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again,” Ventura, 38, told jurors in Manhattan federal court.
She said performances could last 1½ to four days, with Combs giving her drugs to keep her awake and micromanaging her appearance.
“If I wasn’t doing my nails, I was getting a tan,” Ventura said. “After a while that wears down on you, on your confidence and self-worth.”
One casualty was her music career, with a 10-album contract signed in 2006 with Combs’ Bad Boy Records label yielding only one album, Ventura testified.