P. Diddy 'controlled my life,' singer Cassie testifies at hip-hop mogul's trial

"He controlled a lot of my life" : Singer Cassie, P. Diddy's former girlfriend and a key prosecution witness in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial, began telling her story to the jury in New York federal court on Tuesday, May 13.

"He had a lot of resources," added Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, during this highly anticipated testimony on the second day of the proceedings. The singer, who had been in a relationship for ten years with the rapper and producer, testified while pregnant and regularly took breaks, wiping her eyes with a tissue. "He would hit me in the head, knock me down, drag me, kick me, hit me on the head if I was on the ground," the 38-year-old woman lists, her voice trembling. She speaks of her "swollen lips" and "bruises all over my body." The singer met P. Diddy when she was 19, he was already at the height of his fame. "I was simply in love, I wanted to make him happy," she describes. Her hearing by the prosecution and then the defense is expected to last several days.

Casandra Ventura filed a high-profile civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault and rape against Sean Combs, aka P. Diddy, in the fall of 2023. The lawsuit was immediately settled out of court, but was followed by dozens of other claims of sexual assault by women and men against the East Coast hip-hop icon .

Several months later, a video broadcast by CNN from a CCTV camera in a Los Angeles hotel, which jurors reviewed Monday in court, showed the rapper engaging in violent behavior with the singer in March 2016. Dressed only in a towel in the hotel hallway, P. Diddy repeatedly punched the singer and dragged her along the ground.

"She [Cassie] kept saying she wanted to leave , " Israel Florez, the hotel security guard who intervened that day, testified to jurors Monday. He also claimed that the rapper tried to bribe him with a large wad of cash to cover up the incident.

Another witness, a 41-year-old stripper, detailed how he was paid to have sex with the singer in the presence of the rapper, who sometimes filmed the scenes, in 2012 and 2013. These episodes, referred to as freak offs , are central to the case, as P. Diddy is accused of having forced women into sex marathons with sex workers. He threatened the women to release the videos if they spoke out.

Sean Combs is facing charges of sex trafficking , transportation of persons for prostitution, kidnapping, bribery, and assault combined under the criminal enterprise charge. He faces life imprisonment.

A hip-hop artist and producer who launched the careers of singer Mary J. Blige and rapper Notorious B.I.G., and a successful businessman who made his fortune in fashion and alcohol, he is now accused of using his fame, wealth, and influence to support sex trafficking since at least 2004. Women other than Cassie are expected to testify at the trial.