Cassie told Combs ‘I’m not a rag doll’ after hotel attack, trial hears

R&B singer Cassie told Sean “Diddy” Combs “I’m not a rag doll, I’m somebody’s child” after he beat her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, his sex trafficking trial heard.

But just days later, she and Combs were expressing love for each other again in messages read aloud during a second day of cross-examination in a New York court, with Cassie saying in one text: “We need a different vibe from Friday.”

In the “rag doll” text, Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, complained to him that he was out of control from drugs and alcohol that day.

After hotel security video of the assault was released last year, Combs apologised and said he was “disgusted” by his actions.

Federal prosecutors allege Combs exploited his status as a music executive and businessman to force women including Cassie into drug-fuelled encounters with male sex workers that he called “freak-offs”, which sometimes lasted days as Combs watched and directed.

Sean Diddy Combs, left, stands as his defence lawyer, Teny Geragos, gives her opening statement to the jury on the first day of the trial PA Media

Cassie, the prosecution’s star witness, testified that she loathed taking part in “hundreds” of such encounters and was ashamed, but felt compelled because Combs threatened violence and warned he would publicly release videos of her in the freak-offs if she made him angry.

However, Combs’ lawyers want the jury to see Cassie as a willing and eager participant in the hip-hop mogul’s sexual lifestyle. He has pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.

His defence says that, although he could be violent, nothing he did amounted to a criminal enterprise, and Combs insists all the sex at the freak-offs was consensual.

Friday was Cassie’s fourth day in the witness box and her second day under cross-examination.

On Thursday, the defence forced her to read aloud explicit and lurid messages she sent Combs during their tumultuous, nearly 11-year relationship that ended in 2018, including some in which she expressed enthusiasm for the freak-offs.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has.

Security video of the 2016 hotel beating is key evidence for the prosecution. It shows Combs slinging Cassie to the floor, kicking her and dragging her into a hotel hallway. Cassie testified that the assault took place as she was trying to leave a freak-off.

On Thursday, defence lawyer Anna Estevao presented Cassie with sexual texts she sent Combs in the lead-up to the Los Angeles hotel encounter.

Jurors on Friday also heard a 2013 recording of Cassie screaming at a friend who said had seen a video of her performing sex acts. In the recording, made by Cassie, the man claimed to have the video on his phone. Cassie is heard pleading to see the video and then threatening to kill him if it became public.

“I’ve never killed anyone in my life, but I will kill you,” Cassie told the man, punctuating her threats with profanity.

Cassie acknowledged in her testimony that Combs subsequently made efforts to keep the video private.

Ms Estevao also questioned Cassie about her weeks-long stint in a treatment centre for women in 2023. Ms Estevao noted the centre offered treatment for sex addiction, sexual compulsion and love addiction, and she asked Cassie if she was treated for any of those things.

Cassie Ventura wipes tears from her eye while giving evidence in a New York court PA Media

Cassie replied that she was not, but rather was there for therapy to help her process trauma.

She said earlier that she experienced post-traumatic stress disorder before breaking up with Combs in 2018, and was blacking out and sleepwalking. She also said she broke down in 2023 and tried to walk into traffic in front of her home, but her husband, Alex Fine, stopped her.

Cassie also testified on Friday that she broke up with Combs for good in August 2018 after she saw a photo of him with another woman he had been dating for the last few years. Soon after, Cassie said, she started dating Fine.

Before the trial resumed, prosecutors asked the judge to make sure Cassie’s testimony ends on Friday They said there is a risk of a mistrial if Cassie, who is pregnant and nearing the birth of her third child, goes into labour this weekend.

Judge Arun Subramanian asked Combs’ attorney on Friday morning if they had any issue finishing by the end of the day, but they did not directly answer the question.

Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted.