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Details of Diddy case are ‘gross’: Seattle attorney weighs in on high-profile case after ex-girlfriend took the stand

May 14, 2025, 7:47 AM | Updated: 8:00 am

diddy trial cassie...

Cassie Ventura, right, walks out of the courtroom past Sean Diddy Combs after testifying in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Photo: Elizabeth Williams, The Associated Press)

(Photo: Elizabeth Williams, The Associated Press)

Cassie, the R&B singer and former girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs, took to the witness stand in court for the first time Tuesday, telling a jury that the music mogul abused and sexually exploited her for years.

Sighing heavily and pausing to compose herself, Cassie recounted feeling compelled by Combs to participate in lengthy “freak off” sex parties involving male sex workers. She said Combs assaulted her numerous times during their turbulent relationship.

“I think it’s horrific. Like you said, the word appropriately is gross,” Seattle Trial Attorney Anne Bremner said on FOX News. “I mean, everything we’ve heard so far, glad it’s not televised, right? This is one, I think, where we’re thankful we’re not seeing in real time all of this testimony, because it’s so brutal.”

Sean Combs ‘was controlling,’ according to Cassie

Cassie recounted a turbulent 10-year relationship with Combs that she said was consumed by violence and his obsession with a form of voyeurism where “he was controlling the whole situation.” That included directing her encounters with male sex workers right down to the copious amounts of baby oil she applied to maintain the “glistening” look he desired.

She testified that the mercurial music mogul beat her mercilessly and ordered her to have “disgusting” sex with strangers during drug-fueled, multi-day marathons he called “freak offs.”

“I think the other side is going to say she didn’t say no, that she didn’t protest. She was with them for a long time. She benefited from the relationship,” Bremner said. “But, I don’t know, in this day and age, as we understand abuse, jurors are going to be swayed by that kind of an argument. Frankly, because of what we saw in that video, jurors remember what they feel. They don’t remember as much as what you say as lawyers.”

Cassie struggled to leave Combs for multiple reasons

Cassie said Combs controlled every aspect of her life, from her career to her living arrangements, and she didn’t feel like she could tell him “no.”

When she did try to leave, she said, Combs punished her—most notably in a 2016 assault captured on a security camera at a Los Angeles hotel. In the video, played in court for a fifth time, Combs is seen hitting, kicking, and attempting to drag her back to their room. After the footage was leaked last year, Combs apologized.

She said she endured them because she was in love with Combs.

Jailed since his arrest last September, he could get at least 15 years and up to life in prison if convicted.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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