R&B singer Cassie delved further into text messages with former boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs during her cross-examination Friday in the music mogul's sex trafficking trial, telling “I'm not a rag doll. I'm somebody's child" after he beat her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
However, as they tried to recover from the episode, she and Combs were expressing love for each other just days later, with Cassie writing in one text: “We need a different vibe from Friday.”
She and one of Combs' defense attorneys read the couple's messages aloud during two days of cross-examination in a Manhattan courtroom, which ended Friday afternoon. The defense also tried to discredit Cassie’s testimony that Combs raped her in 2018 after she ended their nearly 11-year relationship.
In the “rag doll” text, Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, told Combs he was out of control from drugs and alcohol that day. After hotel security video of the assault was released last year, Combs apologized and said he was “disgusted” by his actions.
The singer is the prosecution's star witness. Her lawsuit in 2023 accused Combs of physical and sexual abuse, and it set in motion the investigation which culminated in this month's trial. Several other women who accuse him of abuse are set to testify.
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Combs has pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. His defense says that, although he could be violent, nothing he did amounted to a criminal enterprise. And Combs insists all the sex was consensual.
Through text messages read aloud in court Friday, Combs' attorney Anna Estevao showed jurors that Combs and Cassie were expressing love to one another just days after the Los Angeles hotel attack as they tried to recover from the episode.
Estevao had Cassie read aloud a text message in which she complained that Combs was out of control from drugs and alcohol that day and told him: "I'm not a rag doll. I'm somebody's child."
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Estevao also had Cassie read messages where she said she wanted to do "freak-offs," seemingly disputing her claims that she was coerced or felt forced. "Freak-off" is the term used to describe a drug-fueled marathon of sex acts with male prostitutes, according to Cassie.
Combs' lawyers are seeking to portray Cassie to the jury as a willing and eager participant in the hip-hop mogul's sexual lifestyle. Prosecutors allege he exploited his status as a music executive and businessman to violently force Cassie and other women into drug-fueled encounters with male sex workers that he called "freak-offs," which sometimes lasted days as Combs watched and directed.
On Thursday, Estevao presented Cassie with sexual texts she sent Combs before the freak-off at the hotel that preceded the assault. Cassie also read texts she sent him expressing enthusiasm for the sexual encounters.
In a hotel security video, Combs can be seen slinging Cassie to the floor, kicking her and dragging her into a hotel hallway. After the video was publicly released last year, Combs apologized and said he was "disgusted" by his actions.
Her testimony ended with another bombshell disclosure: She said she expects to receive a $10 million settlement from the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles, where she was assaulted by Combs in 2016. Security camera footage aired last year on CNN shows the hip-hop mogul hitting and kicking Cassie, knocking her to the floor as she attempted to leave a “freak-off” sexual encounter at the hotel.
Cassie revealed the figure during questioning by Combs’ lawyer in a phase of her testimony known as re-cross. She said the figure was an estimate and that the settlement was reached recently. She didn’t disclose the nature of her claim against the hotel. The defense attorney also asked Cassie to re-read to the jury text messages that she read earlier in her testimony, including an exchange with Combs prior to the 2016 encounter.
Estevao questioned Cassie about mental health treatment she received in 2023, noting that the women’s center she went to offered treatment for sex addiction, sexual compulsion and love addiction. She asked Cassie if she had been treated for any of these things during her weeks-long stay.
Cassie said she was not — but that she did undergo neurofeedback therapy. She said she underwent it five or six times, or about once a week during her stay, and that she believed it was to help her process trauma.
Cassie said she also underwent “EMDR” therapy to process trauma. She has previously testified to having post-traumatic stress disorder from her relationship with Combs.
Estevao attempted to discredit Cassie's claims that Combs raped her after their breakup in 2018, pointing out discrepancies in the timeline. She also asked Cassie if she hated Combs, to which she replied she did not.
Cassie and Combs kept exchanging warm messages after their breakup, even after she married her husband, Alex Fine, in 2019.
In one message, Combs described Cassie as his “ride or die always,” and one of the “greatest women in the world.” She told Combs that the messages “blew my mind a bit” and told him “I don’t hate you. I never have.”
In another message, she told him: “I wouldn’t be at this beautiful point in my life if I hadn’t been with you.”
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Jurors heard on Friday a 2013 recording of Cassie screaming at a friend who said he'd 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.
Before the trial resumed, prosecutors asked the judge to make sure Cassie's testimony ended on Friday, which it did. They were worried there could be a mistrial if Cassie, who is pregnant and nearing the birth of her third child with husband Alex Fine, went into labor over the weekend.
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Dawn Richard, who was in the group Danity Kane, which was founded by Combs, also took the stand on Friday. She testified that she witnessed Combs hit Ventura.
Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted.
Cassie and her husband release statements following her testimony
Following the conclusion of the defense's cross-examination, Cassie and her husband released individual statements through her attorney, Doug Wigdor.
The following is Cassie's statement:
“This week has been extremely challenging, but also remarkably empowering and healing for me. I hope that my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors, and can help others who have suffered to speak up and also heal from the abuse and fear. For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember. And the more I can remember, the more I will never forget. I want to thank my family and my advocates for their unwavering support, and I’m grateful for all the kindness and encouragement that I have received. I’m glad to put this chapter of my life to rest. As I turn to focus on the conclusion of my pregnancy, I ask for privacy for me and for my growing family.”
Below is Fine's statement:
“Over the past five days, the world has gotten to witness the strength and bravery of my wife, freeing herself of her past. There has been speculation online surrounding how it must feel for me to sit there and listen to my wife’s testimony. I have felt so many things sitting there. I have felt tremendous pride and overwhelming love for Cass. I have felt profound anger that she has been subjected to sitting in front of a person who tried to break her. So, to him and all of those who helped him along the way, please know this: You did not. You did not break her spirit nor her smile that lights up every room. You did not break the souls of a mother who gives the best hugs and plays the silliest games with our little girls. You did not break the woman who has made me a better man. I did not save Cassie, as some have said. To say that is an insult to the years of painful work my wife has done to save herself. Cassie saved Cassie. She alone broke free from abuse, coercion, violence and threats. She did the work of fighting the demons that only a demon himself could have done to her. All I have done is love her as she has loved me. Her life is now surrounded by love, laughter and our family. This horrific chapter is forever put behind us, and we will not be making additional statements. We appreciate all of the love and support we have received, and we ask that you respect our privacy as we welcome our son into a world that is now safer because of his mom."
