Diddy trial live updates: Cassie Ventura testifying in sex-trafficking case
By Kyle Schnitzer, Priscilla DeGregory, Ben Kochman and Kaydi Pelletier
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Disgraced rap mogul and Bad Boy Records founder Sean “Diddy” Combs is on trial in New York City for sex trafficking, racketeering and other related charges.
We’re in Manhattan Federal Court following all the developments as the prosecution’s star witness — Diddy’s former longtime girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura, whom Combs was seen beating and kicking in sickening 2016 hotel surveillance video — testifies Tuesday.
The trial is not televised because cameras are prohibited inside this courthouse — so watch this space for all the latest updates.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
He faces life in prison if convicted.
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Follow The Post’s live updates from the Diddy sex trafficking trial for the latest news, photos and more:
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50 minutes ago
Cassie testifies freak-offs 'became a job'
By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory
Cassie told jurors that she eventually didn't have enough time to nurture her music career because "the 'freak-offs' became a job."
She said she was constantly recovering from the sex parties she had with Sean "Diddy" Combs.
"That took a big chunk out of my life," Cassie testified. "There was no space to do anything else but to recover and try to feel normal again.”
She said she would stay up for days taking drugs, drinking and having sex with a stranger.
"The longest ever was four days, maybe even more – on and off with the breaks. It was significant.”
52 minutes ago
Cassie will be back on the stand after lunch break
By Kyle Schnitzer
Court just broke for lunch. We'll be back at around 1:15 p.m., when Cassie will be back on the stand to continue her testimony.
57 minutes ago
Diddy allegedly threw wooden hanger at head of Cassie's former best friend, model Kerry Morgan, leaving her with concussion
By Kate Sheehy
Cassie Ventura’s best friend when she met Diddy was a model named Kerry Morgan — at whom he once threw a wooden hanger, giving her a concussion, according to court testimony Tuesday and a lawsuit.
Prosecutors introduced a photo into evidence Tuesday of the women hugging each other around 2004, when Cassie said she was in New York City modeling, shortly before meeting Sean “Diddy’’ Combs.
She called Morgan “my best friend at the time.’’
Cassie’s best friend when she met Diddy was a model named Kerry Morgan (right) — at whom he once threw a wooden hanger, giving her a concussion, according to court testimony.
WireImage
The pair later had a falling out, allegedly because Ventura didn’t support her after Combs attacked her with the hanger.
Cassie had acknowledged in her 2023 suit against Combs that she and Morgan were “inseparable’’ before the attack in 2018 at Ventura’s home.
Her suit said Combs and Morgan got into a fight, “during which Mr. Combs threw a hanger at Ms. Morgan.”
Cassie had acknowledged in her 2023 suit against Combs that she and Morgan were “inseparable’’ before the attack in 2018 at Ventura’s home.
WireImage
“The incident resulted in a settlement between Mr. Combs and Ms. Morgan, and Ms. Ventura ended up paying Ms. Morgan additional funds in an attempt to resolve the dispute between her close friend and her abusive and controlling boyfriend,’’ according to the legal document.
“The relationship between Ms. Ventura and Ms. Morgan has been strained since this time.”
1 hour ago
Cassie rests hand on her pregnant belly at times during her testimony
By Kyle Schnitzer
Cassie, who is eight months pregnant, rested her hand on her belly at times during her time on the witness stand.
The 38-year-old mom of two was also spotted sniffling and dabbing her eyes with a tissue at emotional moments in her testimony.
1 hour ago
Cassie testifies if she just looked at Diddy wrong, he would hit her: 'He would let me know I need to fix my face or watch my mouth'
By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory
Cassie told the jury that Sean "Diddy" Combs would hit her in the face for just looking at him in a way he didn't like.
If Cassie didn't smile "the way he wanted" or if she was simply appearing a way Combs didn't like, "the next thing I knew, I was getting hit in the face," she testified.
"He would let me know I would need to fix my face or watch my mouth," Cassie said, noting the Bad Boy Records founder told her these types of things "quite often."
1 hour ago
Cassie says Diddy gave her 'blue dolphin' ecstasy pill the first time they had sex
By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory
Cassie says Sean "Diddy" Combs gave her a "blue dolphin" ecstasy pill the first time they were intimate during a trip to Miami.
Cassie said she had been drinking wine and smoking marijuana before she took the party drug and eventually had sex with Combs on a boat.
Cassie says Sean "Diddy" Combs gave her a "blue dolphin" ecstasy pill the first time they were intimate during a trip to Miami.
Reddit
Cassie said she had been drinking wine and smoking marijuana before she took the party drug, according to court documents.
"Everything happened that weekend," Cassie testified.
She told jurors that after that weekend, she thought she and Combs were together and monogamous, but would learn she was just one of his multiple girlfriends.
2 hours ago
Diddy is wearing the same outfit as yesterday — and gave heart hands to daughters when he arrived earlier
By Kaydi Pelletier
Sean John fashion label founder Sean "Diddy" Combs is wearing the same outfit as yesterday — a gray sweater, white shirt and gray slacks — as he sits at the defense table while his ex-girlfriend Cassie recounts horrific abuse she says he put her through.
sketch of diddy in court
Sean John fashion label founder Sean "Diddy" Combs is in court wearing the same outfit as yesterday.
REUTERS
The disgraced rapper formed his hands into a heart in a gesture toward his three daughters seated in the gallery as he arrived earlier this morning.
2 hours ago
Cassie testifies she didn't want first kiss from Diddy on 21st birthday, ran out of the room
By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory
Cassie said when she turned 21 in August 2007, Sean "Diddy" Combs — then her music producer — kissed her at her birthday celebration in Las Vegas.
"Did you want to kiss Sean at your 21st birthday?" prosecutor Emily Johnson asked Cassie.
"No," the witness responded.
Cassie said she was "really confused" and wasn't used to an executive being that way with her, so she ran out of the hotel room and told her best friend Kerry Morgan about what happened.
After that party, Diddy — 17 years her senior — invited Cassie to the Trump Hotel in Manhattan, where he introduced her to oral sex by performing it on her.
When she didn't reciprocate the act, Combs "kind of made me feel crazy."
She explained she was new to that kind of sexual relationship and she was romantically involved with someone else at the time.
2 hours ago
Cassie was just around 19 when she met Diddy while modeling in NYC
By Kyle Schnitzer
Cassie said she met Diddy at around 19, when she was modeling in New York City, and soon signed a 10-album record deal with his Bad Boy Records label in 2006.
“I just knew he was a larger-than-life entrepreneur, a musician. I was a fan of his music," she said.
2 hours ago
Cassie tells jurors she was afraid Diddy would 'blackmail' her with X-rated images
By Priscilla DeGregory
Cassie told jurors videos that Sean "Diddy" Combs recorded of her having sex with male escorts eventually turned into blackmail material that he held over her head.
She said she was scared he would "release them, put them out on the internet."
"He had many resources to do that," Cassie said.
2 hours ago
Diddy 'controlled a lot of my life': Cassie
By Priscilla DeGregory
Cassie said even though she didn't want to take part in "freak-offs" anymore, she was scared of then-boyfriend Sean "Diddy" Combs' reaction because he "controlled a lot of my life."
Cassie, who started dating him at 22, said Combs controlled what she wore, what career choices she made -- "everything, everything.
"And I just didn’t feel like I had much say into it at that time, being super-young, naive, a total people-pleaser," Cassie said. "I didn’t know enough if he would be upset to be violent or write me off.”
2 hours ago
Cassie reveals how 'freak-offs' began — and how young she was at time
By Kyle Schnitzer
Cassie described how Diddy’s twisted “freak-off’’ sex sessions began in the first year of their relationship when she was just 22.
“Sean proposed to me this idea, this sexual encounter he called voyeurism, where he would watch me … [have] sexual activity with another person, specifically another man,’’ the singer told the jury at Sean “Diddy’’ Combs’ sex-trafficking trial Tuesday.
“It basically entails the hiring of an escort and setting up this experience so that I could perform for Sean.
“Pretty quickly over time, I knew it wasn’t something I wanted to be doing, especially as regularly as it became. But again I was in love, and I just wanted to make him happy.”
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2 hours ago
Cassie describes violent fights with Diddy: 'He would bash me on my head'
By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory
Cassie has been on the stand for mere minutes and she is already testifying about her violent relationship with Sean "Diddy" Combs when he would sometimes "bash" her on the head.
Cassie -- whose full name is Casandra Ventura -- said she was with Combs for over 10 years on-and-off again and during that time they got into "violent arguments. "
"He would bash me on my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me on the head if I was down," Ventura said.
"Too frequently," the fights turned physical, Ventura added, saying they left her with "bruises all over my body."
2 hours ago
Star prosecution witness Cassie begins testifying against ex-boyfriend Diddy
By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory
Star prosecution witness singer Cassie has just sat down on the witness stand to begin testifying about her long-time boyfriend Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Cassie -- whose full name is Casandra Ventura -- is testifying eight months pregnant and is expected to answer graphic questions about how Combs forced her to have sex with male prostitutes and beat her up.
2 hours ago
Cassie's husband Alex Fine enters the courtroom — but must leave during this part of her testimony
By Ben Kochman and Priscilla DeGregory
Cassie's husband Alex Fine just sat down in the courtroom gallery after Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyers initially objected to him being there while his wife testifies.
Combs' lawyers eventually agreed that Fine could be in the courtroom for all of Cassie's testimony except when she speaks about when the fallen music mogul once allegedly raped her in 2018.
2 hours ago
Cassie's husband threatened to 'beat the f-word' out of Diddy after break up: lawyer
By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory
Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyer Teny Geragos is asking for Cassie's husband Alex Fine to be barred from the courtroom when she testifies because Fine might be called as a defense witness.
"Mr. Fine sent several threatening texts to Combs that he’d like 'to beat the f-word out of him,'” Geragos said. “There’s three areas of possible testimony that we might have to call him on our direct case.”
3 hours ago
Trial taking a brief break — Cassie could be up next
By Kyle Schnitzer
Court is taking a brief break until 10:55 a.m. It's likely Casandra "Cassie" Ventura could be up next on the witness stand.
3 hours ago
Cassie was on drugs, alcohol during only one 'freak-off,' and Diddy stopped them from having sex, male escort says under cross-examination
By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory
Male prostitute Daniel Phillip admitted he'd only seen Cassie appear to be messed up on a drug or alcohol one time when he was invited over for a sex session with her.
“The one time you saw her under any kind of influence or any type of drugs, Mr. Combs said no to any sexual intercourse?” Combs' lawyer, Xavier Donaldson, asked Phillip.
diddy, judge, defense attorney and male escort witness in courtroom sketch
Sean "Diddy" Combs watches as his defense attorney Xavier R. Donaldson questions male escort Daniel Phillip before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian at Combs' sex-trafficking trial in Manhattan in this courtroom sketch.
REUTERS
"Correct," Phillip responded, after specifying he'd been summoned for a "freak-off" with the couple around six or seven times.
Prosecutors have claimed that Combs' victims were coerced to take drugs for the sex marathons.
3 hours ago
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Cassie: Their complete relationship timeline
By Riley Cardoza
R&B singer Cassie endured a tumultuous, decade-long relationship with Sean “Diddy” Combs before calling it quits in 2018.
After the on-again, off-again couple ended their romance, Cassie moved on with Alex Fine.
The “Me & U” singer married the personal trainer in 2019, going on to welcome daughters Frankie and Sunny.
Diddy, for his part, went on to date City Girls rapper Yung Miami and welcome a baby girl with Dana Tran.
In 2023, Cassie felt “finally ready to tell [her] story” and filed an explosive lawsuit accusing the record producer of sex trafficking, rape and physical abuse, which he denied.
Take a look back at the exes’ time together below.
READ MORE
3 hours ago
Cassie's husband, Alex Fine, arrives at court to support her
By Kaydi Pelletier
Cassie Ventura's husband, Alex Fine, has arrived at the Manhattan federal courthouse as she's set to testify today against Sean "Diddy" Combs, her former boyfriend of a decade.
alex fine arriving at court
Alex Fine, Cassie Ventura's husband, arrives at court Tuesday for Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial at federal court in Manhattan.
REUTERS
alex fine arriving at court
Fine, 32, was also seen at the courthouse Monday, the first day of the trial.
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alex fine arriving at court
He and the R&B singer have been married since September 2024, and she is expecting their third child.
REUTERS
3 hours ago
Jurors enter courtroom, male escort takes the witness stand for cross-examination by Diddy lawyer
By Priscilla DeGregory
The jury entered the courtroom around 9:50 a.m., and male escort Daniel Phillip got back on the witness stand after testifying Monday afternoon.
Male stripper Daniel Phillip testifies from behind a monitor during Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, U.S., May 13, 2025 in this courtroom sketch.
Male stripper Daniel Phillip testifies from behind a monitor during Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, U.S., May 13, 2025.
REUTERS
Phillip is under cross-examination again by Diddy's defense attorney, Xavier Donaldson.
3 hours ago
Diddy's mother, children and ex-girlfriend arrive at Manhattan courthouse: photos, video
By Kaydi Pelletier
diddy's mother janice combs arrives at court
Janice Combs, mother of Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives for his sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 13.
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diddy's ex Misa Hylton, arrives at court
One of Diddy's exes, Misa Hylton, was also seen entering the courthouse Tuesday morning.
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diddy's ex Misa Hylton, arrives at court
Hylton attended the first day of the trial Monday as well, along with Combs' children and his mother.
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diddy's mother janice combs arrives at court
Janice Combs, 84, arrives to support her son as he stands trial for charges that could land him up to life in prison.
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diddy's children arrive at court
Six of Diddy's seven children arrived at court Tuesday holding hands.
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diddy's children arrive at court
Quincy, Justin, Christian, Chance, and twins D'Lila and Jessie put on a united front.
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diddy's children arrive at court
Their father has been in a Manhattan prison since his arrest in September 2024.
REUTERS
4 hours ago
Prosecutors want to clear courtroom when 'sexually explicit' images are shown to jury
By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory
Prosecutor Emily Johnson said she wants to clear the courtroom at the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial when "sexually explicit" images are shown to the jury.
Johnson said the prosecution would "potentially be offering images from videos as early as this afternoon" that would show "nudity" involving multiple people and "entirely sexually explicit" content, and the courtroom gallery would be cleared before the images go up.
A group of media organizations, including The Post, filed a letter with the judge Monday for the public to have access to the images since the case is "a matter of intense and legitimate public interest."
Combs' lawyers said videos he recorded of women having sex with male prostitutes would vindicate him.
4 hours ago
Cassie spotted leaving NYC home to testify against ex-boyfriend Diddy: photos
By Kaydi Pelletier
R&B singer Cassie Ventura, who allegedly endured a decade of abuse by ex-boyfriend Sean "Diddy" Combs during their on-and-off relationship, was spotted leaving her New York City home Tuesday morning, en route to the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan to testify against him.
Ventura, 38, the prosecution's star witness, is eight months pregnant.
cassie in nyc
Cassie Ventura was seen looking stoic as she made her way to court, set to come face to face with her abusive ex, Sean "Diddy" Combs.
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cassie in nyc
The "Me and U" songstress is eight months pregnant.
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