“I’m not a rag doll, I’m someone’s child”
Cross-examination of Ventura resumed Friday morning.
Defense attorneys asked Ventura about a message she allegedly sent Combs after Intercontinental Hotel incident in Los Angeles.
“When you get f****** up the wrong way, you always want to show me that you have the power and you knock me around, I’m not a rag doll, I’m someone’s child,” the message said.
Combs held at MDC Brooklyn
Combs has been held at Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn since his arrest last September. He was denied multiple requests for bail.
MDC Brooklyn is the only federal jail in New York City since Metropolitan Correctional Center New York shut down in 2021.
The Brooklyn jail is also where Luigi Mangione is being held as he awaits trial in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Other high profile inmates over the years have included Sam Bankman-Fried, Ja Rule and R. Kelly, who sued the facility in 2022 for wrongly putting him on suicide watch after his sentencing.
Ventura testified about 2016 hotel video
Security video showing Combs attack Ventura in the hallway of the InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles is a key piece of evidence in the trial.
The video, obtained and published by CNN last year, shows Combs throw her onto the floor before kicking and dragging her.
The former security manger for the hotel was the first witness on the stand and testified Combs threw a stack of cash at him and said, “don’t tell anyone.”
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York
Ventura testified she took a selfie after the incident, which showed her with a fat lip and wearing sunglasses. She said she wore the sunglasses to cover a black eye.
Combs texted her claiming police were at the hotel, asking her to call him immediately, Ventura testified.
She testified she responded, saying she was supposed to attend a premiere but now had a black eye.
“You are sick for thinking it’s OK to do what you’ve done,” Ventura texted. “Please stay far away from me.”
Prosecutors allege the assault happened during a “freak off,” but Combs’ lawyers, who sought to have the video excluded from trial, argue it was a “glimpse into a complex but decade-long consensual relationship.”
Combs later apologized for the behavior seen on the video.
Cassie accused Combs of raping her in 2018
Ventura testified she went to dinner with Combs in August 2018 to have a conversation about closure after ending their relationship.
They were not together then, and she was seeing another man, who is now her husband, she testified.
Jane Rosenberg / REUTERS
She said Combs was nice, playful and romantic, and he brought her home.
“And then he raped me in my living room,” Ventura testified. “On the floor.”
Ventura said she remembered crying and saying no, but Combs wasn’t himself and didn’t stop.
She said she was intimate with Combs one more time after the incident. When asked why she agreed to see him again, she replied they had been together for years and were very connected, something you don’t just turn off.
What are “freak offs”?
On Wednesday, Ventura gave explicit details about so-called “freak offs.” She said Combs would direct her and a male escort to perform sex acts.
At one point, a text she sent Combs was displayed. It said, “Nothing good comes out of FO’s anymore. You treat me like you’re Ike Turner.”
Ventura said Combs would hit her and that she developed infections and sores in her mouth.
In addition to ecstasy and cocaine, she said Combs would supply ketamine and GHB.
What happened in court yesterday?
Combs’ defense team started questioning Ventura on Thursday about her off-and-on relationship with Combs that lasted nearly 11 years.
Attorneys showed the jury many messages between the two, including some that were sexually explicit. Others were about Ventura helping Combs coordinate a “freak off.”
They also asked Ventura about her drug use and pointed out how she often took drugs without Combs.
It was Ventura’s third day on the witness stand, but first for cross examination.
Can I watch the Diddy trial?
There is no livestream available for the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial because cameras are not allowed in federal court.
Sketch artists, however, are allowed.
Jane Rosenberg
CBS News New York’s Alice Gainer has been covering the trial all week and will provide live updates on today’s testimony.
Who has testified so far?
The jury has heard from three witnesses so far:
- Israel Florez, a security guard at the hotel where Combs was caught on video beating Ventura.
- Daniel Phillip, who told jurors he was paid to have sex with Ventura and did while Combs watched.
- Ventura, who has levied allegations of rape and blackmail against Combs, testified about “freak offs,” and detailed more of her relationship with him.