This story may contain accounts and descriptions of actual or alleged events that some readers may find disturbing.
While on the stand Wednesday, Cassie Ventura testified that in 2011, when her relationship with Sean Combs was “not in the greatest place,” she began briefly dating Scott Mescudi, the performer better known as Kid Cudi.
Ventura told the court that Combs learned of the relationship during a “freak off” in Los Angeles: “He went through my phone and saw emails between me and a staff member.”
“I just remember him putting a wine bottle opener in between his fingers and lunging at me,” Ventura testified.
Ventura kept a “burner” phone to communicate with Kid Cudi because “I didn’t want Sean to find out,” she testified.
Ventura testified that she later went to Combs’ home because he allegedly said he wanted to talk.
“He was irate. He was just so angry,” Ventura testified. “When I was in the room, he told me about videos that he had and how it was going to hurt Scott and I.”
Ventura told the court that the videos Combs referenced were videos of “freak offs.”
“Sean kicked me in the back on the way out so I had a big bruise on my back,” Ventura testified. “I had bruises in other places on my body.”
Ventura testified that during a plane ride to Connecticut she wrote an email to her mother under an alias she used — Veronica — warning her mother that “Sean Puffy Combs is going to release two explicit sexual tapes of me … he also said that he will have someone hurt me and Scott Mescudi.”
Once in Connecticut, Ventura testified that her mother took photos of her injuries. The jury was shown an image of a welt on her back.
Ventura also testified about the first time she recalled Combs “knocked me around,” and told the court that she, too, sometimes initiated physical violence.
The jury was shown a series of seven still images taken from video recordings of “freak off” sex encounters.
Tune into Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy twice weekly for real-time updates on the trial.
If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.
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