Cassie Ventura’s mother testified on Tuesday that she photographed Ventura’s injuries in 2011 — the same year she allegedly gave Sean “Diddy” Combs $20,000 amid ongoing threats to her daughter’s safety.
Regina Ventura said she photographed her daughter’s injuries on Christmas Eve 2011 at the family’s home in Connecticut. Regina Ventura testified that she wanted to “memorialize” the injuries, including bruises, which were allegedly inflicted by Combs, according to USA Today.
The 2011 incident was reportedly the first time Cassie Ventura told her mother about the abuse. Regina Ventura testified that around the same time, Cassie Ventura showed her an email, from Combs, in which he allegedly threatened to release a sex tape of her on Christmas.
“He was angry that he spent money on her (Cassie) and that she had been with another person,” Regina Ventura stated, according to USA Today.
The alleged email stated that Combs was going to have someone harm her and rapper Kid Cudi. Cassie Ventura previously testified that Combs had assaulted her in 2011 for dating Kid Cudi — and he threatened to have his car blown up while they were out of the country.
Reports indicated that in January 2012, Kid Cudi’s Porsche was set on fire by an incendiary device in California.
Regina Ventura also testified that she wired $20,000 to Combs in December 2011. She claimed she sent the money because she feared for her daughter’s safety and because Combs “demanded it,” USA Today reported.
Regina Ventura’s testimony ended on Tuesday as Combs’ attorneys declined to cross-examine her.
Prosecutors plan to introduce two other key witnesses who claim they were abused by Combs. Unlike Ventura, the two other witnesses will use pseudonyms.
Ventura previously testified that Combs “stifled” her music career while forcing her to participate in “freak offs,” which often entailed her having sex with other men in Combs’ presence. Ventura said the drug-fueled ordeals left her sleep-deprived and dehydrated, as they would last for days on end.
Ventura said Combs “often” injured her during these rendezvous.
Ventura testified that she met Combs when she was 19, and their 10-year relationship was rife with physical abuse. She also described Combs’ controlling behavior — which entailed him controlling her physical appearance and having guards track her down when he could not find her.
Another witness, Daniel Phillip, said he was a male stripper when he was paid to have sex with Ventura at a New York hotel while Combs watched and masturbated. The alleged arrangement lasted about a year or two, and Phillip testified that Ventura appeared to “be on drugs” during at least one of the encounters.
Phillip stated that he watched Combs throw a liquor bottle at Ventura when she did not walk over to him fast enough. Phillip then dragged her to another room and possibly smacked her. He recounted another instance where he overheard Combs hitting Ventura as she said, “I’m sorry.” Phillip said Combs left the hotel, and Ventura ran to him and sat on his lap.
“I asked her, ‘Why is she doing this, why is she staying with this guy?’ ” Phillip testified, according to The New York Times. “I tried to explain to her that she was in real danger if she stayed with him.”
Upon being asked why he never called the cops, Phillips stated that he feared what would happen if he reported Combs — who he believed had “unlimited power.”
“And chances are even if I did go to the police, that I might still end up losing my life,” he also said.
Additionally, Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard testified that she witnessed Combs punching Ventura in the stomach at a restaurant in 2010. Richard alleged that various celebrities were present when Combs assaulted Ventura — including singers Usher and Ne-Yo, and Beats Electronics CEO James lovine. Also claimed she saw Combs try to throw a skillet filled with eggs at Ventura in 2009.
Combs was arrested on September 16, 2024, outside a Manhattan hotel on federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has been denied bail three times, as Judge Andrew L. Carter determined there was a “serious risk” of witness tampering in this case.
Combs’ legal team sought home detention with GPS monitoring. In exchange, they offered to post $50 million bail and to use Combs’ home as collateral.
“The government has proven the defendant is a danger. The bail package is insufficient even on risk of flight,” Carter said while denying Combs’ bail.
Federal authorities raided Combs’ homes in Holmby Hills, California, and Miami in March 2024. Reports indicated that the raids were connected to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation that resulted in his arrest months later.
The reported raids also occurred four months after Ventura accused him of sex trafficking and abuse. In a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, she alleged that Combs drugged her and forced her to have sex with other men. The pair settled the lawsuit a day after its filing.
However, in May, the video surfaced showing Combs assaulting Ventura. After the video was released, Combs put out a video expressing remorse for his behavior.
Two more accusers came forward a week after Ventura’s lawsuit. One of the women claimed Combs drugged and raped her at Syracuse University in New York in 1991. Combs denied those allegations before a third accuser, Liza Gardner, levied similar allegations against him.
In that case, Gardner claimed Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall drugged and raped her and a friend following an Uptown Records event in 1990. Gardner said she was 16 at the time of the incident. She also accused Combs of choking her a day after the assault.
Days after footage of the Ventura assault was publicized, two more women filed lawsuits against Combs. One of those women was April Lampros, a New York Fashion Institute of Technology student who reportedly met Combs in 1994. Lampros accused Combs of sexually assaulting her on four occasions between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s.
Lampros claimed Combs promised to mentor her and connect her with executives in the fashion industry. Instead, Combs allegedly forced her to drink before raping her in a hotel room. Lampros recalled another instance in which Combs forced her to perform oral sex in a parking garage while a parking attendant watched.
Combs has been accused of committing or facilitating sexual abuse in at least 30 other lawsuits — including one, filed in October, which alleges he and Jay-Z raped a 13-year-old girl in New York in 2000. The accuser in that case had her lawsuit dismissed in February.
Combs turned down a plea deal days before jury selection began. His trial is expected to last two months.
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[Featured image: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP]
