NEW YORK (AP) — Cassie, the R&B singer and former girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs, testified Tuesday that the mercurial music mogul — powerful, abusive and controlling — beat her mercilessly and ordered her to have “disgusting” sex with strangers during drug-fueled, multi-day marathons he called “freak offs.”
Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, sniffled and dabbed her eyes with a tissue, sighed heavily and paused to compose herself through about five hours of testimony at Combs’ sex trafficking trial.
In humiliating detail, she recounted a turbulent 10-year relationship with Combs that she said was consumed by violence and his obsession with a form of voyeurism where “he was controlling the whole situation.” That included directing her encounters with male sex workers right down to the copious amounts of baby oil she applied to maintain the “glistening” look he desired.
The “Me & U” singer told jurors that his demands for her to engage in sometimes-revolting sex acts — sometimes as he watched from another room via FaceTime — left her feeling “heavily objectified.” But, she said, she endured them because she was in love with Combs.
At the same time, Cassie said, Combs controlled every aspect of her life, from her career to her living arrangements, and she didn’t feel like she could tell him “no.”