13-05-2025
P Diddy trial latest: Rapper 'made me apply baby oil every five minutes during freak offs', Cassie tells court
20:28:21
Combs had to 'approve' escorts, court hears
Prosecutor Emily Johnson asks Cassie Ventura about the requirements for escorts.
"A black male," she replies. She says she used different websites to find sex workers, under Sean Combs's direction.
A text from an escort agency, sent in June 2012, is detailed in court. It includes a photo of a white male, the court hears, and a message saying he is "ready to go".
Ms Ventura says Combs had to "approve" the escorts himself.
"I showed the photos to Sean to see if he was interested. If he wasn't interested I would tell them 'no' and ask for someone else," she says. "Sean had to approve."
She tells the court she never contacted escorts independently, but would do so when the rapper asked her.
She would tell them "this is my husband's fantasy", the court hears, "and this is what I like to do to please him".
Combs and Ventura were in an on-off relationship for about 10 years from around 2007-08, but were not married.
19:56:57
'Combs made us apply baby oil every five minutes'
Cassie Ventura is still answering questions about the "freak offs" she says Sean Combs coerced her into.
She tells the court in Manhattan that they took place at Combs's homes as well as at hotels, which she lists, in cities including New York, Los Angeles and Miami, usually in small suites.
Rooms would be booked under pseudonyms such as Frank Black and Frank White, the court is told.
Ms Ventura goes on to talk about Combs's wishes to have baby oil at the freak offs and says staff would often bring them supplies of oil and also lubricant and condoms.
She says Combs wanted baby oil to be heated with hot water and he wanted it to "be glistening, so we applied it every five minutes".
The rapper "choreographed" the encounters, she says.
Ms Ventura describes one occasion at a hotel in Beverly Hills, where she says there was a pool "filled" with baby oil. Combs told her to get in, she says, but it was "such a mess". However, she tells jurors, "if Sean wanted it to happen, that was what was going to happen".
Prosecutor Emily Johnson asks her to describe the state of a room after a freak off, and Ms Ventura tells the court there was candle wax and oil "all over the place".
Ms Ventura tells the court the hip-hop mogul expected her to take part in freak offs even when she was on her period, and describes one occasion when both he and a male escort urinated on her.
She says this was "disgusting" and she felt "humiliated".
When Combs was charged in September 2024, the government's indictment said about 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant had been seized from the rapper's homes in Miami and Los Angeles when they were raided in March 2024.
You can read more about Combs's arrest and indictment here:
19:15:26
Cassie tells court she was 'awake the whole time, no sleep' during days-long freak offs
Prosecutor Emily Johnson returns to the "freak offs" that have come up throughout Sean Combs's trial.
These were sexual encounters involving male escorts, the court has heard, and could last for several hours or even days.
Cassie Ventura says Combs mentioned voyeurism to her within the first few months of their relationship, describing it as a fantasy to see her having sex with another man.
She tells the court the rapper taught her about the swinging "lifestyle" of switching partners. She says she was shocked at first but did not want to upset him, so agreed to try it.
The court hears again that she was 22 when Combs first proposed a freak off.
Asked about the first escort they had an encounter with, Ms Ventura says she does not know his name, but that he was paid to entertain, dance and have sex with her.
She says she had been drinking and taken ecstasy, and was wearing a masquerade mask and platform heels.
"I was high so I didn't feel much," she says. "Did this really happen to me? I didn't know what was going to happen after that, if we were going to do it more frequently. I said yes to more, I didn't want to make him upset or angry."
Escorts were paid thousands of pounds, she says, and "every freak off was directed by Sean".
Ms Ventura tells jurors these encounters became weekly and consistent and that she was "awake the whole time, no sleep", despite them sometimes lasting several days. Drugs kept her awake, she says.
Asked if she wanted to take part in the freak offs, Ms Ventura replies: "No, I felt pretty horrible about myself, I felt disgusting, I felt humiliated.
"I didn't have the words to show how horrible I felt. I couldn't talk to anyone about it."
She says Combs's "eyes would go black, the version I knew of him was no longer there".
18:51:16
Cassie: 'Guns came out here and there. I always felt it was a scare tactic'
Ms Ventura recalls how Combs would sometimes take away her electronics, cars and other possessions as a form of punishment.
"He would take the car away, the house, jewellery," she tells the court. "The physical things didn't matter, I just wanted his approval."
She says Combs would personally take things, or members of his staff or security team would. Asked how long this would be for, she says it depended on what she was being punished for.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson goes on to ask her about safes at Combs's properties.
Ms Ventura, 38, says she had access but not frequently. There was always cash, she says, and jewellery, "sometimes tapes from cameras", as well as guns.
She says Combs, 55, had guns in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Alpine, New Jersey, and that there were occasions when she saw the weapons outside the safes, "laid out by security".
Ms Ventura describes an occasion when she handled one of Combs's guns, saying she was in downtown Los Angeles and high "on mushrooms". She says she was handed a gun to hold in her bag, but was "freaking out" worrying it would fire.
"The guns came out here and there. I always felt it was a little bit of a scare tactic," she says.
18:35:55
Combs told Cassie she looked 'too Mexican'
Prosecutor Emily Johnson asks Cassie Ventura if Sean Combs made comments about her physical appearance during their relationship.
The former couple were together on and off for about 10 years from 2007-2008.
She says comments ranged from her looking "too Mexican" to her hair looking "bad".
Ms Ventura tells the court her nails needed to look a certain way - white or with a French manicure during the "freak off" sexual encounters we have heard about throughout the trial so far - and that her appearance was "very important" to the rapper.
Some days he wanted her to be "really sexy", others "like a tomboy", she adds. "He was just very involved."
Ms Ventura tells the court they also had discussions about breast implants and that he would comment on her working out and keeping in shape.
"Definitely my self-worth took a hit during the entirety of the relationship," she says.
Ms Ventura also speaks being managed as a singer by a man called James Cruz. She says he told her that he was doing it with "one hand tied behind his back", and that everything had to go through Combs.
18:17:00
Court back in session
The judge and jurors are back in the courtroom in Manhattan, New York.
Cassie Ventura, who was in a relationship with Sean Combs on and off for about 10 years, is back on the stand and set to continue giving evidence.
Earlier, she told the court how "freak offs" with the rapper and male escorts became like a job, with one lasting four days, and that Combs was often violent throughout their relationship.
18:13:38
Cassie did not look at Combs as she walked to the witness stand
Today's proceedings should get under way again shortly, with singer Cassie Ventura continuing her evidence.
The musician, who is eight months pregnant, has been emotional at times while answering questions from prosecutor Emily Johnson, wiping away tears and occasionally rubbing her belly.
When she entered the courtroom for the first time, Sean Combs turned to get a look at his ex-partner - but she did not look at him, walking straight to the witness stand.
18:05:27
Scene outside court as Diddy's six children come and go
By Martha Kelner, US correspondent in New York
This is the scene outside court as Sean Combs's children come and go in a black people carrier van, accompanied by at least a couple of bodyguards and what seems to be their own documentary crew.
Six out of seven of his children have been in court (the seventh is still a toddler), though his 18 year old twin daughters did leave during some particularly graphic evidence yesterday.
Watch his family arrive earlier today here:
17:45:01
A look inside the room with court sketches of Cassie and Diddy
While the court is on lunch break, we can bring you some sketches from inside.
Unlike in some US court cases, cameras are not allowed inside to record this trial because it is a federal case.
Instead, we have to rely on sketches to get a sense of what things look like in court - and some of them are now starting to come in.
These drawings from court artist Jane Rosenberg shows Cassie being sworn in as Sean "Diddy" Combs watches on.
And earlier the artist captured Sean Combs signalling love to family members supporting him in court.
17:31:03
Cassie: 'Freak offs became a job - and longest lasted four days'
The court has now taken a break for lunch.
Before this, Cassie Ventura was asked questions about Sean Combs visiting her at home unannounced, which she says happened a lot.
Asked how she would feel about this, she told jurors it would depend on his mood. "It was a stomach in knots moment," she says, as she "didn't know what was going to come of the visit".
She also talked about the "freak offs" again, saying they "became a job" and there was "no space to do anything else".
She said they involved taking drugs and drinking, and having sex with strangers, and that the longest lasted for four days.
"Staying out for days on end, taking drugs and drinking, having sex with a stranger," she said. "They would be 36, 48, 72 hours, the longest one was four days."
Ms Ventura said she recorded hundreds of songs despite only releasing one studio album and one mixtape. The "freak offs" took priority over her music career, she said.
"Sean decided I could not release another album," she told the court.
After the break, Ms Ventura will continue her evidence from 6pm UK time.
