Cassie Ventura finished her last day of testimony in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking case on Friday as she and husband Alex Fine took one final parting shot at the rapper.
Ventura testified for four days about the “abuse and fear” she says she suffered at Combs’ hands, from his constant “freak-off” sex performances that she said made her “basically a sex worker,” to the beatings he allegedly handed out liberally over the course of their 11-year relationship.
The prosecution is relying heavily on Ventura’s testimony to establish a pattern of Combs’ alleged coercion tactics, to make its case that the rapper regularly pressured victims into sexual acts and used his power to do so.
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Ventura, who is eight months pregnant with her third child with Fine, was free to put the trial behind her for good on Friday afternoon, after which her attorney read a statement on her behalf.
“This week has been extremely challenging, but also remarkably empowering and healing for me,” the statement began, according to CNN. “I hope that my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors, and can help others who have suffered to speak up and also heal from abuse and fear.”
She also wrote that, “For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember. And the more I can remember, the more I will never forget.”
She thanked “my family and my advocates for their unwavering support” and requested “privacy for me and for my growing family.”
Fine was present in court to support his wife all week, and wrote a statement of his own that was also read Friday, praising “the strength and bravery of my wife, freeing herself of her past,” which Ventura’s attorney also read for the press.
He also addressed “speculation online surrounding how it must feel for me to sit there and listen to my wife’s testimony. I have felt so many things sitting there. I have felt tremendous pride and overwhelming love for Cass.
“I have felt profound anger that she has been subjected to sitting in front of a person who tried to break her. So, to him and all of those who helped him along the way, please know this: You did not. You did not break her spirit nor her smile that lights up every room. You did not break the souls of a mother who gives the best hugs and plays the silliest games with our little girls. You did not break the woman who has made me a better man.”
“I did not save Cassie, as some have said,” he added, “She alone broke free from abuse, coercion, violence and threats. She did the work of fighting the demons that only a demon himself could have done to her.”
Combs’ trial continued Friday with the testimony of Homeland Security Investigations agent Yasin Binda, who orchestrated the raids that were carried out on his homes in March 2024.
Dawn Richards, former member of singing group Danity Kane, is expected to testify after that. Richards sued Combs in 2024 for sexual assault, harassment, and inhumane treatment during her time under his management.
