Sean 'Diddy' Combs: Lawyer says 'freak-offs' were consensual as Cassie Ventura cross-examined over explicit messages

This comes as R&B singer Cassie was forced to read aloud explicit messages she exchanged with Combs during their relationship.

Combs is currently on trial facing federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. Prosecutors allege he used his influence in the music industry to coerce women, including Cassie, into sex acts with others, while using a network of employees to organise and conceal the conduct, the basis of the racketeering charge.

Defence lawyer Anna Estevao argued in court that while Combs could be violent, “nothing he did amounted to a criminal enterprise.” Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

In court on Thursday, Estevao highlighted messages in which Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, appeared enthusiastic about the sexual encounters. In one message from August 2009, she replied to Combs: “I’m always ready to freak off.” Later, she added: “Me too, I just want it to be uncontrollable.”

Cassie read the messages aloud under cross-examination, some of which described in detail her role in the “freak-offs,” contradicting her earlier testimony that she had “hated doing” them. The readings became so intense at one point that she requested, and was granted, a short break by Judge Arun Subramanian.

The fourth day of testimony featured numerous messages between Cassie and Combs, both romantic and explicit. Cassie acknowledged her emotional attachment to him at the time, saying: “I had fallen in love with him and cared about him very much.” She also called him “charismatic, a larger-than-life personality.”

Despite the tone of the exchanges, Cassie’s earlier testimony described a darker experience behind the scenes, alleging that these encounters were often fuelled by drugs, left her physically depleted, and ultimately led to opioid addiction. She also said Combs raped her after their 2018 breakup and threatened to release videos of her from these sessions to maintain control over her.

While prosecutors focused on Combs’ alleged coercion of Cassie into sex with other men, she testified she also witnessed him with other women, saying he referred to it as part of a “swingers lifestyle.” When asked by Estevao if the “freak-offs” were related to that lifestyle, Cassie replied: “In a sexual way,” but clarified, “They’re very different.”

Cassie, now 38 and in her third trimester of pregnancy with her third child, remained composed for most of the cross-examination, though she broke down several times during the prosecution’s questioning earlier in the week.

She previously filed a civil lawsuit against Combs in 2023, accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse. The suit was settled within hours for $20 million (£15 million), a figure she revealed for the first time during Wednesday’s testimony. In the months that followed, dozens of similar allegations from other women were filed against Combs.

The courtroom on Thursday was packed with supporters of both Cassie and Combs. The artist, now 55, has been in custody since September. If convicted, he faces a minimum of 15 years in prison.