Sean Diddy Combs sex trafficking trial: Combs’s chilling warning to Cassie

Sean “Diddy” Combs once threatened Cassie Ventura in front of her friends as the former singer gives birth, and the disgraced mogul’s legal team ask for a mistrial. Follow updates.

An “enraged” Sean “Diddy” Combs once repeatedly struck his longtime girlfriend Cassie Ventura “pretty hard” in front of her friends because she didn’t answer her phone, a celebrity stylist has testified.

Deonte Nash told jurors that he had hidden Ventura from Combs “too many” times to count during the decade he knew the couple.

He said he was a victim of physical violence inflicted by Combs whom he also witnessed attacking Ms Ventura.

Mr Nash recounted the time he and his close friend Ventura went to a gay club in Los Angeles around 2013 with the British songstress and Cheetah Girls singer Adrienne Bailon-Houghton.

Cassie Ventura and Sean Combs were in a relationship for more than a decade. Picture: AP Photo

Ms Ventura got a call from Combs, whom Nash heard on speakerphone, tell her “she better bring her ass to his house,” Mr Nash said.

Ms Ventura “started to panic ... she just packed her stuff and went to his house,” Nash said.

Mr Nash recounted a separate incident in 2013 that Ms Ventura also testified about when Combs arrived at her house furious because she hadn’t answered his calls.

“B**** didn’t I tell you to answer the phone,” Mr Nash said Combs told Ms Ventura when he visited unaccounted.

Mr Nash said Combs dragged his girlfriend from the couch by her hair and beat her.

Pictures from the incident have previously shown to the court of Ms Ventura’s injuries from the incident which included a split eyebrow from where she hit her head on a bed frame.

In another incident the same year, Mr Nash said Combs threw him on a car and “started choking me out” because he was angry he had gone out with Ms Ventura.

Sean "Diddy" Combs could spend 15 years in prison. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Nash said he had hidden Ms Ventura from Combs repeatedly, taking her to hotels.

The court heard Combs would repeatedly call and message friends and acquaintances looking for her.

He “grabbed her by the hair, pulled her off the couch and started hitting her,” the stylist said.

The alleged ordeal, which unfolded as Ventura was prepping to leave for Drake’s OVO festival in Toronto, took place in front of the stylist and a handful of others, Nash testified.

Elsewhere during his testimony, Nash — who was Ventura’s long-time stylist and considered them close friends — told jurors that Combs tried to control every aspect of his then-girlfriend’s life.

As Ms Ventura’s stylist, Mr Nash said he had to repeatedly seek approval from Combs for her outfits and appearance.

Janice Combs, mother of Sean "Diddy" Combs, was in court supporting her son. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

Mr Nash — who noted he spent almost every day with Ms Ventura — alleged he also constantly overheard Combs berating and threatening his then-girlfriend.

Asked what threats he overheard, the stylist responded: “That he would beat her ass. That he wouldn’t put her music out. That he would get her parents fired from her jobs and that he would send her sex tapes to their jobs.”

“He told her that she was an outright w***e. He told her she was nothing but a s**t anyway,” Mr Nash added.

Mr Nash did deliver a moment of levity in the otherwise grim case, commenting on a photo of himself shown to the jury.

“Yeah, I look amazing,” he said when asked if the image was a glamour shot, prompting laughter from the jury and public gallery.

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VENTURA GIVES BIRTH

Earlier, Ventura and husband Alex Fine welcomed their third child – a baby boy.

The singer delivered the little boy at a New York City hospital on Wednesday, less than two weeks after giving explosive testimony in the trial against Sean Combs.

The new addition is the couple’s third child with older sisters Frankie and Sunny born in 2019 and 2021.

Cassie Ventura has welcomed her third child, a baby boy. Picture: Instagram

There were fears for Ms Ventura’s health as she spent four gruelling days on the witness stand giving harrowing evidence about years of abuse she allegedly suffered at Combs’ hands.

On the fourth day of her testimony, a Friday, prosecutors made an urgent midnight application calling for the judge to ensure her cross examination ended that day in case she went into labour over the weekend.

She spent days giving evidence that she was coerced by Combs over their 11 year relationship to take part in depraved “freak offs” in which he would watch and direct as she had sex with male escorts.

The mother-of-two was rushed to a New York hospital on Wednesday morning local time.

It comes as Combs’ eight-week trial continues in the federal court.

Four witnesses are expected to take the stand today, including a former assistant known as Mia.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson in her opening address said Mia would give evidence that she had been sexually assaulted by her former boss Combs.

Singer Cassie Ventura was taken to hospital. Picture: AP Photo

The court heard Mia would allege Combs had coerced her into performing oral sex on him and had snuck into her bedroom and sexually abused her.

Ms Johnson said the woman had intended to “take the secret of what “Combs” did to her to her grave”.

“Mia will tell you she could not talk about what happened to her until recently,” Ms Johnson said.

The government will also call a Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator who will be questioned about Combs allegedly firebombing the car of love rival and fellow musician Kid Cudi.

DIDDY LAWYERS CALL FOR MISTRIAL

Combs’ lawyers have called for a mistrial in the mammoth case, arguing prosecutors were trying to give the impression that the music mogul had been involved in the destruction of evidence relating to a break in at Kid Cudi’s home.

The court heard that two fingerprints taken from the door of his home were destroyed by the LAPD just months after the trespass.

Brian Steel is among Sean "Diddy" Combs' defence team. Picture: Getty Images

But Judge Arun Subramanian rejected the applications, saying he would instead instruct the jury to disregard part of the officer’s testimony relating to the evidence.

DESIGNER HANDKERCHIEF USED IN MOLOTOV COCKTAIL

An LA fire investigator says the molotov cocktail used to destroy Scott Mescudi’s Porsche was made from a liquor bottle and a designer handkerchief.

But the makeshift firebomb was not as effective because the silky luxury fabric of the handkerchief made the device less flammable.

Mr Mescudi, also known as Kid Cudi, last week told the court that his Porsche 911 was completely destroyed as a result of the attack, and photos were shown of the charred interior and smoke damaged door.

Damage to Kid Cudi's car outside his Los Angeles home. Picture: US Federal Court Southern District of New York

“The fire smouldered out … and didn’t cause the damage that it was intended for,” investigator Lance Jimenez told the court.

“In my opinion, this was targeted.”

His evidence came after LA police officer Christopher Ignacio gave evidence he responded to an earlier complaint from Mescudi after Combs allegedly broke into his West Hollywood home.

Kid Cudi departs the Manhattan Federal Court during the Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial. Picture: Getty Images

He told the court he recalled seeing a black Escalade near the rapper’s home and that when he arrived, Mescudi filed a trespass report.

No one was ever charged or arrested over the break in.

Mr Mescudi last week gave evidence that Combs had broken into his home, unwrapped Christmas presents for his family and locked his dog in a bathroom.

Originally published as Sean Diddy Combs sex trafficking trial: Combs’s chilling warning to Cassie