Inside the Sean Diddy Combs trial where Cassie Ventura identifies men she claims she was forced to have sex with

The courtroom fell to a startled silence when Sean Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassandra Ventura identified the men she claims she was forced to have sex with.

The procedural alphanumeric labels read aloud by a prosecutor as she formally entered exhibits into evidence in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial gave no warning of the disturbing line of questioning that was about to begin.

A heavily pregnant Casandra Ventura had already endured a harrowing day on the witness stand describing in excruciating detail how her ex-boyfriend Combs had forced her to take part in almost weekly “freak off” sex parties with other men for more than a decade.

As she was handed a binder of papers and asked to review it, the gallery of the Manhattan federal courtroom fell silent, the only sound the rustle of paper as Ms Ventura turned page after page after page, quietly taking in the information in front of her for several minutes.

“Ms Ventura do you recognise the person in government exhibit 2A-617?,” Prosecutor Emily Johnson asked.

She did. His name was Ash, an escort hired to have sex with her at multiple freak offs in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Ibiza.

Ms Ventura, right, walks out of the New York courtroom past Sean Diddy Combs after testifying on Tuesday (local US time). Sketch: Elizabeth Williams via AP

He was hired through a man she knew as Garren who ran an escort agency named Cowboys 4 Angels.

As Ash’s photo was removed from the court screens, another man’s photo appeared – exhibit BA-602.

“I can’t recall his name … I know we saw him in New York,” Ms Ventura says of the bald black man in a woollen scarf.

A New York City correction bus outside Manhattan Federal Court where Sean Diddy Combs is on trial. Picture: John Lamparski / Getty Images / AFP

Exhibit 2A-619 she identified by his alias of ‘Islander’. Dressed in a collared white shirt and tie, they found the escort with curly black hair on a website named ‘Latin Men’, she said.

Tommy is next – exhibit 2A-616. He has a short beard and is wearing a black shirt. Another one of “Garran’s guys”.

Ms Ventura doesn’t recall the name of the bearded man in Exhibit 2A-634. “I can’t remember his name but I think he came through Garran too, maybe Craigslist.”

She is certain she had sex with him in LA and “we possibly flew him out to another place but I’m not sure”.

Combs with Cassie Ventura at the 2018 Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala. Picture: Evan Agostini / Invision / AP

As the man’s face disappears, it’s replaced with a photo of Exhibit 2A-607. “I know him as Skylar,” Ms Ventura tells the court. He was also hired in LA.

That’s also where they hired Exhibit 2A-618, a Cowboys 4 Angels escort in a grey suit, and 2A-601, a white man with shoulder length hair.

“I recognise him vaguely,” Ms Ventura says.

She does remember Greg – Exhibit 2A-620. “He was hired as an escort in Miami for freak offs,” she says.

Jonathan, depicted in Exhibit 2A-624 was a regular. “We saw him several times,” Ms Ventura says – in Miami mostly.

She can’t remember the name of a shirtless man in a red baseball cap, identified to the court as Exhibit 2A-632, but “he looks familiar from freak offs”.

Bryan she remembers. He was hired on Craigslist and is Exhibit 2A-633.

This line of questioning continues for what must feel like hours for Ms Ventura who is unflinching as the faces of dozens of men are displayed on the court screen.

She can’t recall some of the details like their names, where they met or how they were hired but she’s certain of one thing – she had sex with all of them at freak offs instigated by Sean Combs.

Diddy performs during the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards in Neward, New Jersey. Picture: Noam Galai / Getty

Combs poses at the Elton John Oscar Party in West Hollywood in 2010. Picture: Dan Steinberg / AP Photo

The rapper more widely known as P. Diddy or Puff Daddy has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation across state lines to engage in prostitution.

It’s alleged he coerced women including Ms Ventura and another woman identified as Jane to take part in drug-fuelled parties in which he would watch and film them having sex with male escorts, directing every detail of the heavily orchestrated events including what sexual position they were in and when they could finish.

The rapper’s mother Janice Combs (right) leaves for lunch during the trial on Thursday (New York local time). Picture: Getty Images

If the male escorts were unable to perform for as long as Combs wanted, he’d dock their pay.

Ms Ventura said Combs had specific demands covering everything from the “sexy” netted lingerie she wore to the sky high “stripper heels”.

They had to take drugs. Usually ketamine, ecstasy, marijuana or GHB, sometimes a mix.

Ms Ventura said Combs would tell her exactly what drugs to take and when before a freak off began.

The rooms had to be stocked with large bottles of baby oil, specifically the brand Johnsons. They would often go through 10 bottles in one session.

The bottles were warmed in a sink of hot water before Ventura and whichever escort hired for that particular freak off rubbed it all over their bodies, reapplying every five minutes.

“If he felt like you were too dry he would let you know,” Ms Ventura said.

Combs was also particular about the brand of lubricant. And the room had to be covered in heavily scented candles – usually the brands Glade or Dyptique.

Ventura and Combs on holiday. Picture: Instagram

Combs and Ventura in 2016. Picture: Alberto E Rodriguez / Getty

For more than a decade in the early 2000s, Combs and Ventura were a music industry power couple, hosting infamous celebrity filled parties, walking red carpets and jetting off to Cannes and Ibiza.

But over days of testimony this week, Ms Ventura has exposed the reality of their toxic relationship that she alleges was marked by violence from Combs whose own lawyers conceded he would be guilty of assault and domestic violence.

In one of the most disturbing revelations, Ms Ventura alleged that shortly after breaking up with Combs when she caught him with another woman in 2018, he went to her home and raped her as she cried and asked him to stop.

His lawyers have sought to frame the trial as a case about “love, jealousy, infidelity and money”, painting a picture of a couple deeply infatuated with one another who both struggled with drug addictions and consensually enjoyed an extreme sex life.

In her opening address, defence lawyer Teny Geragos told the jury members that while they might rightly think Combs was “mean” or “a jerk”, that was not a crime.

“You’re not here to judge him for his sexual preferences,” she said.

The trial is expected to last for two months.

Originally published as Inside the Sean Diddy Combs trial where Cassie Ventura identifies men she claims she was forced to have sex with