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At American rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial on Tuesday, his former partner, Casandra Ventura, testified that he “controlled” her life and used compromising sexual material as blackmail to maintain her obedience.
The jury has been presented with allegations that the hip-hop icon employed violence and threats to damage the reputations of women, including Ventura, whom he allegedly abused for years.
Visibly pregnant and requiring breaks during her potentially multi-day graphic testimony, Ventura stated that “(Combs) controlled a lot of my life.”
She also claimed that “he had many resources” to potentially exploit compromising sexual videos of her, a celebrated singer and model, pausing to wipe away tears.
The trial previously saw hotel surveillance footage from March 2016, where Combs appeared to brutally assault and drag Ventura down a hallway.
Israel Florez, a former security officer at a Los Angeles-area InterContinental hotel, testified on Monday that he was the first to arrive after this incident and that Combs attempted to bribe him.
Florez’s testimony provided the basis for the prosecution to introduce the security footage, which CNN published last year.
The jury of 12, along with six alternates, heard accounts of Combs’s volatile temper and alleged attempts to protect his reputation through bribery.
However, the 55-year-old’s defence team argued that while some of his behaviour was questionable and even constituted domestic abuse, it did not amount to the racketeering and sex trafficking charges he faces.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including racketeering, which alleges he led a sex crime ring involving drug-fueled sex parties through force, threats, and violence.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson told the jury about alleged instances of Combs setting a man’s car on fire, dangling a woman from a balcony, and making unreasonable demands of his partners and employees.
She emphasised that the case was not about private sexual preferences but about “coercive and criminal” behaviour.
Conversely, Combs’s defence lawyer, Teny Geragos, characterised the case as being about “love, jealousy, infidelity, and money.”
Geragos described Combs’ accusers as “capable, strong adult women” and portrayed his relationship with Ventura as a “toxic relationship” between two people who loved each other.
She argued that “being a willing participant in your own sex life is not sex trafficking,” while acknowledging that domestic violence occurred, though Combs is not charged with those specific crimes.
Following Florez’s testimony, a male dancer who had a sexual relationship, often in exchange for money, with both Combs and Ventura from 2012 to approximately the end of 2013 concluded his testimony on Tuesday.
If convicted, Combs, a highly influential figure in bringing hip-hop into the mainstream, could face a life sentence. Family members and former partners, including Misa Hylton, have been present with Combs at the courthouse. The trial is expected to last eight to ten weeks.
