Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, the former partner of hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, is set to face questioning from Combs’s defense team in a high-stakes federal trial in New York, beginning May 15, 2025, where Combs faces charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation for prostitution. The trial, stemming from a 2024 indictment, has drawn intense scrutiny due to the couple’s high-profile relationship and allegations of systemic abuse.
Combs, 55, pleaded not guilty to all charges, which allege he operated a criminal enterprise from 2008 to 2024, coercing women into drug-fueled sex parties through violence and threats. Cassie, a singer signed to Combs’s Bad Boy Entertainment, filed a 2023 civil lawsuit accusing him of rape, physical abuse, and forcing her into sexual acts with male sex workers, claims that catalyzed the federal investigation. The suit was settled for an undisclosed amount, but Cassie’s cooperation with prosecutors makes her a key witness. The defense, led by Marc Agnifilo, plans to challenge her credibility, citing inconsistencies in her 2016 police reports and their 11-year relationship, which ended in 2018.
The indictment details Combs’s alleged use of his 150,000-employee empire to facilitate crimes, including $10 million in payments to victims and accomplices. Prosecutors have secured 50 witnesses, including former employees, and 1,000 hours of video evidence, some from Combs’s $60 million Los Angeles mansion. Cassie’s testimony will focus on incidents from 2007–2018, including a 2016 hotel assault corroborated by surveillance footage. The defense argues the encounters were consensual, pointing to Cassie’s continued professional ties with Combs post-breakup.
The trial, expected to last six weeks, could result in a life sentence if Combs is convicted. It follows his September 2024 arrest and detention without bail, with assets like a $48 million private jet frozen. The case has sparked broader conversations about power dynamics in entertainment, with 70% of polled industry workers in a 2024 survey reporting workplace coercion. Cassie’s testimony, under intense cross-examination, will be pivotal in determining the outcome of one of the music industry’s most significant legal battles.