All eyes are on the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse in Lower Manhattan as Sean “Diddy” Combs stands trial for the following charges: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. As the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York presents its case against Combs, singer Cassie Ventura has taken the stand and detailed her relationship with Combs. On the witness stand for four days, Ventura accused Combs of physically, emotionally, and verbally abusing her and others for more than a decade. Ventura’s former label mate, Dawn Richard, also spent time on the witness stand recalling an instance in which she witnessed Combs punch, kick, and verbally accost Ventura before threatening Richard and members of Danity Kane to avoid discussing the matter with anyone else.
As the judge, plaintiff, and defense break for the weekend, Ventura’s husband, Alex Fine, offers a statement applauding his wife’s “strength and bravery.”
“Over the past five days, the world has gotten to witness the strength and bravery of my wife, freeing herself of her past,” Fine stated.
“There has been speculation online surrounding how it must feel for me to sit there and listen to my wife’s testimony. I have felt so many things sitting there. I have felt tremendous pride and overwhelming love for Cass. I have felt profound anger that she has been subjected to sitting in front of a person who tried to break her.”
Fine, who previously worked as Combs’s personal trainer, also directly addressed the famed record producer.
“You did not break her spirit nor her smile that lights up every room,” Fine continued. “You did not break the souls of a mother who gives the best hugs and plays the silliest games with our little girls. You did not break the woman who has made me a better man.”
Combs, who has been charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution, will return to court on Monday, May 19. Following testimony from Ventura, Richard, Homeland Security Special Agent Yasin Binda, LAPD Officer Israel Florez, and Daniel Phillip, the court is expected to hear from more witnesses, including Combs’s former employees, male sex workers, and an anonymous woman known as Jane, who reportedly started dating Combs in 2020.
