Singer Cassie Ventura, the former longtime girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs, testified in federal court on Tuesday that the music mogul once gave her a loaded firearm while she was under the influence of drugs.
Taking the stand in Combs’ ongoing sex trafficking trial in Manhattan, Ventura—who is currently pregnant with her third child with husband Alex Fine—spoke about her decade-long relationship with the 55-year-old music executive. She said firearms were often present at Combs’ residences in Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, and Alpine, New Jersey.
“I only ever saw handguns,” Ventura, 38, told prosecutors, adding that she occasionally saw weapons lying outside of safes in his homes.
She recounted one particular incident while they were heading to a nightclub in downtown Los Angeles: “We had taken mushrooms, and I was really high. He handed me a loaded gun to carry in my bag. I was terrified the whole time it might go off.”
Ventura said she did not know how to operate the weapon and carried it for roughly an hour and a half before returning it to a member of Combs’ security team. “I have no idea why I had a loaded gun,” she added.
When asked whether she had handled any other firearms during their relationship, Ventura responded that guns would occasionally be brought out and implied they were used as intimidation. “It felt like a scare tactic,” she said. “I didn’t know for what purpose.”
During her emotional testimony, Ventura detailed years of alleged physical and emotional abuse. “He would bash me on the head, drag me, kick me, stomp on my head when I was down,” she said. “Sometimes just making the wrong face would get me hit.”
She described the violence as so extreme that it left her with welts and knots on her forehead.
Ventura also spoke about Combs’ alleged “Freak-Offs,” describing them as drug-fueled encounters involving escorts that she was forced to participate in. She called them “jobs” and said one episode lasted up to four days. At the time, she said, she was “sexually inexperienced” and felt coerced.
In November 2023, Ventura filed a civil lawsuit accusing Combs of rape and long-term abuse. Though the case was quickly settled, renewed scrutiny emerged in 2024 after security footage surfaced showing Combs physically assaulting Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016.
Federal authorities raided Combs’ properties in March 2024, reportedly seizing over 1,000 bottles of lubricant, various drugs, and multiple firearms—including three AR-15 rifles. He was arrested six months later and now faces charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transporting individuals for prostitution.
The trial continues as Ventura’s testimony plays a pivotal role in the prosecution’s case.
