*Cassie Ventura has expanded her family amid one of the most intense chapters of her public life.
NBC News reports that the former singer gave birth on Tuesday, welcoming her third child with husband Alex Fine less than two weeks after finishing a marathon stretch on the witness stand in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal sex-trafficking trial.
Ventura, 38, announced the pregnancy earlier this year in a series of black-and-white Instagram portraits featuring Fine and their two young daughters. When she took the stand on May 13, she was more than eight months along.
Ventura’s civil lawsuit against Combs in November 2023 catalyzed a wave of similar accusations and ultimately a federal indictment. Although her complaint was settled for $20 million the day after it was filed, Ventura, identified in charging documents as “Victim-1,” became the prosecution’s cornerstone.
Over nearly a week of testimony, she recounted graphic episodes of violence and coercion. She told jurors that Combs would “bash on my head, knock me over, drag me, [and] kick me,” explaining that such beatings happened “too frequently.” She also described “violent arguments that usually resulted in some form of physical abuse,” and detailed “freak-offs,” sex parties she said Combs orchestrated and secretly recorded to blackmail her. “Her livelihood and safety depended on keeping him happy,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily A. Johnson told jurors.
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Combs has pleaded not guilty; his lawyers dismiss the case as a fabrication. They have also challenged the authenticity of hotel-security footage that appears to show the mogul dragging Ventura down a hallway—footage widely circulated after her civil suit became public.
Throughout her testimony, Ventura recounted the emotional manipulation and physical abuse she faced, detailing how Combs would often use violence to maintain control. She revealed how the Bad Boy Records founder introduced her to voyeuristic sexual encounters, where he watched her engage with another man, and threatened to release the footage to ruin her career.
“He beat her when she didn’t answer the phone when he called. He beat her when she left a freak-off without his permission,” Johnson said in his opening statement, CNN reports. “He beat her when he thought she took too long in the bathroom. The defendant taught Cassie that defying him could and often would end in violence. And when she tried to run away, he always found her.”
However, defense lawyer Teny Geragos said, “This was a relationship, it was not based on coercion, it was not based on force,” describing it as a “toxic relationship between two people who loved each other.”
The trial, which is estimated to last 8 to 10 weeks, could result in severe consequences for Combs, with charges that include sex trafficking and racketeering. If convicted, he could face a life sentence.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Cassie Ventura Testifies About Abuse and Exploitation at Diddy’s Trial
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