Cassie’s mother, Regina Ventura, took the witness stand in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs on Tuesday, May 20, the week after her daughter spent four days testifying against the rapper.
During her testimony, Regina claimed that she took out a $20,000 home equity loan in order to satisfy a blackmail demand from Diddy, 55, in 2011. Regina alleged she sent him the money after he threatened to release sexually explicit videos of Cassie, 38, when she began dating Kid Cudi.
“I was physically sick,” Regina told Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson. “I did not understand it. The sex tape threw me. He was trying to hurt my daughter.”
Cassie told her mother about Diddy’s alleged abuse for the first time in December 2011, and Regina said on Tuesday that she took photos of her injuries because she wanted to establish a record. (Those photos were shown to the jury.)
“She was bruised and I wanted to make sure we memorialize it,” Regina recalled. “I was scared for my daughter’s safety.”
After taking out the home equity loan, Regina wired the $20,000 to Diddy, but she said he returned it after four or five days.
She also noted she once called the police on Diddy after Cassie told her that Diddy had taken her phone. Regina said she had a “bitter argument” outside her daughter’s apartment building as she tried to get the phone back from the mogul while Cassie was inside.
“I was trying to hit him but I wasn’t successful,” Regina said, claiming that Diddy eventually gave the phone back but took Cassie’s car as he left.
After Regina finished her direct testimony, the defense declined to cross-examine her.
Diddy was arrested in September 2024 and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and has denied all the allegations against him.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a statement at the time. “He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Cassie, who is eight and a half months pregnant, began four days of testimony on May 13. (She is expecting her third baby, a boy, with husband Alex Fine. The couple are already the parents of daughters Frankie, 5, and Sunny, 4.)
The “Me & U” singer shared numerous details about her relationship with Diddy, which lasted off and on from 2007 to 2018. She also discussed the 2016 incident where Diddy assaulted her at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, as captured on surveillance video published in edited form by CNN last May. The jury was shown a full, unedited version of the video in court.
Cassie (full name Casandra Ventura) mentioned her mother several times during her testimony, claiming that she hid Diddy’s alleged abuse from Regina because she was afraid to tell her the truth. At one point, Cassie was allegedly sequestered in a hotel room after being stomped on and beaten by Diddy. She told the jury that she wanted to see her mom as her visible wounds healed but claimed “it wouldn’t be safe” to leave.
“I understood Sean’s capabilities, his access to guns, the threats he made prior to that,” Cassie said on Wednesday, May 14. “I was privy.”
Cassie went on to say that her mother saw a blind item in the press referencing the alleged abuse and asked whether it was about her and Diddy. Instead of telling her what happened, Cassie denied it was about her.
“I didn’t tell my mom the truth because I was ashamed,” she recalled while tearing up. “I also didn’t want to put my mother in danger for knowing anything of that magnitude.”
Cassie eventually opened up to her mom about the alleged attacks but told her Diddy beat her for the first time in December 2011. (She previously claimed in her testimony that the first instance of abuse happened in 2007.) Cassie did not, however, tell her mom about Diddy’s alleged “freak off” parties.
“I couldn’t hurt her like that,” she told the court. “You can’t justify it to anyone. Especially not your mom.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
