Dateline: True Crime Weekly
Sean Combs: Cassie Ventura's cross-examination wraps up.
Sat, 17 May 2025
The defense goes on the attack, playing an audio tape of Cassie making threats and yelling. They get her to describe what she saw of Sean Combs's drug use and question her about her own, and try to poke holes in her rape allegation. After redirect from the prosecution, Cassie's testimony comes to an end after more than 20 hours on the witness stand. Her lawyer answers questions outside the courthouse. If you want to read NBC's coverage of the trial, check out our newsletter, “Diddy On Trial”: NBCNews.com/Diddy https://www.nbcnews.com/diddy-on-trial
Chapter 1: What is the focus of the Sean Combs trial?
This is On Trial, a special series from Dateline True Crime Weekly, bringing you daily coverage from the Sean Combs sex trafficking trial. He is pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. I'm Andrea Canning. Today is Friday, May 16th. Just a heads up, in this episode, we're going to be talking about some graphic details and harrowing subject matter.
Cassie Ventura, Sean Combs' ex-girlfriend, was back on the witness stand today under fire from Combs' defense team. Once again, they confronted Cassie with her own words. But this time, it wasn't just what she'd written in intimate texts and emails. Today, the jury got to hear Cassie's voice on tape, and she sounded angry.
NBC News correspondent Chloe Malas joins us now from outside the federal courthouse to tell us more. Hey, Chloe. Hey, Andrea. So, Chloe, let's go back into the courtroom. Cassie took the stand this morning, eight and a half months pregnant.
She must have been exhausted. She kept her composure. She did rub her belly at multiple points, and she did seem to be a bit fidgety. They would take breaks about every 90 minutes.
which is completely understandable they think she's going to give birth over the weekend wow and the defense was essentially on a deadline right because of the pregnancy they were told you have to wrap this up yeah i mean originally they were told yesterday that they only had five more hours to finish their cross-examination but then when they got in there this morning the judge said that the prosecution had said that they could have until 4 30 today let's talk about this
explosive tape that the defense played. It's Cassie confronting a man. There's audio of it. She thought that this man had a video of one of the freak-offs, and she was quite angry.
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Chapter 2: What audio evidence was presented during Cassie's testimony?
So, Andrea, in this audio recording, you hear her screaming at this man. She's saying, I'm going to kill you. So she's freaking out, and she wants to know where is the tape. And I think that the reason that they're playing it is to show a different side of her. Remember, she's up there soft-spoken, demure, and you hear the defense saying that there was physical abuse on both sides.
So again, you hear her screaming and making threats. It is a different side of her.
The defense also asked Cassie about her drug use, which she has fully admitted that she was using drugs, that she was addicted to opiates. Why does the defense find that to be relevant information for the jury?
Because they're trying to attack her credibility. They're trying to challenge her. And one of the ways is by having her testify about her drug use.
Cassie actually said that she was using drugs to recover from the pain of the free coughs?
So during her testimony this week, she's talked about taking drugs in an effort to disassociate during those freak-offs so that she could actually participate in these drug-fueled sex encounters that she says she didn't want to be a part of. On the other side of it, she would take drugs after the freak-offs to try and come down off of other drugs. So it was this vicious cycle.
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Chapter 3: How did the defense challenge Cassie's credibility?
And at one point, she says that she even went to rehab to try and recover.
The defense also got Cassie to talk about Combs' relationship to drugs. Why did they want to bring that in?
So I thought that that was really interesting. At one point, Cassie actually described Combs as being blacked out on drugs and alcohol when he beat her up in 2016 in that video that we've all seen by now. And they talk a lot about his drug use.
And what they're trying to say is that that wasn't actually the real Combs perpetrating those acts of violence, that it was because of these benders that they were mutually on.
So the defense is saying, you know, that essentially Combs might be a flawed man, but that behaving badly or taking drugs isn't the same as orchestrating a criminal enterprise or sex trafficking. And that is the bar for the prosecution. Exactly.
Some of Cassie's testimony that was really hard to hear about was when she talked about her allegations that Combs raped her in 2018 after they had a breakup dinner. She got very emotional about Combs, you know, was never charged with rape and he has denied that allegation. But nonetheless, it has come up. How did the defense handle that?
What they showed is that although Cassie claims that they broke up in 2018, text exchanges show that they met up for dinner. that fall in Malibu, California. And she claims that when he returned her to her apartment, that he forced himself in and raped her.
But what the defense is saying is, well, first of all, the date that you put in your civil suit is different from the date that you told prosecutors about that alleged incident. And also the very next day, you sent loving text messages, including a heart emoji. So obviously very complicated. It's going to be really interesting to see what does the jury take away from all of this.
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Chapter 4: What allegations did Cassie make against Sean Combs?
Chapter 5: How did Cassie's drug use come into play in the trial?
The defense also asked Cassie about her drug use, which she has fully admitted that she was using drugs, that she was addicted to opiates. Why does the defense find that to be relevant information for the jury?
Because they're trying to attack her credibility. They're trying to challenge her. And one of the ways is by having her testify about her drug use.
Cassie actually said that she was using drugs to recover from the pain of the free coughs?
So during her testimony this week, she's talked about taking drugs in an effort to disassociate during those freak-offs so that she could actually participate in these drug-fueled sex encounters that she says she didn't want to be a part of. On the other side of it, she would take drugs after the freak-offs to try and come down off of other drugs. So it was this vicious cycle.
And at one point, she says that she even went to rehab to try and recover.
The defense also got Cassie to talk about Combs' relationship to drugs. Why did they want to bring that in?
So I thought that that was really interesting. At one point, Cassie actually described Combs as being blacked out on drugs and alcohol when he beat her up in 2016 in that video that we've all seen by now. And they talk a lot about his drug use.
And what they're trying to say is that that wasn't actually the real Combs perpetrating those acts of violence, that it was because of these benders that they were mutually on.
So the defense is saying, you know, that essentially Combs might be a flawed man, but that behaving badly or taking drugs isn't the same as orchestrating a criminal enterprise or sex trafficking. And that is the bar for the prosecution. Exactly.
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Chapter 6: What was the significance of Cassie's emotional testimony?
I'm glad you found someone to love you and respect you. And he is referring to Alex Fine. He is also referring to the fact that she had just announced that she was pregnant with her first child.
Gosh. Yeah, it sounds, after everything we've heard, that sounds so cordial. The defense left the jury with one last text about freak-offs. It seems like they really wanted to leave them with the idea that Cassie was, she was the one in control.
Combs' defense has always maintained that, Andrea, because what they say is that the prosecution, the government, the way that they got these videos and these pictures are off Cassie's devices. not any devices that they got when they raided Combs' homes last year. So in this final kind of mic drop moment today, the text from Cassie reads to Combs, I don't want to freak off for the last time.
I want it to be the first time for the rest of our lives.
When you say complicated, man, this is complicated. What points did the prosecution make on redirect with Cassie?
They were really trying to prove racketeering. And how do you prove racketeering? That he was running a criminal enterprise or using his businesses to carry out illegal activity. That's where you introduce the people that work for him, the personal assistants, the security. And that's where on redirect you saw the prosecutors saying, who came to your apartment? Who did this for the freak offs?
And they were talking about employees who would be his intermediaries.
I mean, it really comes down to that because they have to make that direct connection to their charges. Right. So a bit of excitement outside of the courthouse. The Cassie's attorney, Douglas Wigdor, just came out and actually spoke to all of you.
Yes. So Cassie's testimony is finally complete. And her attorney came out and spoke in front of the courthouse addressing reporters. And he said that he's so proud of Cassie and her bravery. He also answered a quick question of mine. Question.
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