As testimony continues in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ongoing sex trafficking case, one woman and former girlfriend is giving insight into what she claims were the moments that immediately followed the leak of the infamous hotel security video.
On Monday, June 9, the woman, identified only as Jane Doe, testified in court that one of Diddy’s three sons was the first to tell him that hotel security footage showing Diddy viciously assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie (real name Cassandra Ventura) had leaked to the press. CNN published the footage in May 2024. The woman did not publicly identify which of Diddy’s three sons alerted his father to the media’s coverage of the footage. (Diddy is the father of seven children, whom he shares with Misa Hylton, Sarah Chapman, Dana Tran and the late Kim Porter.)
Doe added that she was with Diddy, 55, when CNN published the video, claiming she reviewed what she referred to as a “final draft” of the apology Diddy eventually shared via social media. Doe testified that she and Diddy were asleep at his Star Island home when his son woke them up and said “something happened.”
Cassie filed a lawsuit against Diddy in November 2023 alleging physical and sexual abuse, and the pair settled the case the next day. She claimed he often tried to control her when they were dating by taking drugs, physically hurting her and forcing her to have sex with male prostitutes on camera.
“After years in silence and darkness, I am finally ready to tell my story, and to speak up on behalf of myself and for the benefit of other women who face violence and abuse in their relationships,” Cassie said in a statement to The New York Times.
Diddy’s lawyer Ben Brafman said at the time that the settlement does not indicate that Diddy is guilty. “Just so we’re clear, a decision to settle a lawsuit, especially in 2023, is in no way an admission of wrongdoing,” Brafman shared a statement to Luxury Handbag Shopping. “Mr. Combs’ decision to settle the lawsuit does not in any way undermine his flat-out denial of the claims. He is happy they got to a mutual settlement and wishes Ms. Ventura the best.”
Diddy was later arrested in September 2024 and charged with sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has denied all the allegations against him.
Outside of the courtroom, a former male escort claiming to have been hired by Diddy alleged that some of the final so-called “freak offs” Diddy allegedly forced Cassie to participate in “were evil.”
“I just would say overall, the tone was a little darker towards the last times I’d seen them,” Shawn Dearing alleged to People in an interview published Monday. “I got to see the dark side of things.”
Dearing claimed he was part of “more than a dozen” drug and sex–fueled events with Diddy and Cassie. He added that Cassie didn’t appear to enjoy the alleged acts. “It was more of a ‘doing this to please him’ type of spirit overall. I can tell when the energy was different,” he told the outlet, adding, “It was evil … and she was under that.”
“In my opinion, in that situation, she didn’t know if this was a beast she could control or not anymore,” he continued. “So she was along for the ride, because she had to, because who knows? Who knows where this beast is going, and there’s no way to tame it.”
