Cassie Ventura testified that Sean “Diddy” Combs brought pop star Britney Spears to her 21st birthday party — where Ventura said she first kissed the rap mogul and their relationship began.
Ventura, now 38, told jurors during the trial for Diddy that Combs invited the “Oops!...I Did It Again” singer to her birthday bash at a club in Las Vegas, the New York Post reported.
The music mogul also invited singer and music producer Dallas Austin, who was included on a list of celebrities given to potential jurors before his sex trafficking trial began in Manhattan.
“Sean was there and he brought Dallas Austin, Britney Spears,” Ventura testified. “I think those were the two people that stand out to me.”
Ventura previously stated that up until her 21st birthday, Combs was just her music producer.
However, the then 38-year-old kissed Ventura, who is 17 years his junior, at the event and the relationship began to turn romantic, she testified.
Ventura returned to the stand Thursday for cross-examination after a bombshell day of testimony accusing Combs of rape, blackmail, sexual degradation and physical abuse. The R&B singer and model previously detailed the graphic “freak offs” she participated in throughout the course of her decade-long relationship with Combs. Ventura told jurors she went along with the alleged sex parties because she was afraid he would hurt her or release footage of the encounters.
Now, Combs’ defense team is cross-examining Ventura, and showing jurors an April 2009 text Ventura sent Combs telling him she’s “always ready to ‘freak off.’”
Ventura, however, has said these “freak-offs” involved her having sex with other men at Combs’s direction, often after taking drugs.
The star witness, who is eight months pregnant, testified that Combs showed up at her home and raped her after they broke up in 2018. The star witness also revealed that she sued Combs in November 2023, and that he settled the lawsuit for $20 million a day later.
Much of the jury remained stony-faced and silent as it was shown images taken from a video of one of Combs’ alleged freak-offs.
Ventura also told the court that the freak-offs videos were “blackmail materials” that Combs threatened to release to humiliate her.
Prosecutors showed several photos depicting bruises on Ventura’s face and body, which were sustained, she said, in beatings that happened “too frequently.”
Combs is facing sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy charges. Combs was arrested in September 2024 as federal authorities alleged he threatened, abused, and coerced victims “to fulfill his sexual desires” between 2004 and 2024.
He has denied any accusations of wrongdoing.
