Sean Combs sex trafficking trial updates: Cassie's testimony ends after days of describing abuse

The hip-hop mogul is charged with sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

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Last updated: Friday, May 16, 2025 11:26PM GMT
DIDDY ON TRIAL: First week of witness testimony recap
Eyewitness News breaks down the first full week of witness testimony in the Sean Combs trial including star witness Cassie Ventura.

NEW YORK -- After four days on the witness stand, Cassie Ventura concluded her testimony Friday at the trial of her ex-boyfriend, Sean "Diddy" Combs.

It came shortly after the defense concluded nearly two days of cross-examination.

Prosecutors allege Combs, 55, used his fame and fortune to orchestrate an empire of exploitation, coercing women into abusive sex parties.

If Combs is convicted on all charges, which include racketeering, kidnapping, arson, bribery and sex trafficking, he would face a mandatory 15 years in prison and could remain behind bars for life.

This story may contain accounts and descriptions of actual or alleged events that some readers may find disturbing.

"Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy," a new podcast from "20/20" and ABC Audio, traces how the whispers of abuse came to light and led to the downfall of Sean "Diddy" Combs, who was once among the most influential entertainers and entrepreneurs in hip hop. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and more.

Kemberly Richardson reports from Lower Manhattan.

(ABC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

May 16, 2025, 10:06 PM GMT

Special agent testifies to drugs, baby oil in Combs' hotel room at time of arrest

The night Sean Combs was arrested in New York he was in possession of illegal drugs kept under an alias, a federal agent testified Friday.

Combs was arrested at the Park Hyatt hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Sept. 16, 2024.

Special Agent Yasin Binda of Homeland Security Investigations, the prosecution's next witness, walked the jury through what she testified was the search of the room at the Park Hyatt, which she said turned up a pill bottle containing clonazepam under the name Frank Black, an alias Cassie Ventura testified Combs used.

There were also glassine bags containing pink powder that tested positive for ketamine and MDMA, the agent testified. The jury was allowed to examine the exhibit.

"This shows five bottles of baby oil that were found in the bathtub," Binda said, showing the jurors an image of the baby oil.

The jury was shown another photo of a Ziploc bag containing bottles of baby oil, and a photo of lubricant she said was found in a nightstand.

Jurors were also shown a photo of a device that Binda testified could be set up for "mood lighting," which Ventura testified were the kind of supplies Combs had in hotel rooms for "freak offs."

Federal agents also seized a small black fanny pack from Combs' hotel room containing $9000 cash, Binda said.

Binda used scissors to cut open an evidence bag, extracted the cash and fanned it for the jury to see.

Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo has long said Combs had come to New York in September 2024 to negotiate a surrender prior to his arrest.

At the time, as the evidence presented in court shows, Combs was staying in a Midtown hotel room containing $9000 cash, illegal drugs, baby oil, lubricant and a device that the federal agent said could be used for "mood lighting."

Darla Miles has more from Lower Manhattan.
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May 16, 2025, 9:13 PM GMT

Singer Dawn Richard takes the stand

Dawn Richard, a member of Diddy Dirty Money and Danity Kane, told the jury she "observed Cassie being attacked" by Sean Combs in his Los Angeles hotel in 2009.

"She was attacked by Sean Combs," Richard said. "He came downstairs screaming, belligerent, asking where his phone was, and proceeded to hit her in the head and beat her on the ground."

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May 16, 2025, 9:09 PM GMT

Special agent testifies to drugs, baby oil in Combs' hotel room at time of arrest

The night Sean Combs was arrested in New York he was in possession of illegal drugs kept under an alias, a federal agent testified Friday.

Combs was arrested at the Park Hyatt hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Sept. 16, 2024.

Special Agent Yasin Binda of Homeland Security Investigations, the prosecutions next witness, walked the jury through what she testified was the search of the room at the Park Hyatt, which she said turned up a pill bottle containing clonazepam under the name Frank Black, an alias Cassie Ventura testified Combs used.

There were also glassine bags containing pink powder that tested positive for ketamine and MDMA, the agent testified. The jury was allowed to examine the exhibit.

"This shows five bottles of baby oil that were found in the bathtub," Binda said, showing the jurors an image of the baby oil.

The jury was shown another photo of a Ziploc bag containing bottles of baby oil, and a photo of lubricant she said was found in a nightstand.

Jurors were also shown a photo of a device that Binda testified could be set up for "mood lighting," which Ventura testified were the kind of supplies Combs had in hotel rooms for "freak offs."

May 16, 2025, 9:06 PM GMT

"I will never forget," Ventura says in statement read outside court by lawyer

Cassie Ventura, through a statement read by her attorney Douglas Wigdor outside court, thanked her supporters for their kindness and vowed to never forget what Sean Combs did to her.

"I hope that my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors and can help others who have suffered to speak up and also heal from abuse and fear. For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember, and the more I can remember, the more I will never forget," she said in a statement.

Her husband Alex Fine, in a statement read by Wigdor, commended Ventura for her bravery testifying for four days in front of "a person who tried to break her."

"So, to him and all of those who helped him along the way, please know this: You did not break her spirit nor her smile that lights up every room. You did not break the souls of her mother, who gives the best hugs and plays the silliest games with our little girls," Fine said in the statement, calling Combs a "demon."

He also rejected the notion that he was the one who helped Ventura escape Combs, saying such a suggestion is an "insult to the years of painful work my wife has done to save herself."

"Cassie saved Cassie. She alone broke free from abuse, coercion, violence and threats. She did the work of fighting the demons that only a demon himself could have done to her. All I have done is love her as she has loved me. Her life is now surrounded by love, laughter and our family. This horrific chapter is forever put behind us," he said.

Darla Miles offers a quick recap of what happened in court on Friday, including the conclusion of Cassie Ventura's testimony.