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

Cassie Ventura testified that she did not remember how the term "freak off" came about but she recalled Sean Combs proposed "this sexual encounter, that he called voyeurism, where he would watch me in intercourse, sexual activity with another man" within the first year of their relationship.

"I just remember my stomach falling, just the nervousness. I think I was 22 at the time, I didn't have a concept to how that would be a turn-on but I also felt a sense of responsibility, him sharing that with me," Ventura testified. "I wanted to make him happy."

In soft-spoken, sometimes halting testimony interrupted by deep breaths, Ventura said the freak offs occurred so often that "eventually it became a job for me" to set them up.

After the first one, Ventura said her willingness to participate changed.

"Pretty quickly over time I knew it wasn't something I wanted to be doing, especially how frequently. But I was in love and wanting to make him happy," Ventura said. "I didn't feel like I had much of a choice, didn't really know what 'no' could turn into."

Ventura alleged violent arguments with Combs that she said "would usually result in some physical abuse."

"He would bash my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me in the head when I was down," Ventura testified.

"How frequently was Sean physical with you during your relationship?" prosecutor Emily Johnson asked.

"Too frequently," Ventura responded.

She would take deep breaths and sometimes paused as she spoke.

When the prosecutor questioned her about "freak offs," she said she was barely 22 when Combs first asked her to do them. She said she was "confused, nervous, but also loved him very much."

Asked how she felt when Combs first proposed engaging in a "freak off," Cassie said: "I just remember my stomach falling to my butt. Just the nervousness and confusion in that moment."

She said she didn't feel like she could say no to Combs because she "didn't know what 'no' could be, or what 'no' could turn into," which she said she learned could include violence and blackmail threats.

"Sean controlled a lot of my life, whether it was career, the way I dressed, everything, everything. I just didn't have much say in it at the time," Cassie testified.

Cassie Ventura took the witness stand Tuesday to testify against her ex-boyfriend, Sean Combs, at his racketeering and sex trafficking trial.

"The government calls Cassandra Ventura," prosecutor Emily Johnson said.

Ventura, 38, entered court in a tight-fitting brown dress that showed off her pregnancy.

Federal prosecutors said Combs used lies, drugs, threats, and violence to force and coerce Ventura into sexual encounters with male prostitutes.

This is the first time Ventura and Combs are seeing one another in person since their 2018 split.

Defense attorney Teny Geragos said Ventura broke off her relationship with Combs after she heard him call Kim Porter his soulmate at Porter's funeral.

"When Combs publicly said Kim Porter was his soulmate to all the people around him who were there, for the first time maybe ever, Cassie realized all the things she would not be," Geragos said.

Alex Fine, husband of Cassie Ventura, arrived at Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.

A judge ruled that Fine can be in the courtroom for most - but not all - of his wife's testimony.

Judge Arun Subramanian, acting on a defense request, said Fine must leave the courtroom when questioning turns to Cassie's allegation that Combs raped her in 2018.

That's because Combs' lawyers say they may call Fine as a witness later in the trial in an attempt to discredit Cassie's allegation.

Prosecutors argued that Fine is part of the emotional support system for Cassie, who's pregnant and should be in the courtroom when she testifies.