Recommendations of the Editorial team
Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, singer, dancer and actress, will not appear anonymously in the upcoming criminal trial against her ex-boyfriend and hip-hop Mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. Until recently, Ventura was led as “victim 1” in the court documents. However, according to a communication submitted on April 4, 2025, she has now decided to publicize it publicly: “She is ready to speak in court under her own name,” the letter said.
However, the three other women and suspected victims in the procedure – judicial “victim 2”, “victim 3” and “victim 4” – want to remain anonymous. The public prosecutor applied for their identities to protect them from public exposure, harassment and intimidation.
Over 60 civil lawsuits against Sean Combs
Ventura, today 38, was in a long-term on-off relationship between 2007 and 2018 with the 17-year-old rapper. In November 2023, she submitted a civil lawsuit against him, in which she accused him of rape, abuse and human trade. The case was terminated by an out-of-court settlement after a day, but her lawsuit triggered a real avalanche: Over 60 more civil lawsuits have been received against the 55-year-old rapper-including models, musicians: inside, security forces, as well as people who were still minors at the time of the alleged acts. Combs clearly rejects the allegations of his lawyers and denies all accusations against him.
The “freak-offs” and a system of control
Ventura’s indictment accuses Combs of having built up a criminal network for decades with the aim of sexually exploiting people – especially women. The central element here were the so-called “freak-offs”: according to the public prosecutor’s office, elaborately staged sex parties, in which those affected were forced to perform.
Ventura describes a system of emotional manipulation, financial control, isolation and violence in her allegations. The new indictment of April 4, 2025 has additional allegations, including another case of human trafficking in connection with “Victim 2”. Combs is said to have recruited this woman in a targeted manner and transported across borders in order to bring her under compulsion to prostitution-a violation of the so-called “Mann Act”, a US Federal Act against Human Trade.
Another shattering lawsuit: The fashion designer Bryana “Bana” Bongolan reports that Combs kept her in a dispute over the railing of a 17-story balcony-an incident that flows into the judgment as a “Special SentenCing Factor” as a tightening criminal factor.
Video confirmed central allegations
The turning point in the public perception of the process came in May 2024 when CNN published a surveillance video from the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles. The recordings show how Combs follows in a bathrobe Cassie in the hotel hall, pushes it to the ground, treads violently and wants to grind back into the room. The scene dates from 2016 and confirms central elements from Cassie’s civil lawsuit.
Although Combs later apologized for the scene, his defense claimed in March 2025 that the video had been manipulated – an accusation that Ventura’s lawyer Douglas Wigdor vehemently rejected: “The video shows exactly what happened. And it will play a role in court” (via “People”). He also emphasized: “Words cannot express the courage and bravery that Ms. Ventura showed when she reported to bring this to light” (via “Wigdor”).
COMBS on the Klagebank – trial start in May
Since his arrest in September 2024, Sean Combs has been in pre -trial detention in the metropolitan of Detention Center in Brooklyn. He does not guilty and describes all allegations as wrong: the relationships were “mutually mutually agreed, private, grown up”. A release on the deposit was denied several times. The trial against him is scheduled to begin on May 5, 2025.
A complaint against Sean “Diddy” Combs has already been rejected. An anonymous plaintiff had claimed that Combs had tried to sexually harass and beat her at a party in New York in 1995 when she refused. Her lawyer Tony Buzbee applied in January that she remains anonymous, which the court rejected. The woman had time until March 20 to submit her complaint with her real name, which she did not do, which was officially closed. Combs’ lawyers welcomed the judgment and described the lawsuit as unfounded. This is not the first case that has been rejected, and previous lawsuits have already been rejected. Nevertheless, the case of Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, a former music producer of Combs, remains in the trial, with some of his allegations continue.