Cassie recalls aftermath of hotel assault and alleged rape at Diddy's trial

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Casandra Ventura, the R&B singer and model who dated Diddy on-and-off for 10 years, returned to the witness stand for a fourth grueling day Friday. Ventura, who is eight months pregnant, faced another round of cross-examination from the rapper’s lawyers, who have attempted to portray her as a willing participant in the rapper’s drug-dazed “freak offs.”

Ventura was excused as a witness around 3:20 p.m. ET. The day’s other marquee witness was Dawn Richard, a former member of two of Diddy’s musical acts: Danity Kane and Diddy — Dirty Money. Richard testified that she witnessed Diddy beat Ventura in 2009. Richard said Ditty struck Ventura with a skillet, kicked and punched her, and dragged her up some stairs.

Diddy was highly engaged during Estevao’s sometimes disjointed cross-examination of Ventura. The rapper, dressed in a cream-colored shirt and khakis, frequently leaned forward to read the live transcript of Ventura’s testimony on a monitor, whispered with lead attorney Marc Agnifilo, and passed notes to Estevao while she questioned his ex-girlfriend. 

Ventura answered questions calmly. She briefly broke down crying at the end of prosecutor Emily Johnson’s redirect, grabbing a tissue as she told jurors that Diddy hit her during “freak offs.” In another notable moment, Ventura described her feelings for the rapper: “I don’t hate him. I have love for the past, and what it was.”