Cassie's graphic testimony of 'freak offs' may set the stage for what's to come in Diddy's trial

On red carpets from Los Angeles to the French Riviera, Sean “Diddy” Combs and the R&B singer Cassie intertwined arms, radiating an attractive and carefree façade for the cameras.

On red carpets from Los Angeles to the French Riviera, Sean “Diddy” Combs and the R&B singer Cassie intertwined arms, radiating an attractive and carefree façade for the cameras.

But behind closed doors, she said, she “felt trapped.”

In the first week of testimony in Combs’ federal sex trafficking trial in New York, Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, described over four days on the witness stand a tumultuous relationship with the music impresario that began in her early 20s and lasted on and off for over a decade. As the government’s star witness, her responses gave a window into a world centered around paid sexual encounters lasting days and sometimes occurring weekly — known as “freak offs” — that she said she was forced to endure under the threat of physical and psychological abuse.

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The “freak offs” were so regular, she said, they “became a job.”