The Diddy trial: Cassie’s "freak-offs" testimony
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 16 May 2025
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The first week of testimony in the trial of music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs began with several witnesses, including the highly anticipated Casandra “Cassie” Ventura. Ventura is a central witness in the government’s case against Combs – she filed a civil lawsuit against him detailing allegations of violence and sex trafficking in 2023 that led to dozens of other lawsuits being filed.
Today, Style reporter Anne Branigin is back to describe the intense testimony, how it bolsters the government’s case and how the defense questioned Ventura in response.
Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks to Carla Spartos and Shayna Jacobs.
Follow our coverage of the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs on Spotify here.
Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | All right, we don't have to go through everything. |
| 0:05.0 | I just want to hear your reactions from today mostly because, yeah, this is the first day we saw Cassie. |
| 0:11.0 | Yeah. |
| 0:12.0 | What were your impressions? |
| 0:14.0 | Oh, that was really, really intense testimony at times emotional testimony. |
| 0:24.5 | That's audio producer Sabby Robinson and reporter Anne Branigan. |
| 0:29.2 | They were standing outside the courthouse on Tuesday where Sean Diddy Combs is on trial. |
| 0:34.4 | And they were talking about testimony from Cassie Ventura, an R&B singer and Combs' ex-girlfriend. |
| 0:41.0 | Tuesday was a big day in the trial because Ventura took the stand for the first time. |
| 0:46.3 | She's one of the people central to the government's case against Combs. |
| 0:50.6 | He's been charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. |
| 0:59.1 | Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, he could be sent to prison for life. |
| 1:06.3 | A lot of Ventura's testimony this week was really hard to listen to. She described the sex |
| 1:13.4 | parties combs held, called freak-offs, and she talked about being subjected to violence and abuse. |
| 1:21.1 | It was long. It was hours and hours. It was difficult. Like the meticulousness of the testimony, like every little detail. |
| 1:31.0 | Why do you think it's so hard to talk about this right now? |
| 1:35.4 | I do think, you know, the defense even acknowledged this, that these are difficult images to see, |
| 1:43.2 | these are difficult things to hear. |
| 1:45.0 | And so, you know, sort of regardless of where you stand on the government's |
| 1:52.0 | charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, the kinds of details that came out today |
| 1:59.0 | are just like, they're painful. |
| 2:06.3 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post reports. I'm Elahaye Izadhi, |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 18 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Washington Post, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Washington Post and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.