Cassie’s Mom Expected to Testify in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s Sex-Trafficking Trial

For weekly updates on all the most pivotal and dramatic moments from Diddy’s trial, sign up for our newsletter: Court Appearances: United States v. Diddy, and check out the rest of our trial coverage here.

Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sex-trafficking trial continues on May 20 in Manhattan federal court with more prosecution witnesses corroborating Casandra “Cassie” Ventura’s allegations — including her mother. Prosecutors said late Monday that they planned on calling Regina Ventura after a male escort takes the stand today. Earlier in the day, David James, Diddy’s personal assistant from 2007 to 2009, is testifying first. James took the stand late on Monday and has so far provided testimony about Cassie and Diddy’s relationship. He described meeting Cassie for the first time in Miami, when she came to visit Diddy. “He rented out a yacht to take her out on the boat. We went out to the club; we went out to dinner. They partied all weekend.” James said on Monday that Diddy told him he “was really trying to impress her.” James also said there was a business component to Diddy and Cassie’s relationship; she was on the rapper’s label. Prosecutors have alleged that Diddy coerced Cassie into participating in “Freak Offs” — sexual encounters with male escorts — by wielding financial and professional control over her.

James previously said that he, Cassie, and her then-best friend Kerry Morgan were on a dock at Diddy’s Miami home, smoking cigarettes, when she mentioned the career aspects of their relationship. “Cassie said to me, she said, ‘Man, this lifestyle is crazy.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, this lifestyle is crazy.’ You know, I was thinking about how many hours we work, how much we travel,” James recalled. “I said, ‘Cassie, if it’s so crazy, why don’t you just leave and get out?’ She was like, ‘I can’t, I can’t get out, you know. Mr. Combs oversees so much of my life. He’s— he controls my music career, he pays for my apartment, he gives me an allowance,’ essentially a salary. I just didn’t think that she could easily leave.”

James also recalled hearing a conversation between Diddy and a business associate. This associate asked Diddy about Kim Porter, the mother of his children, and asked how’s Cassie? “Mr. Combs said, you know, ‘Kim is doing good. She’s out in L.A. She’s taking care of the family. That’s my queen.’ And then he said, you know, ‘Cassie is good. I got her right where I want her. She’s young.’”