If Diddy’s past relationships had an astrological reading, I’d say Scorpio season might’ve been moonlighting as a dark thriller director. Between 2007 and 2018, the on-again, off-again duo of Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cassie seemed to navigate a maze far from your typical Hollywood romance. Rumors have it the rapper coerced Cassie into attending some seriously wild—and drug-fueled—“Freak Off” parties, where she was even forced to call him a bizarre, borderline uncomfortable nickname. But as weird as that sounds, the emotional and physical abuse she endured eclipses even the oddest demands. Cassie took the stand to reveal a grim saga of repeated assaults, backed up by other witnesses who painted a chilling picture of Diddy’s volatile temperament. Now, with potential videos from those notorious parties possibly entering evidence, the stakes have never been higher for the Bad Boy mastermind. Could the stars have predicted this cosmic clash where fame, power, and courtrooms collide? Let’s dive deep. LEARN MORE.
The duo dated on and off from 2007 to 2018, during which Diddy reportedly forced Cassie to repeatedly participate in the drug-fueled sex parties.
The singer also testified about being repeatedly physically assaulted by Sean “Diddy” Combs on several occasions, claims that were backed up by testimonies from other witnesses.
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In her testimony against ex-boyfriend Diddy, Cassie revealed that she was forced to use a bizarre nickname for the rapper during his notorious “Freak Off” parties.
“He wanted me to have a nickname for him,” the 38-year-old said on the stand, per Page Six. “He asked me what I called my grandfather, and I said I called him Pop Pop.”
At the time Diddy made the request, Cassie said she simply found it “weird,” but looking back now, she feels it was “disrespectful.”
Unfortunately, being forced to call the rapper an incestuous nickname appears to have been the least of the trauma Cassie endured.
She also suffered severe physical abuse at the hands of the music mogul throughout their relationship, which the singer testified to on the stand.
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“He would bash me on my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me on the head if I was down,” Cassie told the court.
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Prior to Cassie’s testimony, Diddy’s potential for violence was testified to by two witnesses on the federal prosecutors’ list, per The U.S. Sun.
The first was LAPD officer Israel Florez, who was working as a security guard at the hotel where Diddy allegedly assaulted Cassie in 2016. A video of the incident went viral last year, shortly before Diddy was arrested on sex crime charges.
The second witness was a male escort named Daniel Phillip, who claimed to have participated in several of the alleged “Freak Offs” with Diddy and Cassie.
Phillip stated that Diddy once threw a bottle at Cassie, grabbed her by the hair, and began dragging her.
He also said he heard her being “slapped around” on another occasion after she appeared to upset the rapper over an undisclosed issue.
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Interestingly, much of the violence Diddy reportedly perpetrated against Cassie didn’t stem from arguments.
He sometimes hit her simply for having the “wrong” facial expression, and in those moments, Cassie said, he would “just become a different person.”
“I also felt at certain times … I knew it wasn’t even about me … [I would] make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face,” she said.
Meanwhile, regarding why she engaged in the “Freak Offs” with Diddy, Cassie claimed it was due to her love for him at the time.
“I was in love and I just wanted to make him happy,” said Cassie, who also mentioned she was introduced to the parties when she was 22. “It basically entails the hiring of an escort and setting up this experience so that I could perform for Sean.”
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Footage of the alleged “freak offs” may have been among the videos recovered from Diddy’s residence when it was raided by authorities last year.
It is expected that these videos could be played during the trial, although that remains to be seen for now.
If that happens, they may do far greater damage to Diddy’s defense than the testimonies of witnesses in his trial, as predicted by legal expert Neama Rahmani.
“The most powerful evidence that was seized by the government has to be the videos,” the attorney said, per The U.S. Sun. “Criminal defendants can lie. Only when CNN got a copy of the [Cassie] video in May of last year did Diddy finally issue an apology.”
He added, “That’s how powerful video evidence is. And that’s why the government wanted to get the hard drives, the iPhones, [and] the iPads, because Diddy reportedly videotaped these freak offs. It may be the reason Combs gets convicted.”
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In his federal case, Diddy is facing charges of one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
If found guilty of racketeering, he could face life in prison. A conviction for sex trafficking carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, while the transportation charges could bring an additional sentence of up to 10 years.
Despite the chances of spending the rest of his life in prison, the Bad Boy Records founder rejected a plea deal that may have ensured he got a reduced sentence.