<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/sean-diddy-combs-sex-trafficking-trial-ex-girlfriend-cassie-ventura-testifies-in-court-day-two/bba9300b-c2d2-4525-badb-a6e08b88d1c8" rel="" target="" title="R&amp;B singer Cassie"><span>R&amp;B singer Cassie</span></a><span> was forced under cross-examination on Thursday to read aloud to a jury her explicit messages with former boyfriend </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/sean-diddy-combs" rel="" target="" title='Sean "Diddy" Combs'><span>Sean "Diddy" Combs</span></a><span>, some of which showed her expressing enthusiasm for Combs-directed encounters with other men that she previously testified had disgusted her.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combs' lawyers began questioning the prosecution's star witness on the fourth day of the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/sexual-assault" rel="" target="" title="music mogul's sex trafficking trial"><span>music mogul's sex trafficking trial</span></a><span> in Manhattan, which is expected to last about two months. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Federal prosecutors accuse Combs of exploiting his status as a powerful music executive and entrepreneur to violently force Cassie and other women to take part in these encounters with sex workers, which he called "freak-offs."</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/bruce-springsteen-scathing-remarks-donald-trump-administration-on-stage-uk-concert/b32fb3c5-ae6d-494e-9b82-821a1605c702"><strong><span>Rock legend slams Trump in scathing on-stage comments</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combs denies all the allegations and has pleaded not guilty. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His lawyers are seeking to portray Cassie as a willing participate in Combs' lifestyle, and say that while he could be violent, nothing he did amounted to a criminal enterprise.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Defence attorney Anna Estevao read what Combs said in email and text exchanges, while Cassie recited what she wrote to him.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/sean-diddy-combs-sex-trafficking-trial-cassie-ventura-cross-examined/9d3d2141-eb33-433b-8337-85c1574925b3" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In one from August 2009, Combs asked her: "When do you want to freak off? Lol."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm always ready to freak off," she replied.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two days later, Cassie sent an explicit message to Combs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I can't wait to watch you. I want you to get real hott," he replied.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Me Too, I just want it to be uncontrollable," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Cassie asked for a short break, which Judge Arun Subramanian granted, after yet more explicit messages were shown. This came a day after she was made to see still images from videos of sexual encounters during prosecutors' questioning.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prior to the start of the trial, Combs' lawyers made clear that they intended to label a lot of the sexual behaviour of their client as part of the swingers lifestyle.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Estevao asked Cassie directly whether she thought "freak-offs" were related to the swingers lifestyle. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In a sexual way," Cassie responded, before adding: "They're very different."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The cross-examination had begun with gentile questioning by Estevao, as she had Cassie first read through warm and loving messages with Combs early in their relationship. Cassie testified that Combs was charismatic, with a larger-than-life personality. At the time, she said, "I had fallen in love with him and cared about him very much."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Thursday's testimony and evidence was in contrast to the violence and shame Cassie said accompanied "hundreds" of her encounters with male sex workers that Combs watched and controlled during their relationship — which stretched from 2007 to 2018 and started when she was 19 and he was in his 30s.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She said the drug-fuelled "freak-offs" would last hours and even days, with her sometimes taking IV fluids to recover and eventually developing an opioid addiction because it made her "feel numb" afterwards.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 38-year-old Cassie, who is in the third trimester of pregnancy with her third child, has held up well on the witness stand. She </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/sean-diddy-combs-sex-trafficking-trial-families-in-court/f54ff97c-0fc7-4ceb-bcbe-bd3fc9878905" rel="" target="" title="testified on Wednesday that Combs raped her when she broke up with him"><span>testified on Wednesday that Combs raped her when she broke up with him</span></a><span>, and that he kept her locked in a life of physical abuse by threatening to release degrading sexual videos of her.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I feared for my career. I feared for my family. It's just embarrassing. It's horrible and disgusting. No one should do that to anyone," said Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura. The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combs initially appeared relaxed as cross examination got underway on Thursday, sitting back in his chair with his legs crossed and conferring with his attorney Marc Agnifilo. The courtroom was packed with family and friends of Combs, journalists and a row of spectator seats occupied by Cassie's supporters.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Cassie sued Combs in 2023, accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse. Within hours, the suit was settled for $US20 million ($31.2 million) — a figure Cassie disclosed for the first time on Wednesday — but dozens of similar legal claims followed from other women.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Estevao asked Cassie if it was "fair to say" that Combs' career was ruined after she sued him, making public for the first time the concept of "freak-offs." Cassie responded, "I could understand that."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple App Store</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>.</span></em></strong></div></div>