Cassie Ventura's mother says Sean 'Diddy' Combs demanded $20K; threatened to release her explicit tapes with Kid Cudi

The federal sex trafficking trial of music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs took a dramatic turn on Tuesday as Regina Ventura, the mother of singer Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, testified that Combs threatened her daughter and demanded $20,000 after learning she was romantically involved with rapper Kid Cudi.

Ventura told the Manhattan federal court that she was left “physically sick” after receiving a disturbing email from her daughter in late 2011. According to her testimony, Combs had threatened to release explicit sex tapes featuring Cassie and vowed to send someone to harm both her and the man she was dating at the time, rapper Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi.

"I did not understand a lot of it. The sex tapes threw me," Ventura said, recalling her emotional reaction to the message. She added that she soon received a demand from Combs for $20,000. "He was angry that he had spent money on her and she went with another person," she testified.

Fearing for her daughter’s safety, Ventura said she took out a home equity loan to pay the money, though it was returned days later. Cassie resumed her relationship with Combs shortly thereafter, Ventura told the court.

During her brief testimony, which lasted less than 30 minutes, jurors were shown photos of bruises on Cassie's body—images Ventura said were taken during a 2011 Christmas visit to her home in New London, Connecticut. Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo chose not to cross-examine Ventura but had earlier sought to exclude her testimony, arguing it was “purely prejudicial.” Judge Arun Subramanian allowed it, calling the threats “potential extortion.”

Rapper Kid Cudi is expected to take the stand by Thursday.

Also on Tuesday, Homeland Security Agent Gerard Gannon described the March 2024 raid on Combs’ Miami mansion on Star Island. He told jurors that agents used an armored vehicle to breach the gate and had teams stationed on nearby boats. Inside, investigators recovered parts of two AR-15 rifles, along with items prosecutors allege were used during Combs’ so-called "freak-off" sex parties, including high heels, lingerie, sex toys, baby oil, lubricant, and condoms.

Now in its second week, the high-profile trial is expected to last up to two months. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. If convicted, the Bad Boy Records founder faces a potential sentence of 15 years to life in prison.

Cassie testified last week that Combs threatened that if she didn't do as he said, he would release videos of her having sex with male escorts during freak-offs.

Before Tuesday's lunch break, Sharay Hayes, an exotic dancer known as "The Punisher," testified that Combs and Cassie brought him into the freak-offs world. He said a woman - Cassie using a pseudonym - called and told him it was her birthday and that her husband said she should hire a dancer.

Hayes said he arrived at a Manhattan hotel room expecting to perform a striptease for a small group of people but instead found the woman who hired him - whom he later found out was Cassie - alone with an otherwise naked man who hid his face with a burqa-like cloth. That man, he said, turned out to be Combs.

Hayes recalled seeing bottles of baby oil in bowls of water and getting handed a stack of $800 in cash. Later, after Combs watched him have a sexual encounter with Cassie, he said he was handed an additional $1,200. He said he was a fan of Combs but didn't realize it was him in the room until a subsequent encounter at another hotel where the message on the TV screen said: "Essex House would like to welcome Mr. Sean Combs."