Sean “Diddy” Combs’ defense team have brought up Britney Spears’ name in court as they tried to portray Cassie Ventura as a starstruck fan who wanted more of his attention.
As the defense began its cross examination of Ventura, the singer told the court that she recalled Combs inviting Spears and other notable celebrities to her 21st birthday party in Las Vegas. It was at that party where the then-38-year-old mogul kissed her for the first time following a previously platonic relationship.
Combs was arrested last September for alleged sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Ventura, who is eight-months pregnant with her third child, was in a relationship with Combs for more than a decade from 2005 until 2018.
Prosecutors closed in on Combs after CNN released a shocking video from 2016 of him beating Ventura in a hotel corridor.
“Sean was there and he brought [music producer] Dallas Austin, Britney Spears,” she said according to The New York Post. “I think those were the two people that stand out to me,” she went on.
It is not suggested that Spears was present for any of the rapper’s so-called “freak-offs.”
Photos from the 2007 event reveal that Paris Hilton had also attended the singer’s birthday party.
50 Cent, Combs’ most committed troller, notably hosted the party that Combs’ group attended next, at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino the same night. The rapper didn’t address his own connection to Ventura’s testimony during his taunting of Combs online this week, however.
When Combs’ defense asked Ventura how a young emerging star could have had such major celebrities at her birthday celebration, Ventura told the court, “That was all” Combs, “I didn’t know them.”
It was in a bathroom during Ventura’s birthday celebration at Jet Nightclub in The Mirage Hotel and Casino that Combs’ sudden kiss sent her into tears, she testified previously, adding that she ran away and told a friend.
“I was just really confused at the time,” she said, noting she was a “young, new artist” who “just didn’t really know the lay of the land when it came to things like that.” Shortly after, Combs and Ventura began an intimate relationship.
According to Ventura herself and text message communications presented in court, it was a whirlwind romance for the couple that quickly turned sour.
Combs’ defense harped on Ventura’s expressed desire for more of Combs’ attention as it tried to paint her as an enthusiastic participant in his sex performance “freak-offs.”
Combs’ lawyer asked whether she began expressing hesitation about the “freak-offs” because she worried she wasn’t his “full girlfriend,” but “the girlfriend that you get your fantasies off with and that’s it.”
Ventura admitted, “I think that’s a way to look at it I guess, yeah.”
Despite Combs’ team’s objections, the judge insisted they finish questioning Ventura by Friday.
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