Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial updates: Cassie Ventura breaks down as testimony concludes

After testifying for two days that Sean Combs forced her into sexual encounters with male prostitutes under threat of violence and reputational harm, Cassie Ventura was confronted on cross-examination by messages that appeared to show her reluctance was only because she wanted more from the relationship.

“When we used to freak off when were so in love. There were no questions asked, it felt right, like it literally made sense for the next step in our sex life together," Ventura wrote in a message to Combs from December 2009. "I get nervous that I’m just becoming the girlfriend that you get your fantasies off with and that’s it. I don’t get the other part."

“At the time you were afraid that you were being treated as someone who he could just get his fantasies off with?” defense attorney Anna Estevao asked.

“That was a concern,” Ventura answered.

Estevao asked Ventura whether "freak offs" were a “defining feature” of their relationship.

“It became a very integral part of our relationship early on,” Ventura responded.

“And you wanted your relationship to develop more?” Estevao asked.

“Right,” Ventura said.

The defense showed the court additional explicit messages, meant to support their contention that Ventura was an eager sexual partner who shared Combs’ desires.

In one August 2009 message exchange, Ventura expressed, with explicit detail, excitement about a then-forthcoming sexual event.

“I can’t wait. That’s what I want to see,” Combs replied.

“I can’t wait either,” Ventura wrote back.

Ventura testified that she loved Combs and believed he loved her, and that the two exchanged “loving” messages.

The jury was shown one such message from early in their relationship. “It makes me so happy that you would fly to ATL just to see me. I’m a very lucky man,” an email from Combs read.

“I’m a very lucky woman. I miss you so much. I’d fly wherever you needed me, whenever,” Ventura sent in reply.

“What about him made you fall in love with him?” defense attorney Anna Estevao asked Ventura.

“I haven’t thought about it in a while," Ventura responded. "The beginning of the relationship, I spoke about it already, it was really fast, fast-paced, scary. But the more time I spent with him and got to know him his real personality, or at least what I thought was his real personality, came out,”

Ventura further testified that Combs in the early stages of their relationship was “very sweet, attentive.”

The jury was shown an August 2009 message from Combs to Ventura, telling her to look at his latest tweet. Ventura responded “OMG!!! Pop pop … Can I respond or write something about my man," using a nickname for Combs that she testified on Tuesday Combs had requested.

Ventura testified that at the time she was looking forward to going public about their relationship.

In another message, from April 4, 2010, two-and-a-half years into their relationship, Ventura sent a message to Combs that read “I love you so much it consumes my life.”

The defense has argued that Ventura was not sex trafficked, as the prosecution claims, but rather was a willing partner in what the defense has described as Combs’ “swingers lifestyle.” Ventura pushed back against a defense attorney’s suggestion that she willingly partook in so-called "freak off" sex sessions.

“To make him happy you told him that you wanted to do 'freak offs',” defense attorney Anna Estevao said.

“No,” Ventura replied. “There’s a lot more to that.”

Estevao then confronted Ventura with a message from August 5, 2009, in which Ventura told Combs, “I’m always ready to 'freak off.'”

Two days later, the defense said Ventura sent Combs an explicit message expressing excitement about participating in a sexual event.

Combs responded, “I can’t wait to watch you. I want you to get real hot.”

Ventura replied, “Me too. I just want it to be uncontrollable.”

After the defense introduced an additional, explicit, message, Ventura asked the judge for a break.

Defense lawyer Anna Estevao said she expected the cross-examination of Cassie Ventura to last all of Thursday and into Friday. Federal prosecutors told the judge that Ventura must finish her testimony by the end of the day Friday because she “is very, very pregnant” and could go into labor soon.

“We are afraid she could have the baby over the weekend,” Assistant United States Attorney Maurene Comey said.

Ventura took the witness stand in a long black tuxedo-like jacket covering a light-colored blouse.

Combs, clad in light-colored pants, shirt and sweater, watched her enter. His family is seated in the gallery

“You and Sean Combs were in love for 11 years, right?” Estevao's questioning began.

“Yeah,” Ventura responded.

Cassie Ventura has taken the witness stand for the third consecutive day, with defense cross-examination scheduled to begin this morning following two days of her testimony against Sean 'Diddy' Combs.