Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Ex Cassie Ventura to Testify Using Her Name, Not Anonymously, in Sex Trafficking Trial

Casandra “Cassie” Ventura is set to testify against ex-partner, Sean “Diddy” Combs.

via: People

In a motion filed on Friday, April 4, prosecutors state that "Victim-1" would not be testifying anonymously during Combs' upcoming trial, where he faces charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. PEOPLE exclusively confirmed with sources that Ventura, 38, is Victim-1 and that she will be testifying in the trial.

"She is prepared to testify under her own name," the filing states. "Victim-2, Victim-3, and Victim-4 have asked that their identities not be revealed to the press or the public."

Prosecutors requested that the anonymous victims "be referred to at trial using only pseudonyms" and for the court to require the defense not to share identifying details about them.

"This case has already received an exceptional amount of media coverage, which will presumably only increase as trial proceeds," prosecutors state. "Permitting these measures will prevent unnecessary public disclosure of the victims’ identities, and the harassment from the media and others, undue embarrassment, and other adverse consequences that would almost certainly follow if these women were forced to reveal their true names publicly at trial."

Rolling Stone previously identified "Victim-1" as Ventura in January.

Combs, 55, was first charged with three counts of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution in September 2024. The latest indictment against Combs, made public by federal prosecutors in New York City on April 4 and then obtained by PEOPLE, included one more count each of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

The new charges are related to a second victim, the indictment states.

Representatives for Ventura and Combs have not responded to PEOPLE's request for comment.

The indictment alleges that Combs and his associates would lure people under the pretense of a romantic relationship before he would use "force, threats of force and coercion" in order to get them to participate in "freak offs" — which prosecutors describe as "elaborate and produced sex performances" that the disgraced music mogul allegedly coerced others to participate in.

The new count of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion alleges that Combs “recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, advertised, maintained, patronized and solicited [Victim-2], and attempted, aided and abetted, and willfully caused [Victim-2], to engage in commercial sex acts, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that Victim-2 was engaging in commercial sex acts as a result of force, fraud, and coercion.”

Ventura first made headlines in May 2024 when CNN released a surveillance video that allegedly showed Combs chasing and beating her in a hotel in March 2016.

The footage, captured at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, allegedly showed Ventura walking toward a bank of elevators as Combs chased after her, then grabbing her by the neck and tossing her to the floor before turning to violently kick her and grab her purse and suitcase.

Also in the footage, Combs allegedly can be seen grabbing, shoving and kicking Ventura during an altercation — and the footage supported allegations she made in a now-settled lawsuit filed in November 2023.

In another filing on March 13, Combs' legal team claimed CNN altered the footage by purchasing the only known copy of the surveillance footage, uploading it to a free editing software and editing the original video.

"All CNN video footage was substantially altered in significant respects," the letter to Judge Arun Subramanian reads. "This includes covering the time stamp and then changing the video sequence. It also includes speeding up the video to make it falsely appear that the actions in the video are taking place faster than they are. As a result, the CNN videos do not fairly and accurately depict the events in question."

"It's is not surprising that Combs would make a disingenuous argument to exclude the disturbing video from being shown to the jury in the upcoming trial," Ventura's attorney Douglas Wigdor said in a statement to PEOPLE at the time. "I am confident that the video fairly and accurately represents what happened, will be admitted into evidence, and that Combs will be held accountable for his depravity."

Combs is currently behind bars at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center as he awaits his trial on the federal charges, which is scheduled for May 5. He has pleaded not guilty.

He has also been named as a defendant in more than 60 lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct. Combs has denied the allegations.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.