NEED TO KNOW
- A former stylist testified that Cassie Ventura once considered jumping off a hotel balcony to escape Sean “Diddy” Combs
- Deonte Nash said Cassie fled to the hotel after Diddy allegedly pushed her and Nash out of her apartment in a rage
- When Cassie learned Diddy was at the hotel, Nash said she panicked and talked about climbing over the balcony to avoid him
Deonte Nash, who worked as a stylist for Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and befriended her, testified at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial on Wednesday, May 28, that Ventura was once so desperate to escape Combs that she considered jumping over a balcony at a hotel she’d fled to.
Nash testified that in or around 2013, he and Ventura were at her apartment cooking when an enraged Combs arrived and pushed them both out of the apartment. Nash said Ventura then went to a hotel to escape Combs.
Nash testified that Combs then demanded he take him to Ventura — and convince her to see him.
Nash said that when he and two of Combs’ associates went to her room, and Ventura learned that Combs was at the hotel, she said that she was going to climb over the balcony to escape him. Nash described the balcony as being on the first floor, and it’s unclear if there was a significant drop from the balcony to the ground.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Nash and the associates ultimately helped her to get out through a side door, he testified.
Stylist Testifies that Diddy Called Cassie Degrading Names — Including One that ‘Was His Fave’
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x0:1001x2)/diddy-cassie-5-081e9d01d8ab44138441ee9ff0c1e0c9.jpg)
Diddy Allegedly Threatened to Humiliate Cassie in the Worst Way — and Dragged Her Family Into It, Stylist Testifies
Nash also testified Wednesday that he witnessed Combs beating Ventura and threatening to release sex tapes of her. In one instance Nash described, Combs allegedly threatened to release sex tapes of Ventura to her parents’ workplaces to get them fired.
Ventura is the government’s star witness and testified during the first week of Combs’ trial, which is now in its third week. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
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 are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
Read the full article here