Entertainment

At Diddy trial, Cassie reveals InterContinental settlement: 'I think it was $10 million'

Cassie Ventura Sean Diddy Combs trial courtroom illustration
Cassie Ventura testified over the course of four days in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex-trafficking trial. Jane Rosenberg/REUTERS
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Cassie Ventura ended her testimony against Sean "Diddy" Combs on Friday, capping four days of detailing what she alleged to be coercive, humiliating sex by dropping a new revelation.

The R&B singer — the prosecution's star witness — revealed on the stand during Combs' criminal sex-trafficking trial that she is set to receive a multimillion-dollar settlement from the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles.

"I think it was $10 million," Ventura told a federal jury in Manhattan of the money she says she's receiving from the hotel.

The InterContinental is where security camera footage captured Combs beating Ventura in a hallway in 2016, after what Ventura and federal prosecutors said was one of Combs' drug-fueled sex marathons, which he called "freak offs."

Under questioning by defense attorney Anna Estevao, Ventura told the eight-man, four-woman jury that she did not know the exact monetary figure, but described the settlement as a done deal.

"And have you reached the end of settlement discussions with the InterContinental?" Estevao asked Ventura to which she replied, "I have."

Representatives for the hotel declined to comment.

Outside of court, Ventura's attorney, Douglas Wigdor, would not confirm the settlement amount, only saying, "The record is the record."

At Combs' trial, which kicked off earlier this week, the jury was shown the 2016 footage of Combs attacking Ventura in the hotel hallway.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson said in her opening statements that at the time, the hip-hop mogul paid a security guard at the hotel $100,000 in a brown paper envelope in exchange for the footage.

Combs apologized for his actions in the video after CNN published the footage last year.

The hotel settlement is the second settlement Ventura revealed during her testimony. She also told jurors that Combs paid her $20 million to settle her civil lawsuit against him in 2023.

In the lawsuit, Ventura accused Combs of of rape, physical abuse, and controlling her during their more than decadelong relationship. She also detailed Combs' InterContinental Hotel attack in the suit and said in the court papers that Combs paid the hotel $50,000 for the footage of it.

While under questioning by Johnson on Friday, Ventura said she would give the $20 million back if it meant never having joined Combs' freak offs.

"If I hadn't done freak offs, I would have had agency and autonomy," she said. "I wouldn't have had to work so hard to get it back."

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Laura Italiano
Laura Italiano reported on legal affairs and the courts, focusing on lawsuits and prosecutions affecting business, innovation, and technology. She was following the scores of cases being pursued both by and against the new Trump administration, including those relating to DOGE and the ongoing federal anti-trust actions against Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Ticketmaster.Laura is based in New York City, where she covers high-profile federal and state defendants, including Luigi Mangione, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Charlie Javice, and the Alexander brothers.Laura worked at three New York City tabloids — Newsday, The Post and (freelance) The News — before scrubbing off the newsprint and joining Insider in February 2022.Check out Insider's source guide for tips on sharing information securely.
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Natalie Musumeci
Natalie is a senior reporter on Business Insider's Business News team covering the AI and data center boom.She was previously on BI's Legal Affairs team, where she handled major cases coming out of state and federal court, as well as bankruptcy. Her coverage often focused on stories at the intersection of law, business, politics, and technology. Natalie has covered Donald Trump’s criminal and civil cases, the wave of lawsuits against the second Trump administration, the indictment and criminal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and the legal battles facing Elon Musk and his companies. Natalie came to Business Insider in June 2021 as a breaking news reporter, focusing on the most interesting angles on the day's trending news. Natalie largely drove BI’s coverage around the fatal “Rust” shooting involving Alec Baldwin and the disappearance and murder of Gabby Petito.Prior to joining BI, Natalie worked for the New York Post, the New York Daily News, and The Brooklyn Paper. She has an extensive background covering crime and courts. During her more than 12-year journalism career, she did a stint covering the police beat out of the New York Police Department's headquarters. Natalie, a Brooklyn native, graduated from Brooklyn College in 2012 with a degree in journalism.