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Did Cassie consent to Diddy? When it comes to abuse, there can't be consent.

New York jury believed Casandra Ventura Fine had consented.

To an escort urinating in her mouth. To an inflatable pool of baby oil. To sex with strangers.

In the end, the jury found her then-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs not guilty of coercing her into “freak offs” – sex sessions with escorts. Combs was only guilty of transporting her and another woman known only as Jane for prostitution.

The defense version of events had prevailed: By his attorney’s own admission Combs was an abuser with an “out of control” temper. But this was also a lifestyle – neither of the things he was on trial for.

But can someone ever really freely consent when there is abuse? When does consent become survival? What if a yes is because the last time a victim said no, they were met with a punch to the face.

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Ventura Fine had testified that at times she told Combs what he wanted to hear – that she looked forward to the “freak offs” because he had abused her, and she was afraid of him.

“Victims know what their partner is capable of, and ‘consent’ may be made under duress,” says Katie Ray-Jones, CEO of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. “That should not be considered consent.”

With abuse, there never can be consent, victims and advocates say. There always is an invisible gun to your head.

Inside the Diddy trial Abusive lifestyle vs. a criminal enterprise: What the verdict means Trauma-bonding with abusers

“You kept coming back to him for 11 years,” Combs’ attorney Teny Geragos said during the trial.

Ventura Fine paused.

“I wouldn’t use ‘coming back,’” she said.

If you don’t fight back, are you giving consent? It was the central question in two of the charges in this case, and the question pivotal to many sex abuse cases.

Ventura Fine was at the now-shuttered InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles with Combs in 2016 for a "freak off” when he hit her. When she tried to leave, he ran after her into a hallway.

She curled into a ball to try to protect herself. Combs pushed her to the ground, pulled her by the hair, dragged her and kicked her.

She didn’t fight back. She had done so earlier in the relationship.

It “would make it worse for myself,” she said. Fighting back would make Combs "stronger and want to push me harder."

While the video was shown to the jury, the defense contends it simply shows abuse, not coercion.

Judge Arun Subramanian ruled that psychologist Dawn Hughes was not allowed to discuss "coercive control," which is a type of domestic abuse. She was, however, allowed to discuss coping strategies for victims and explain why victims may stay in abusive or violent relationships.

Victims can form trauma bonds with their abusers, she testified.

Hughes compared trauma bonding to a slot machine: “Someone knows they’re going to lose most of the time, but when you strike gold it feels good and you’re always chasing that feeling, so victims are often trying to chase those nice moments with an abusive partner.

Sometimes, survival can simply mean keeping yourself safe, and that might be staying in an abusive relationship, Ray-Jones says. “It shouldn’t be confused with consent.”

The Diddy verdict: The message it sends sexual assault survivors

 

Cassie Ventura Fine attends the 'MobLand' Global Premiere at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on March 27, 2025 in London, England.
Cassie Ventura Fine attends the "MobLand" Global Premiere at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on March 27, 2025 in London, England. Lia Toby, Getty Images

 

Ventura Fine met Combs when she was 19 and he was 37. He controlled her career, her finances.

She learned that saying no or pushing back from abuse was met with more abuse. At one point, Combs demanded money from her parents or he would release a sex tape. He forced her to carry his handgun.

“Whatever was going to not make him angry or threaten me, I was going to do,” she testified.

And so sometimes staying is the only option a victim can see.

“People undervalue how much strength and courage it takes to get out. And that means the strength and courage victims have every single day when they’re living in an abusive or controlling relationship just to stay alive,” Ray-Jones says. “There is so much difficulty in just survival. So much strength.”

Cassie moves beyond the verdict

Defense attorneys said Ventura Fine simply wanted money, a similar story that has played out in other sex abuse cases such as Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly and Johnny Depp.

Ventura filed a civil suit against Combs in November 2023, when the New York Adult Survivors Act gave sexual abuse victims a short window to file civil claims even after the statute of limitations had lapsed. Combs settled the case the next day for $20 million.

On the stand, prosecutor Emily Johnson posed a question to Ventura Fine: “Would you give that money back if you never had to have freak offs?”

“I’d give that money back if it meant I never had to have freak-offs,” she said. “I would have agency and autonomy. I wouldn’t have to have worked so hard to get it back.”

Combs is no longer a part of Cassie’s life.

They crossed paths for the first time in seven years on May 13, when she testified against Combs.

She didn’t even look at him. She looked straight ahead.

 He sat there, a broken man with seven kids from four moms, the stories he once paid people to keep secret exposed. Guilty of two charges, he will learn his sentence later this year. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years.

Since leaving Combs in 2018, Ventura Fine has done the hard work to get better - the inpatient rehab, the therapy, the self-reflection.

 

Alex Fine, husband of Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, walks outside the federal court, as the Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial takes place, in New York City on May 16, 2025.
Alex Fine, husband of Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, walks outside the federal court, as the Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial takes place, in New York City on May 16, 2025." data-c-credit="David Dee Delgado, REUTERS

 

She’s rebuilt her life with her husband Alex, who sat in court each day of her testimony. They have two beautiful girls and gorgeous new baby boy. A dog named French Fry.

A life where she makes herself matcha on a moment’s notice. Pancakes for the girls.

A life she has consented to.

And tonight, Combs will sleep in the Brooklyn cell that has been his abode since September 2024.

Laura Trujillo is a national columnist focusing on health and wellness. She is the author of "Stepping Back from the Ledge: A Daughter's Search for Truth and Renewal," and can be reached at ltrujillo@usatoday.com.

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINNoffers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text "START" to 88788.

Author: Laura Trujillo USA TODAY

Source: USA Today

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