Diddy's ex Cassie gives birth days after testimony

Casandra Ventura, the R&B singer and actor known simply as Cassie, has welcomed her third child, a son.

The news arrived Wednesday in the midst of the ongoing Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking trial, at which Ventura is an essential witness. She finished testifying earlier this month while visibly pregnant over four emotional days on the stand, during which she described being beaten and raped by a man she once loved.

Reports from multiple media outlets said Ventura gave birth in a New York hospital Tuesday.

Stylist Deonte Nash, who worked for Combs for a decade, testified Wednesday that he talked to Ventura the previous day to congratulate her on the birth.

Ventura, 38, is perhaps best known for the platinum-selling 2006 hit single Me & U. She married personal trainer Alex Fine in September 2019. Their first daughter, Frankie Stone Fine, was born that same year and they welcomed their second daughter, Sunny Cinco Fine, in 2021.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura has.

Combs, 55, is on trial in New York on charges that he exploited his status as an entertainment executive to force women, including Ventura, into drug-fueled "freak-offs" with male sex workers and engaged in other abusive acts against people who relied on him for their careers.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.

After departing the trial, Ventura, who dated Combs for a decade, released a statement through her lawyer saying she hoped her testimony helps others "heal from the abuse and fear."

Nash, who worked for the couple from 2008 to 2018, gave evidence on Wednesday that Combs routinely beat Ventura and during fits of rage, threatened to release sex tapes of her to the internet.

"He told her she fucked up and he was going to put her sex tapes on the internet," Nash said, recounting an alleged incident in 2013 or 2014.

Last week, Scott Mescudi - the rapper known as Kid Cudi - testified that his car was set on fire in 2012, shortly after Combs learned that Mescudi had a romantic relationship with Ventura.

Prosecutors say the alleged arson of Mescudi's car was one of several violent or illegal acts that Combs or his associates undertook to prevent women from leaving his orbit and keep his abuse quiet.

On Wednesday, a lawyer for Combs told the judge outside the jury's presence that prosecutors' questions to a Los Angeles arson investigator implied that Combs had a role in the destruction of fingerprint evidence, arguing the questions were grounds for a mistrial.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian swiftly denied the request, saying none of the testimony was unfair to Combs. He told jurors to disregard the questions and answers about the fingerprints.