Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

Before court broke for lunch, the defence went into a long line of questioning about Combs' and Ventura's drug use during their decade-long relationship.

Ventura told the court that Diddy, like her, needed time to recover from the "freak-offs", and that he was addicted to opioids.

After that, Estevao asked several follow-ups about how Diddy's drug withdrawals could change his mood and affect how he treated Ventura.

While Ventura confirmed that withdrawal would make him more irritated, she said she couldn't specify whether his mood was worse or not.

It seems the defence may want to paint picture that the toughest parts of their relationship, in its later years, were due to his drug use.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Court is breaking for lunch and is scheduled to resume at 13:00 EDT (18:00 BST).

Cassie Ventura will be back on the witness stand when we return.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Continuing with more "freak-off"-related questions, the defence is also trying to chip away at the racketeering charge against Combs - which asserts there was a team who aided in putting together the sexual acts.

Defence lawyer Anna Estevao asks Ventura if she ever saw an assistant walk in when she was in the middle of a so-called "freak-off".

"I was high," she answers, adding that she isn't sure but doesn't recall any staff directly seeing what was happening in the hotel rooms.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

The prosecution spent the last two days trying to establish a narrative that the so-called "freak-offs" were humiliating, scary experiences for Ventura.

The defence is now trying to paint them in a different light.

Defence lawyer Anna Estevao is introducing sexually explicit text chains where Ventura said she was excited before a "freak off" - the term they used to describe sex acts where Combs directed her and male escorts to perform while he watched.

One text from Ventura said that she had an "aggressive sexual side".

The defence is also trying to disprove Ventura’s claims that she was embarrassed and wanted to hide the sex acts to stop any harm to her career.

We have a new sketch to share with you from court artist Jane Rosenberg.

As a reminder, photography and videography is not allowed in the US federal court in New York, but we can get a glimpse inside via court sketches.

It shows Diddy taking notes as his lawyers stand to ask questions. Cassie Ventura is not seen in this sketch.

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

For the past half hour, defence attorney Anna Estevao has been taking Ventura back through the early stages of her relationship with Combs.

She has been trying to undercut the narrative from Ventura’s testimony yesterday, that she was naïve and young when she started to date Combs at age 21, him 17 years her senior.

Estevao notes that at that time Ventura was a successful musician with her own Manhattan apartment.

She noted that Ventura was already dating a music producer at the time, Ryan Leslie.

"It wasn’t the first time you’d been dating an older man, right?" Estevao asks her.

The lawyer also notes Ventura had a tattoo of Leslie’s initials.

The defence is now starting to get into the so-called "freak-offs" more directly - where Ventura says Combs directed her and male escorts to perform sex acts.

We will bring you more updates soon.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

The defence is still going through Ventura's and Combs' communications from early on in their relationship to try to portray her as a willing participant.

In one set of messages, Cassie tells Diddy she just deleted "a little vid" off of her camera, describing it as "dope".

When asked by defence lawyer Estevao if she insisted on recording the so-called "freak-offs" on her devices, Ventura responds firmly that she didn't want them recorded at all.

During questioning, Estevao also establishes that Diddy appeared in the videos as well.

The defence is clearly going to pinpoint every instance they can, no matter how small, to support their theory that Ventura had a choice about whether to participate in the sessions, and was a willing participant in them.

It will fall on the prosecution on redirect to try to remove any doubt in jurors' minds over their argument - that Ventura did not want to go along with the encounters - where Combs allegedly directed her and male escorts to perform sex acts.

Casandra "Cassie" Ventura is being questioned today by Sean "Diddy" Combs' legal team.

Anna Estevao, a law partner at the Manhattan-based Harris Trzaskoma firm, is leading the cross examination. She is a former federal public defender.

Combs' legal team is led by Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer who has experience with high-profile cases. Agnifilo is also representing Luigi Mangione, who has been charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare's chief executive Brian Thompson.

Image source, Reuters

Also on the legal team is Teny Geragos, the daughter of celebrity attorney Mark Geragos.

Others include Brian Steel, who recently represented rapper Young Thug in Georgia.

Cassie Ventura, who is about eight months pregnant, is back on the witness stand after court paused for a short break.

The judge has regularly given Ventura pauses in her testimony throughout the trial.

The defence team will resume their questioning.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

The defence's cross-examination of Ventura has been a bit stop and start so far.

Prosecutors are objecting to nearly every piece of evidence they try to submit, mostly messages between Ventura and Combs. Lawyer Anna Estevao is often pausing in the middle of her questions to rephrase.

Estevao is using her questioning to try to establish that the so-called "freak-offs" - sexual encounters in which Ventura would have sex with male escorts while Combs watched - may have been consensual. She displays explicit text messages between the two in which Ventura expresses excitement or willingness to participate.

Ventura talked about her willingness to engage in the "freak-offs" in her direct questioning. She told prosecutors she participated because she loved Combs and wanted him to be happy, and that she was afraid of violence or blackmail if she didn't.

Court has taken a 10 minute recess but Ventura will be back for more cross questioning shortly.

In the New York court today there are several members of Sean "Diddy" Combs' family. His mother has been here every day this week. And many of his children have attended court on multiple days.

Cassie's husband Alex Fine has also been at court every day, and is here again.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

After about 45 minutes of debate between lawyers over evidence issues, Cassie Ventura is back on the stand - wearing a black blazer and white shirt, and her hair is in a ponytail.

Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyer Anna Estaveo is questioning her.

So far, her line of questioning is what we expected.

Estaveo asks Ventura about the more loving sides of their relationship.

"You were in love with him for 11 years, right?" she asks.

Ventura pushes back where she can, disputing the framing that she "kept coming back" to Combs over and over.

We are also seeing hints of the defence’s argument that infidelity and jealousy fueled their fights.

Estevaeo reads back Ventura’s testimony from yesterday in which she said she was "insanely jealous" in their relationship.

The defence is moving quickly with their yes or no questions, so we could get through a lot this morning, though prosecutors are lodging many objections.

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

While we wait for the first details of Cassie's testimony today, let's look at the charges Sean "Diddy" Combs faces in this federal criminal case being heard in New York

Combs is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two charges of sex trafficking and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.

Many of the most severe allegations relate to the racketeering conspiracy charge.

This includes accusations of kidnapping, drugging, and coercing women into sexual activities, sometimes using firearms or threats of violence.

Combs has denied all charges against him.

Both legal teams started the morning with a lengthy debate about evidence. But we're moving on now, with the jury and Cassie Ventura arriving in the courtroom.

Ventura will face questions from the defence, after spending the past two todays on the witness stand answering questions from the prosecution.

Judge Arun Subramanian is in the courtroom and is listening to the legal teams as they work through some issues regarding evidence that could be brought up today.

The jury is not in the room yet.

We're expecting Cassie Ventura to be on the witness stand shortly.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

It’s likely to be a tense day in court, when Sean "Diddy" Combs’ lawyers will begin questioning his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura.

They are likely to question Ventura on whether she could have taken herself out of situations - like the so-called "freak-offs" - where Ventura says Combs directed her and male escorts to perform sex acts.

It’s a key part of the argument we heard during opening statements from Combs’ lawyer Teny Geragos, who claimed Ventura and other victims were "strong, capable" women with free will.

It will be Anna Estevao questioning Ventura today. Female lawyers have often been the ones to cross examine female witnesses in high-profile cases like this.

We will likely hear a lot of objections from the government, as we did from the defence during the prosecution’s questioning.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

I caught up with Diddy’s spokeswoman, Holly Baird, before heading inside the courthouse for the defence’s cross examination of Cassie.

She tells me the defence plans to spend at least two days on cross examination and will look to fill in some gaps and questions they feel jurors and others might have.

She says they’ll question Cassie on why she stayed with him, and if there was love in the relationship.

They’ll also try to put the text messages between the two of them in context, she says, in order to show his point of view and what he says was going on in real time.

Remember, the defence has admitted that there was domestic violence, but Diddy denies the racketeering and sex-trafficking charges against him.

Baird also shared that the trial and the entire situation has been difficult for the Combs family.

I asked if Diddy’s kids’ confidence in him has been shaken at all by Cassie’s distressing testimony.

She insisted that they are still sticking together and want to protect their dad.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

Warning: Readers may find some details distressing

It was an emotionally gruelling testimony for Combs’ ex Casandra Ventura during her second day on the stand yesterday.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson questioned Ventura about several instances of Combs’ alleged assaults - a time he attacked her in front of her friends, and a time he "lunged" at her with a wine bottle opener.

We heard about a time in 2018 where Ventura alleges Combs raped her in her home after they had broken up.

Ventura also told the court Combs forced her to stay at a hotel for a week after he had beaten her, to hide her injuries.

The prosecutors’ argument is that Ventura did not have free will to leave Combs - and it's a line of questioning that we will likely see the defence team try to take down today.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Image source, Sakshi Venkatraman / BBC

Hello from the Lower Manhattan courthouse, where Sean Combs will face his fourth day in front of the jury in his sex-trafficking trial.

The scene today is far less chaotic than earlier this week.

Crowds to see the music mogul have thinned out significantly and cameras only line one side of the street.

We just saw Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo enter the courthouse, and camera crews immediately swarmed him.

This is a big day for the defence, who will be questioning Cassie Ventura for the first time.

Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty
Podcast host, Diddy on Trial

The BBC's Diddy on Trial podcast has followed every twist and turn in Diddy’s case since November 2024.

From bombshell balcony dangling allegations, to featuring in a Kanye West track behind bars, and Diddy accusing the federal government of racism - there have been headline-making moments every week... and that's before the trial even started.

Now we're bringing you all the updates straight from court in New York.

You can listen to the podcast on BBC Sounds or watch on our YouTube channel, external.