Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters

It was day four of hearing from Cassie Ventura.

Over the course of attorneys for Sean 'Diddy' Combs questioning her, the defence wasn’t overly aggressive with the singer - who is eight months pregnant - so as not to turn off the jury.

However, Diddy’s lawyer sought to undermine her credibility - as she's the prosecution’s star witness.

They showed sexually explicit text messages she sent to the rap mogul in court. The defence argued that Cassie was a willing participant in the 'freak-offs', where she had sex with escorts while Diddy watched.

Cassie, clearly exasperated, told the court those were just words. She maintains that she was forced to do it and was worried about the consequences if she didn’t keep the rapper happy.

The defence also wanted to undercut the notion she was exploited or trafficked for sex. They portrayed her as a strong woman and tried to link Diddy’s violent behaviour to his drug use and jealousy.

Cassie testified that they were both in love, addicted to drugs for most of their relationship, and suspicious of infidelity.

But will it be enough to convince at least one juror that he’s not guilty?

We're ending our live coverage of today's proceedings but you can read more about today's developments here.

The prosecution is expected to call three alleged victims to the stand. "Victim-1", as Cassie Ventura was called before the trial, had been on the stand for much of the week.

We are expecting to hear from two other victims who have not been yet been publicly identified.

The indictment only mentioned "Victim-1" and so it remains to be seen who the others are and whether, like Ms Ventura, they will testify under their real names.

Before the trial began this week, some US media outlets reported "Victim-3" had gone missing but in court, our reporters have not heard prosecutors say this.

We might also hear from two others next week: Kerry Morgan, who is Ventura’s former best friend, and possibly Ventura's mother.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

The federal government has charged Combs with sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.

So far, during this week of Cassie's testimony, prosecutors seem to be focused on the coercion element of sex trafficking, trying to prove that Combs coerced his victims into agreeing to sex acts "based on the fear of what would happen if they didn't", says Arick Fudali, a lawyer who represents an unnamed victim in the case as well as singer Dawn Richard.

"Someone can consent to a sexual act of course,” Fudali tells the BBC. "But someone can also be coerced into being compliant, and that's different than consent."

This is the main argument that we’ve seen the government make this week - that if Ventura did not agree to Combs’ sexual demands, she could allegedly face beatings from Combs and other consequences.

Prosecutors are hoping this argument will resonate with jurors in spite of text messages we saw between Combs and Ventura, in which she sometimes seemed to express a desire to do freak-offs.

Ultimately, Fudali says, the prosecution’s case will hinge on this question of compliance versus consent.

"Did Ms Ventura consent or was she coerced into complying?" Fudali says. "That seems to be the question for the jury."

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from court

Outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan, we've just seen the day's final witness - Dawn Richard - leave, as a group of Diddy supporters gather nearby.

Every now and then one gets to see a glimpse of the celebrity that Diddy still commands outside the Daniel Patrick Moynihan federal courthouse in Manhattan.

His strongest supporters have been his family - his 85-year-old mother and his adult children. Often they will arrive at the court together and leave alongside each other too in a black SUV.

And while many of Diddy's celebrity friends may have distanced themselves, some members of the public still seem to feel a connection to him - and show up wearing "Free Puff" and "Free Diddy" T-shirts.

Image source, BBC / Pratiksha Ghildial

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

Warning: Readers may find some details distressing

Under questioning from the prosecution, Richard recounted what she says she saw in Sean "Diddy" Combs' mansion LA mansion in 2009.

She said Cassie Ventura was making eggs in the kitchen when Combs came down the stairs angry, and used an expletive to ask where his eggs were.

Richard said she saw Combs try to hit Ventura over the head with the skillet of eggs.

"She fell down," Richard told the court. "She was in the foetal position."

Richard told the court she saw Combs punch and kick Ventura, and then "dragged" her upstairs where she heard breaking glass and yelling.

Richard said she was scared for Ventura, and scared of saying anything in case she might then "get worse".

The next day, Richard said Combs took her and her co-singer into a studio and locked the door. She told the court Combs told them what they saw the day before with Ventura was "passion".

Richard told the court Combs also told she and the other singer that where he is from, "people go missing" if they talk. He then gave both women flowers, she said.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

Warning: Readers may find some details distressing

The final witness of the day was Dawn Richard, a 42-year-old singer who was a former member of the music groups Danity Kane and Diddy - Dirty Money.

Diddy - Dirty Money was a musical trio that included Sean Combs between 2009-2011.

Richard testified about an incident in 2009, when she said she saw Combs assault Cassie Ventura. The 42-year-old was recording music in Combs' LA mansion studio at the time.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

Before court was adjourned, we heard from special agent Yasin Binda from Homeland Security, who photographed and took evidence of the hotel room Sean Combs was staying in in New York when he was arrested.

In photos shown to the jury, there were bottles of baby oil and lubricant in multiple rooms. Some stashed in Ziploc bags, others in bedside tables.

There were also photos of drug bottles and a pink substance, which prosecutors said appeared to be drugs.

There was also a black fanny pack with $9,000 (£6,775) in it.

The prosecutor asked the special agent to use scissors to open a plastic evidence bag with that fanny pack in it. She did so and fanned the cash out to show the jury.

The defence mentioned this cash too, asking why was it confiscated.

The special agent said the warrant issued around the arrest included "bulk cash" and the room of agents and the prosecutor had determined $9,000 was seizable.

Stick with us, we'll continue to bring you more lines about what happened at the end of the day in court.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

The jury is being sent home for the day.

We'll bring you more on this afternoon's testimonies in our next few posts - stick with us.

The prosecution has called their next witness, according to media inside the courtroom, with Dawn Richard taking the stand.

Stick with us as we bring you the details.

Image source, Reuters

Earlier, Cassie Ventura's lawyer read out a statement on behalf of her husband, Alex Fine, who was in court for his wife's final day of testimony.

In that statement, Fine described Ventura's appearance in court as a show of "strength and bravery" and a way of "freeing herself of her past".

He said he wants to address online speculation about how he felt watching court proceedings by saying he felt "tremendous pride and overwhelming love" for his wife.

The statement ended with a message aimed at Sean Combs himself:

"To him and all of those who helped him along the way, please know this: you did not. You did not break her spirit, nor her smile that lights up every room."

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

After a dramatic, four-day testimony from Cassie Ventura came to a close, the judge and legal teams are trying to figure out which witness to hear from next.

The prosecution had planned to call Dawn Richard, a singer who was signed to Sean Combs' label in the 2000s and last year filed a lawsuit accusing him of physical abuse and withholding her earnings. Combs' lawyer has rejected these accusations.

The defence has some issue with this order and would rather have the prosecution call a different witness – a special agent whose full name was not mentioned.

Prosecutors say they only have 30 and 45 minutes of direct questioning planned for them, respectively.

But they would rather call Richard since she “has flown across the country” to be here for her testimony.

The court is on a short break, after which the order of the testimonies will be settled.

Image source, Reuters

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from court

With Cassie Ventura's testimony over, her lawyer has just come outside the courthouse to read out a statement.

They begin by thanking her family and supporters and mention that Ventura now wants to focus on the conclusion of her pregnancy.

The statement also says Cassie found testifying “extremely challenging", but also "remarkably empowering and healing”, and she hopes it will give voice to other survivors.

Her legal team has now left the court.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

We're continuing to catch you up on a couple of lines that our reporters heard in court a bit earlier.

The defence wrapped up the final questions for Cassie Ventura, which again focused on the pages of text messages between Ventura and Sean Combs which have been shown to the jury.

At one point Cassie paused and said, "my mind is a little all over the place right now," but that she was OK to continue.

When talking about texts from 2012, Ventura told the court: "I honestly don't know what I was thinking in 2012."

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

Cassie Ventura has now finished giving evidence, but we're continuing to catch you up on a couple of lines from court.

Earlier, Cassie Ventura told the court she is expecting to receive about $10 million from the InterContinental hotel.

She told the court she was at the end of discussions with the group.

It relates to an alleged incident at the InterContinental in Los Angeles in 2016, in which security footage shows Combs hitting, kicking and dragging Ventura in a hallway.

The footage was shown to the jury and is a key piece of evidence in the trial.

The topic of the payment was raised during the defence team's redirect, where they addressed what was raised by the prosecution during their own redirect earlier today.

Ventura had previously testified she had no more lawsuits against Combs. This new matter does not appear to directly involve Combs, but it was not mentioned until now.

After four days of testimony, Cassie Ventura has now finished giving evidence.

The court then takes a quick break before the next witness is called.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Warning: Readers may find some details distressing

The defence spent much of today seeming to try to poke holes in Ventura's story of the night she says Combs raped her in 2018.

In their redirect now, the prosecution asks about the alleged incident again: "Do you have any doubt in your mind Sean raped you?"

"No," Ventura tells the court.

• You can find organisations offering mental health support and advice through the BBC Action Line. Help and support outside the UK can be found at Befrienders Worldwide, , external, externalor you can call the US Suicide and Crisis Lifeline on 988.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Warning: Readers may find some details distressing

Ventura begins to sob on the stand when talking about the "freak-offs".

As a reminder, that is what the two called the sometimes days-long sexual encounters in which Combs would watch and sometimes record as Ventura had sex with escorts.

Referring to the money from the settlement of her 2023 lawsuit against Combs, the prosecutor asks if she would give it all back if it meant never having done a "freak-off".

She says she would. "I would have agency and autonomy," she tells the court.

The attorney reminds her of the beatings, the graphic sex acts, and the UTIs Ventura previously testified that she endured.

Ventura puts her head in her hands and takes gasping sobs.

"I'm sorry," she repeats through tears, her head still down.

"You can continue, I'm sorry," she tells the prosecutor.

When asked how those situations made her feel, she Ventura tells the court she felt "worthless".

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

As they continue their "redirect" - when prosecutors get the chance to clarify questions asked during cross-examination - Ventura testifies that she was “basically a sex worker" during her relationship with Combs.

In an intense bit of questioning, the prosecution is reminding the jury about what they call the worst moments of Combs' and Ventura's relationship.

Ventura says he life was paused for the "freak-offs" and she was unable to focus on her career because she had "another job".

"What was that job?" prosecutors ask.

"Basically a sex worker," Ventura responds.

The defence objects, and the judge sustains the objection, telling the jury to disregard the comments.

Image source, Reuters

Members of Combs' family showed up at the federal courthouse in Manhattan again today where testimony in Sean Combs' sex-trafficking trial is on its fifth day.

Rapper King Combs – real name Christian Combs, the 27-year-old son of Sean Combs and Kim Porter – is seen arriving with Quincy Brown, 33, who Sean Combs adopted as his son in the 90s.

Nearby is another of Sean Combs' children, 31-year-old Justin Dior Combs.

Several of Combs' children and his mother Janice Combs have attended the trial every day this week.

Image source, Reuters

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

The prosecution is continuing to question Cassie Ventura in what is known as the redirect, a moment for them to revisit anything brought up by the defence's cross-examination.

The prosecution asks what happened when Combs was not kind and loving.

Ventura tells the court that Combs had "down-swings" that "affected my whole life, my career, how I felt about myself".

She tells the court that if Combs was in a mood for a so-called freak-off, her work as a singer "took a backseat" and she "had to do freak-offs".