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(NewsNation) — Male stripper Daniel Phillip testified in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs that the rapper paid him to have sex with his girlfriend at the time, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, while Combs watched, starting in 2012.
On Monday, Phillip said Combs would give him instructions each time, recounting that on one occasion, Combs instructed, “You need to rub more baby oil on each other. You don’t have enough on.”
He testified he witnessed Combs assault Ventura in her apartment.
“I saw a liquor bottle fly across the room and hit the wall,” Phillip said. “Then Mr. Combs grabbed Cassie by the hair and started dragging her. … Mr. Combs pulled her into the bedroom. It sounded like him slapping her.”
On Tuesday, defense lawyer Xavier Donaldson said that Phillip developed romantic feelings for Ventura and was attempting to isolate Combs’ then-girlfriend in order to date her. Phillip said, “I was attracted to her. If she ever gave me the chance to date her, I absolutely would have.”
Ex-security guard claims Diddy tried to bribe him
On Monday, jurors were shown a video from 2016, where Combs allegedly beat and dragged Ventura down a hotel hallway in Los Angeles.
Israel Florez, who is now a police officer, was the security guard who responded to the incident. He took video and photos of the damage to the hotel hallway and was approached by Combs, he said.
Florez said Combs attempted to hand him a stack of money, telling the guard he didn’t see anything. Florez testified that he told Combs, “I don’t want your money. Just go back into your room.”
He testified that he took a video with his cellphone to show his wife, who he thought wouldn’t believe him without evidence.
Cassie testifies against Diddy
Ventura was asked about the sex parties called “Freak Offs,” which the prosecution claims were orchestrated by Combs. She said they would hire an escort to set up “this experience so that I could perform for Sean (Combs).”
She said the 2016 hotel hallway video came after a “Freak Off,” and she was attempting to leave.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Cassie Ventura attend the ‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination’ Costume Institute Gala 2018 at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, New York on Monday, May 7, 2018. (Laura Thompson / New York Daily News via Getty Images) 
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 07: Cassie Ventura and Sean “Diddy” Combs attend the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter) 
Cassie Ventura, a longtime associate and former girlfriend of Combs, previously filed the civil suit that triggered the criminal investigation. 
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 27: Cassie (L) and recording artist Sean “Diddy” Combs attend the Clive Davis and Recording Academy Pre-GRAMMY Gala and GRAMMY Salute to Industry Icons Honoring Jay-Z on January 27, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic) 
LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 03: Music artist Cassie Ventura attends the VH1’s 3rd Annual “Dear Mama: A Love Letter To Moms” – Cocktail Reception at The Theatre at Ace Hotel on May 3, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images) 
Singer and model Cassie Ventura (L) and Rap mogul P Diddy (aka Sean Combs) arrive for the traditionnal Clive Davis party on the eve of the 60th Annual Grammy Awards on January 28, 2018, in New York. / AFP PHOTO / Jewel SAMAD (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images) 
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 14: Singer-Songwriter Cassie attends Buttah Skin By Dorion Renaud Holiday Pop-Up on December 14, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage) 
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 07: Cassie attends the 2022 CFDA Awards at Casa Cipriani on November 07, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic) 
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 19: Cassie backstage at Terminal 5 on May 19, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
During the “Freak Offs,” Ventura testified that she was 22 years old and was “confused, nervous, but also loved him very much.”
“I just remember my stomach falling to my butt. Just the nervousness and confusion in that moment,” she said.
Ventura claimed she often couldn’t say no to Combs, afraid of threats of blackmail and violence. She claimed Combs threatened to post videos on the internet if she didn’t follow his instructions.
“Sean controlled a lot of my life, whether it was career, the way I dressed, everything, everything. I just didn’t have much say in it at the time,” she said.
“Sean is a really polarizing person, also really charming,” Ventura also said. “It’s hard to really be able to decide in that moment what you need when he’s telling you what he wants. I just didn’t know. I didn’t know what would happen.”
Diddy and Cassie’s relationship became controlling, sometimes violent: testimony
Ventura testified that her relationship with Combs began as a platonic one, but that changed after he kissed her in a bathroom on her 21st birthday in Las Vegas.
She had signed a deal with Combs’ music label, Bad Boy Records, in 2006, and the couple kept their relationship private.
“I was just enamored by him. We were just having a good time. It was really fun, at this point,” she said.
After the Vegas trip, she said Combs invited her to hotels in New York to discuss music. At the time, she thought they were in a monogamous relationship, but in her testimony Tuesday, she said, “Sean Combs had many girlfriends.”
“I didn’t get that he was him. As he would say, ‘I’m Puff Daddy. Puff Daddy has many rules. Likes the company of women,’” Ventura said.
Over time, she testified that Combs became over-controlling, and at times, he would involve his security staff to contact her.
She claimed that if Combs didn’t like the way she looked or didn’t like her attitude, he would get abusive with her.
“You make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face,” she said.
Ventura testified that Combs paid her rent at her apartments in New York and Los Angeles. He had his own set of keys and would often make unannounced visits.
What is Diddy charged with?
Combs faces federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The music producer has been held without bail since his September 2024 arrest; two of his homes were raided by federal investigators seven months earlier.
Prosecutors have alleged Combs used the resources of his music empire to create “a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.