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Shortly after 3 p.m. Monday, a nattily dressed man by the name of Daniel Phillip walked past Sean “Diddy” Combs in Manhattan federal court. While Phillip’s steps from aisle to witness stand unfolded without fanfare — there was no notable exchange of glances between him and Diddy — courtroom observers were primed for what would prove to be bombshell testimony in the rapper’s sex-trafficking case.
Phillip, 41, told jurors that he first accepted money after having sex with Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura more than a decade ago in front of Diddy. Federal prosecutors allege that Diddy drew women into his world and forced them into sex parties called “Freak Offs”; authorities said these encounters were “elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded.” The prosecution said that Diddy made Cassie hire male escorts for these events and directed her to have sex with them. She hired Phillip on multiple occasions.
Phillip said he met Cassie and Diddy in 2012 or 2013. He was managing a male revue show in New York City, “male strippers for women,” when his boss asked for help. A bachelorette party called requesting a Black dancer, but nobody was around — could Phillip do it? “I told him I would do it,” Phillip said, saying he went to a Manhattan hotel where the party was supposed to be. “I was expecting to do a little striptease and that was it, for a bachelorette, for a group of women, and then leave.” But when Phillip arrived, one woman, who he later learned was Cassie, opened the door. Would it be okay if it was just the two of them? It was a special night for her and her husband. Would Phillip mind rubbing baby oil on her and see what would happen? Cassie was wearing red lace lingerie, high heels, a red wig, and sunglasses. There were bottles of baby oil, Astroglide, and candles on the table. She gave him several thousand dollars. There was a man to the side of the room wearing a bathrobe and a bandanna over his face. He also sported a baseball cap and “kept his nose down.” Phillip said that he and Cassie had sex after rubbing baby oil on each other. As for the man? “He was sitting in a corner masturbating.” After this encounter, Diddy told Phillip and Cassie to exchange phone numbers. She texted moments after he left the hotel asking for “a picture of my penis.” He sent one. She invited him back up and they had a similar encounter, engaging in intercourse while Diddy watched and masturbated.
Prosecutor Maurene Comey’s questions demanding specifics about sexual encounters are key to the Feds’ case, as authorities contend that Diddy directed them as part of his coercive control over the victim, saying things like “More baby oil!,” “Slow down!,” and “Don’t come yet!” “One time, he had us roleplay like we’d just met at an airport,” Phillip said. “We were not very good at that one.” At one point during Phillip’s testimony, Diddy’s three daughters got up and left.
Phillip also described being asked to urinate on Cassie. Sometimes when he showed up to an encounter, Phillip said it seemed like someone else had been in the room with Cassie and Diddy before he got there. Phillip also described Diddy abusing Cassie. Once, Diddy grabbed her by the hair and pulled her into the bedroom, Phillip recalled. “I could hear what seemed like him slapping her. She was screaming. ‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry!’”
Phillip said he wasn’t a drug user but remembers Diddy offering him cialis, an erectile dysfunction drug, and molly. He tried the molly. “I became a totally different person,” he said. “I went into Times Square and handed out $100 bills to everyone in front of me.” This experience made him feel like a “jackass,” Phillip said. Before court ended for the day, Diddy attorney Xavier Donaldson started his cross-examination. Phillip will return to court tomorrow morning for cross to resume.
Witness Daniel Phillip describes abuse and power dynamics between Diddy and Cassie.
