Diddy Trial: Cassie Ordered to Turn Over Memoir Drafts, 3 Alleged Victims to Testify Anonymously

Cassie Ventura (referred to as “Victim-1” in court papers) will have to turn over all draft copies of her memoir to Diddy’s team — a prospect she was fighting against, a judge in Manhattan federal court ruled on Friday, at a hearing occurring just weeks before the mogul’s trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges is set to begin. The attorneys were also seeking bank statements from the singer for a ten-month period of 2023. The judge called that a “fishing expedition” and turned the request down. 

The judge also ruled that three of Diddy’s alleged victims will be able to testify against him anonymously.

Judge Arun Subramanian made the decision despite strong objections from Diddy’s legal team — which on Friday included new addition Brian Steel — to two of the three alleged victims being allowed to testify without their identities being made public. The alleged victims were referred to only by number, as “Victim-2,” “Victim-3,” and “Victim-4.” Diddy’s team had no objection to Victim-2 being anonymous. 

Victims 3 and 4 were characterized by Diddy’s legal team as being former employees who had been around him for a very long time, while Victim-2 was, they said, only in his orbit for three years. Victim-3, the government admitted, “has made some public statements” alleging misbehavior from Diddy, but “did not disclose the full extent of the abuse.”

Judge Subramanian decided on a number of issues during the hearing.

Diddy’s request for a two-month delay before the trial, which he made earlier this week, was likewise denied by the judge.

The Bad Boy founder, who was in attendance in a tan jumpsuit, did have some victories in addition to the memoir drafts. Warner Bros. Discovery was ordered, over objections from both them and the government, to turn over outtakes of interviews with two people interviewed in the docuseries The Death of Diddy.

A good chunk of the hearing was taken up with the sides arguing over the merits of experts they planned to call during trial, with each side trying to exclude the other’s witness. The government’s planned expert witness, Dr. Dawn Hughes, is supposed to testify about the concept of “coercive control,” and to explain why partners stay in abusive relationships, without specific reference to Diddy or any of the alleged victims.

Diddy’s planned expert, Dr. Alexander Sasha Bardley, is expected to say that it is impossible to generalize about sexual assault responses. 

“You can’t reach…conclusions without talking to individuals,” attorney Alexandra Shapiro asserted. “There is no typical response [to sexual abuse].”

Judge Subramanian will issue a decision regarding expert testimony next week, but revealed that he almost certainly will allow Dr. Hughes to testify, though about a limited set of subjects, and without using the term “coercive control,” which he worried jurors may confuse with coercion in the legal sense.

Jury selection for Diddy’s trial will begin on May 5, and opening arguments are scheduled to start on May 12.