If you have been following the trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who is currently facing charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution in court, then you have probably come across the term 'freak off'. It's a term used to describe Combs' sexual escapades and encompasses everything from his A-list after-after parties to his hotel sex sessions with an escort.
Combs' trial is expected to last eight weeks and, in addition to the criminal charges, he faces a slew of civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault, rape and abuse over a 20 year period. He denies all allegations and has pleaded not guilty in court.
What is a 'Freak Off and where did the term come from?
The term 'freak off' first came into public awareness in November 2023 when Combs' ex-girlfriend of 11 years, Cassie Ventura, filed a lawsuit against him alleging that he subjected her to a pattern of abuse and control for a decade. The lawsuit was settled the next day for $20 million (£15m).
According to the suit, this was what Combs called the choreographed sexual encounters that he directed 'to engage in a fantasy of his called "voyeurism"'. They allegedly involved costumes, like masks and lingerie, as well as 'copious amounts of drugs' including Ecstasy and ketamine, the hiring of male prostitutes, and Combs would often watch and record the events on a phone while he masturbated.
Freak-offs have become a central part of the prosecution against Combs. The musician has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have denied that any of his sexual encounters were non-consensual.
How have 'Freak Offs' come up in court?
In the first week of Combs' trial, 'freak offs' have already come up several times. During Ventura's testimony, she described the trauma she experienced throughout her relationship with Combs and went into detail about the sexual encounters he allegedly subjected her to.
Ventura met Combs when she was 19 and he was 37 and their romantic relationship began shortly after she was signed to his label, Bad Boy Records. She claimed the first freak off happened when she was 22, when Combs hired a male stripper from Las Vegas to come to a home he was renting in Los Angeles. Ventura told the court she wore a masquerade-style mask and provocative clothing from a 'sex store', and that she and the man took Ecstasy and drank alcohol before they had sex while Combs watched.
The freak offs 'made me feel worthless', Ventura explained, 'like I didn’t have anything else to offer'. She went on to say these events became a near weekly occurrence during their relationships and lasted anything from 36 hours to four days. They took place in homes and hotel rooms around the world from LA to Ibiza. In time, the sets and outfits grew more elaborate, with Combs allegedly controlling everything down to the colour of her nails.
Ventura said she went along with the freak offs because 'when you’re in love with someone you don’t want to disappoint them'. But also because she feared violence if she refused. 'His eyes go black. The version of him that I was in love with was no longer there,' she said, describing what would happen if she said no.
She described the freak offs as 'humiliating' as well as the toll they took on her physically and emotionally. 'The freak-offs became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again,' she said. The videos were allegedly used as blackmail.
Elsewhere in her testimony, Ventura said she was instructed to continuously rub baby oil on her body so that she was 'glistening' and sometimes Combs would order the male escort to urinate in her mouth.
She said that she was trying to escape a freak off in the fateful 2016 CCTV footage that leaked last may, in which Combs can be seen violently kicking and dragging her across the floor outside his hotel room.
The prosecution contends that another victim, who will be testifying under the pseudonym Jane, had freak offs with Combs from 2021 until his arrest last year.
How was Daniel Phillip involved in the 'Freak Offs'?
Another person involved in the freak offs to testify in court was former escort, Daniel Phillip. Phillip claims he was paid up to $6,000 (£4,544) for sex sessions with the couple, which went on for a few years and could last as long as 10 hours. He says these events took place in Manhattan's Gramercy Park Hotel, the Jumeirah Essex House and Combs and Ventura's city residences.
He then corroborated Ventura's account regarding urination. 'So Cassie was actually the one who asked me to urinate on her,' he told the court. 'They had just come out of the room, and she had asked me if I had ever done that before, and I said no. She told me to do it, and I apparently I was doing it wrong because they both stopped me and told me I was supposed to let a little out and not take a leak on her.'
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).