And now, Phillips appears to have listened to her confidants by filing to remove his last name from their daughter’s identity.
The model recently filed court documents, to legally change her 11-year-old daughter’s name from Fianna Francis Masterson to Fianna Francis Phillips – officially dropping the surname of her jailed ex-husband.Phillips filed for divorce from Masterson in September 2023, shortly after he was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for the rapes of two women.
The former sitcom star, now 49, has continued to maintain his innocence from behind bars at the North Kern State Prison in Delano, California.
After his sentencing, reports suggested Phillips initially struggled to accept her husband’s guilt.
« Danny is adamant he did nothing wrong and Bijou believes him, » a source said at the time.
But within weeks of the verdict, she filed for divorce – officially bringing their 12-year marriage to an end.
Since then, Phillips has moved on with her life, as the Raising Hope star was spotted out with her new boyfriend, businessman Jamie Mazur, in June 2024.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7
Cassandra ‘Cassie’ Ventura told a Manhattan courtroom yesterday (May 13) that she felt ‘confused and nervous’ when ex-boyfriend Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs allegedly invited her to join in on one of his infamous ‘Freak Off’ parties.
The trial of 55-year-old Combs, also known as his aliases Diddy, P Diddy and Puff Daddy, began in New York on May 12, where he faces charges of racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The Bad Boy Records founder, who once served as the Notorious B.I.G.’s manager, is accused of having ‘abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct’ from at least 2008.It’s also alleged in a 14-page legal indictment that the father-of-seven held ‘Freak Off’ parties where prosecutors claim both male and female victims were induced into drug-fuelled, sexual performances.
If found guilty, the three-time Grammy winner faces up to life in prison if the jury convicts him on the racketeering charge.
He also faces a minimum sentence of 15 years for sex trafficking, and a maximum of 10 years behind bars for transportation of prostitution, if found guilty by the jury.
Combs, who was arrested at the Park Hyatt hotel last September, has repeatedly denied claims against him and is continuing to plead not guilty to the charges.
On the second day of the trial (May 13), Combs’s ex-girlfriend and American singer Cassie Ventura, 38, took to the witness box.
The ‘Long Way 2 Go’ singer, who was in a relationship with Combs between 2007 and 2018, told the courtroom how she was just 22 when she was allegedly asked to participate in a ‘Freak Off’ party for the first time.
She told the jury she was ‘confused and nervous’ about the event, claiming: “I just remember my stomach falling to my butt. »Ventura said she felt as if she couldn’t refuse her boyfriend, alleging she ‘didn’t know what ‘no’ could be, or what ‘no’ could turn into’ and that ‘[Combs] controlled a lot of [her] life’.
“Sean is a really polarizing person; he was charming,” Ventura said. “It’s hard to really be able to determine what you need when he’s telling you what he wants. I just didn’t know. I didn’t know what would happen.”
The Associated Press reports that Ventura feared videos of the ‘Freak Offs’ would eventually find their way to the internet.
It’s also said Combs would call her ‘predictable’ for not wanting to take part in the events that left her feeling ‘disgusting’ and ‘humiliated’, as per CBS News.
“The freak offs became a job. There was no time to do anything else but do them then try to recover,” she continued, before telling Assistant United States Attorney Emily Johnson the longest event took place over ‘four days’.
On the second day of the trial, surveillance footage of Combs beating the hitmaker inside a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016 was played to the courtroom.
The outlet reports that the video depicted Ventura with a bag at the hotel’s elevators and sees Combs rounding a corner before striking her and throwing her to the ground.
The footage then saw the accused kicking his ex-girlfriend before dragging her back toward their hotel room.
Defense lawyers had unsuccessfully tried before the trial commenced to get the video banned from court.However, prosecutors maintain the video is a piece of evidence in the case against Combs.
It’s understood that three hotel surveillance videos and two cellphone videos were shown to the 12-person jury inside the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse in New York City.
Ventura’s testimony comes after she alleged in a bombshell lawsuit in November 2023 that Combs had trafficked, sexually assaulted and physically abused her during their long-term relationship.
A day after the filing, the two ‘amicably’ settled the lawsuit, with USA Today reporting the hip-hop mogul’s team alluded to a ‘substantial eight-figure settlement’ in court documents.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline on 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) 24/7. You can find a list of local resources here.
A new civil lawsuit has been filed against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, accusing the rapper of drugging and raping a woman and getting her pregnant.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was arrested and charged with racketeering and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion earlier this month – charges he denies.
The 54-year-old rapper has since been hit with a civil lawsuit – marking the 12th accuser to come forward – which was filed in New York and obtained by outlets on Friday (September 27).
The new lawsuit covers a time period from the fall of 2020 to the summer of this year and details allegations made by a woman who’s identity remains anonymous – referred to instead as ‘Jane Doe’.
Doe claims she met the rapper in 2020 while ‘overseas’ and for the next four years, Combs allegedly coerced and harassed her to travel to his houses in locations such as New York, Los Angeles and Miami.
The lawsuit claims Combs and his associates monitored her conversations, tracked her location with the rapper gave her an ‘allowance’, alongside allegedly trying to deter her from working.
The lawsuit states: « At every visit, Defendant Combs would make her ‘perform a show’ for him and would ply her with alcohol and substances until she passed out. She would wake up with bruising and injuries but with no recollection of how she sustained her injuries. This continued until July of 2024. »
The lawsuit goes on to share alleged details of various individual encounters.One encounter, alleged as occurring in April 2022, claims Combs ‘forced Jane Doe to have vaginal intercourse without her consent’. Later in the year, another incident saw Doe ‘w[a]ke up and her feet were purple and bruised and she had a bite mark on her heel’.
Doe details another event, which allegedly took place in July 2022 at Combs’ Los Angeles home, claiming she was forced to take drugs and blacked out and when she woke up, she took a pregnancy test and it was positive.
The lawsuit states she told Combs the result of the test and an associate of the rapper ordered her to get an abortion, although she later experienced a miscarriage.
Combs allegedly recorded the sexual encounters without Doe’s consent and also pressured her to engage in group sex.
The lawsuit filed against Combs, his companies and several associates, alleging the rapper, ‘his agents and employees not only used language and tactics to force Jane Doe to act against her will: she was also unwillingly drugged with alcohol and unknown substances’.
It also alleges Doe was also ‘was forced to witness defendant Combs slap and abuse other women.’The lawsuit is suing Combs for alleged sexual assault, battery and infliction of emotional distress and is seeking undisclosed damages for severe emotional distress, humiliation, anxiety, physical injuries and other harms.
One of the attorney’s representing Doe, Marie Napoli, said in a statement, as quoted by ABC7 New York: « Powerful figures in the entertainment industry have long exploited aspiring artists and fans. Recent high-profile lawsuits aim to hold these celebrities accountable, potentially transforming industry practices and providing justice for victims.
« No one is above the law. Fame and wealth do not protect Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs from serious allegations of sex trafficking and abuse. »
