One of the key witnesses in Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ federal sex trafficking trial is offering an inside look into the ‘freak offs’ with the music mogul and Cassie Ventura as the jury prepares to deliberate the case.
Sharay ‘The Punisher’ Hayes testified against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in his federal trial. (Sketch by Jane Rosenberg)
Sharay “The Punisher” Hayes was introduced to the jury as an exotic dancer who was hired to participate in highly-choreographed sex scenes known as “freak offs,” which became a focal point in Combs’ trial. Several of Combs’ ex-girlfriends, including Ventura, testified that they were forced to take part in the “freak offs,” which were often fueled by drugs and lasted for several days.
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Hayes told Court TV’s Vinnie Politan on Closing Arguments that Combs and Ventura reached out to him through his website, which advertised him as an exotic dancer. He said Ventura placed the call directly to him. “I was under the impression that I was showing up for a small gathering of her girlfriends and they wanted a little strip tease to entertain her for her birthday.”
However, when Hayes arrived at the Trump International Hotel at 3 a.m., the appointed time, he realized this was not a typical booking. “I’ve done this literally thousands of times,” Hayes told Politan. “But on this occasion, I was greeted at the door by Ms. Ventura in just a bathrobe, and it was clear indication that she was nude under. And I knew, just from walking in the door, that this wasn’t going to be a typical birthday party.” As Hayes looked around, he noticed that the furniture in the large hotel suite was covered in sheets, and bowls of warm water holding baby oil were staged in the room.
FILE – Cassie Ventura, left, and Sean “Diddy” Combs appear at the premiere of “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story” on June 21, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
Ventura told Hayes that she and her husband wanted him to participate in a “sexy scene.” During this first “freak off,” Hayes and Ventura each began by rubbing baby oil on themselves, and then Combs came out to watch. When Combs came out, Hayes said, he was nude except for a hijab that covered his entire face except for his eyes. Describing it, Hayes said, “It did feel like acting. It felt like — I always think about those cable, grade-B cable movies where they have the sexy scenes. So, it seemed like corny acting.”
While Hayes said the first “freak off” ended after some massage and “mimicking self-pleasuring,” future get-togethers escalated to oral and penetrative sex. Over the eight to 12 encounters Hayes said he had with the couple, at no point did he suspect that Ventura was uncomfortable. “I didn’t get any cues that there was possibly distress or things she was going through that might have been a negative experience.”
The encounters Hayes had with the couple spanned approximately two and a half years, but Hayes told Politan that he had no idea who the pair really was for more than a year. On one occasion, Hayes said that he had been told to wait in an extra room in the suite, and he decided to watch TV. When he turned on the television, a message popped up welcoming “Mr. Sean Combs” to the hotel.
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“It was just like a holy crap moment. And it was even more embarrassing, because at the time I was following him on social media,” Hayes said. “So I would literally see him from time to time on my phone through posts and stuff like that, and I had no idea that was who I was interacting with.”
While Ventura referred to Hayes as “The Punisher” when she testified in court, Hayes said the nickname has nothing to do with their sexual activities. “It’s actually a nickname from playing basketball,” he said. “That was something I was doing previously to dancing, so I just kind of carried it over.”
The jury is expected to begin deliberations in Combs’ case on Monday.
