Cassie worried about possible payback if Sean Combs walks free

Cassie has confessed that she feels "scared" of retaliation if her former partner Sean 'Diddy' Combs "walks free" at his sentencing on Friday.

The I'll Be Missing You performer is set to receive sentencing in New York on Friday for two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

In July, the jury reached a guilty verdict on those charges but cleared him of the heavier accusations of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

Cassie, who spoke in court about her claims of an abusive 11-year relationship with Combs, submitted a victim impact statement to Judge Arun Subramanian on Monday asking him to deliver a punishment that reflects "the reality of the evidence and my lived experience as a victim".

The Me & U singer explained in her statement that she and her loved ones left the New York area because she fears that Combs or people tied to him "will come after (them)".

"I am so scared that if he walks free, his first actions will be swift retribution towards me and others who spoke up about his abuse at trial," she wrote. "As much progress as I have made in recovering from his abuse, I remain very much afraid of what he is capable of and the malice he undoubtedly harbors towards me for having the bravery to tell the truth."

The R&B performer challenged Combs's lawyers’ argument that he has changed, insisting that the hip-hop figure was "the manipulator, the aggressor, the abuser, the trafficker" in her life and has "no interest in changing or becoming better".

"He will always be the same cruel, power-hungry, manipulative man that he is," she continued. "My experience was real, horrific and deserves to be considered."

Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, was in an on-and-off relationship with Combs between 2007 and 2018.

She is now married to actor and model Alex Fine, with whom she has three children. She gave her testimony while she was eight months pregnant with their son.