Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, a rhythm and blues singer known as “Cassie,” is expected to testify today as the prosecution’s star witness in the hip-hop mogul’s sex trafficking case, a day after jurors saw a video of Combs hitting and kicking her in a hotel in 2016.

Prosecutors say Combs lured women into romantic relationships, forced them to take part in days of drug-fuelled sex parties and then blackmailed them with videos he recorded of the encounters.

Combs viciously attacked women when they resisted taking part in the parties, known as “Freak Offs” or otherwise upset him, prosecutor Emily Johnson said during her opening statement yesterday in Manhattan federal court.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted on all counts, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and could face life in prison.

Combs is known for turning rap and rhythm and blues artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige into stars, and in the process, elevating the mainstream appeal of hip-hop in American culture in the 1990s and early 2000s.

His lawyers say prosecutors want to criminalise the rapper’s “swingers” lifestyle in which he and his girlfriends invited other men to join them for sex.

Defence lawyer Teny Geragos conceded to jurors on Monday that Combs had a bad temper and jealousy problems, but said this had nothing to do with sex trafficking or racketeering.

“Domestic violence is not sex trafficking,” Geragos said. “He is not charged with being a flawed individual.”

Prosecutors introduced the video of Combs and Ventura yesterday, the first day of evidence in the high-profile trial.

In the video, Combs throws Ventura to the ground and kicks her in the hallway of a Los Angeles area hotel as she tries to enter an elevator.

Combs, wearing only a towel, is then seen grabbing Ventura’s belongings and dragging her into the hallway. Combs apologised after the video first aired on CNN last year.