Britney Spears witnessed beginning of Diddy’s hell for Cassie Ventura and proceeded to bomb her big comeback

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ trial is currently underway, and so far, the shocking – and sometimes downright disgusting – revelations in the court have dropped a lot more celebrity names than were Britney Spears‘ name as well.

It’s not like the singer has any dearth of drama and controversy in her life at the moment. When it’s not her social media post, triggering concern about her well-being, it is Britney herself poking the hornet’s nest to attract negative press. But not this time – it is a blast from her past, recalling her widely criticized attempt at making a comeback and potentially explaining what caused her to wreck the most important day of her career.

One of the core, most damaging points of Diddy’s case is his physical assault of then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who has appeared in court as a witness multiple times. Her testimonies have already spread the seemingly lone incident of the rapper assaulting her to that of using her in his “freak offs,” forcing her to get intimate with sex workers, and pushing her to engage in degrading sexual acts. And the failure to do any of it resulted in harsh and repeated physical violence and threats.

But when did it all start, and how does Britney factor into these severe allegations against Diddy? Well, it all began in September 2007, as revealed by Cassie on the May 15 hearing, when she was celebrating her 21st birthday in Las Vegas. Diddy came to the party and brought Dallas Austin and Britney Spears with him, who witnessed the beginning of his “sort of” relationship with Cassie.

This revelation led to internet sleuths rediscovering pictures of Britney partying with Diddy on Sept. 7, 2007, hopping from Jet Nightclub in Las Vegas to Hard Rock Hotel & Casino where the duo were ed by Paris Hilton and 50 cents for another party, which ended early morning the next day as per Page Six, but whether the singer remained with Diddy that long can’t be said with certainty.

What can be pointed out with surety is that on Sept. 9, Britney ascended the stage of the MTV VMAs, marking her big comeback after years of increasingly erratic incidents that became tabloid moments overshadowing the fact that she was under immense pressure to succeed – shaving her head, attacking paparazzi, divorce from Kevin Federline followed by a bitter custody battle (which she temporarily lost in 2007), entering and leaving multiple times in early 2007, etc. She became fodder for shows like South Park and Family Guy, which satirized her pain, while late-night hosts used her as punchline material.

A lot hinged on her comeback performance at the VMAs. But it didn’t just fail – it backfired, brutally. 

During the performance, which barely had any dance moves from Britney, the singer looked disoriented, had a vacant expression, no energy, and was visibly under-rehearsed, while her lip-syncing was obvious and off. To add to the backlash, at the time, unaware of her life struggles, even her staunchest fans were quick to point fingers, even stooping to body-shame her.

Was Diddy the cause of her disastrous comeback attempt, or was this just a woman in distress who people refused to show empathy to and who was pushed by her team, salivating to cash in on the media hype around her return? But she indeed was there to mark her attendance in Cassie’s life on the day her future would fall into the hands of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.