Cassie Ventura and Alex Fine’s powerful love story is rooted in a shared adversity
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Cassie Ventura has Sean “Diddy” Combs to thank, in part, for finding the true love of her life.
Ventura’s husband, Alex Fine, was Combs’ personal trainer before he became Ventura’s trainer, which led to them falling in love. The two wed in 2019, after her tumultuous relationship with Combs played out, off and on, between 2007 and 2018.
Based on their social media posts and interviews, the relationship Fine and Ventura share is in direct contrast to the horror she says she suffered at the hands of Combs. As she has testified about those allegations in the federal sex-trafficking trial against Combs this week, Ventura’s husband has been in court supporting her, much like he vowed to do in an open letter he shared on social media in 2019.
“I promise you that I will do every single thing in my power to support you and help you,” he wrote at the time. “I promise that you will never be alone. I promise that you will be loved beyond expectation and we will show our children how to be in a healthy relationship.”
Loving “Poonie”
Fine has a nickname he utilizes as his social media handle on Instagram.
“I’m Alex to everyone, but to close friends I’m ‘Poonie,’ a nickname I’ve had since I was young,” he told Zero magazine.
In Fine, Ventura found a man who could sympathize with the violence she has said she was subjected to by Combs. Attorneys for Combs have said the violence in his relationship with Ventura was “mutual.”
In a March 2020 post on his Almost Home site, Fine explained why he chose to run a 50-mile marathon to raise money for his domestic violence charity, inspired by experiences his beloved mother had suffered.
“When I got the news that my mom had been the victim of domestic abuse and violence, I really didn’t know how to handle it,” he wrote at the time.
Fine said his “anger” over the abuse is mother endured deeply affected him.
“I didn’t want to give in to those paralyzing feelings,” he wrote. “So, I decided to channel my anger and feelings of helplessness by running fifty miles to bring awareness and hopefully raise some money for other victims of domestic violence.”
That type of sensitivity was on hand when he proposed to Ventura in 2019.
“I knew that Alex was designing a ring, but I honestly wasn’t expecting a super elaborate proposal because we already had the wedding date set, but he planned such a beautiful experience for me,” she told Vogue. “I was so surprised!”
A cowboy at heart, the trainer turned model and actor was on location with the Compton Cowboys and asked Ventura to meet him for what turned out to be a surprise proposal.
“He told me to come ready because we were driving straight to dinner to celebrate my birthday early that night as my family was coming into town,” she recalled. “I was running a little late, so he called me to check in.”
Ventura said she heard a Stevie Wonder song playing and spotted “the guys on their horses waving at me.”
“I looked up and saw our initials tied up above them, then Alex came around on his horse. When he got down on one knee, everything just stopped,” she told the publication. “I felt like I lost my sense of hearing; I just saw his mouth moving, and he said ‘I want to spend the rest of my life with you.’”
They then went to Playa del Rey, where Fine had arranged for two of their friends to set up dinner and a bonfire on the beach.
“I will never forget how special Alex made me feel that night,” Ventura said.
“Being a dad and husband is the greatest thing I’ve ever done”
Fine has continued to show Ventura that she is unrivaled in his affection.
They are the parents of two daughters, Frankie 5, and Sunny, 3. Ventura is due to give birth to their third child soon.
“I’m a father, husband, and actor,” he told Zero. “Family and work take the most importance and focus in my life. I became the man I am today a lot from the environment I grew up in. My mom and dad are the best.”
“Being a dad and husband is the greatest thing I’ve ever done and I don’t know how I got to be so blessed,” Fine said.
Ventura has returned the praise.
In honor of Father’s Day last year, she shared a series of photos and video of Fine.
“There is just no one like you,” Ventura wrote in the caption.
Fine paid a public tribute to his wife on their third wedding anniversary.
“I’m so lucky that I got to marry my best friend and most beautiful wife in the world. Every morning I wake up and see you and the babies I get so happy,” he wrote in the caption of a series of wedding photos.
On Wednesday, Fine appeared stoic as he left the Manhattan courthouse of the Combs trial, where his wife has spent more than eight hours testifying so far about her troubled past relationship with the embattled music industry vet.
“She’s holding up strong,” Douglas Wigdor, Ventura’s attorney, told reporters outside court.
When asked how Ventura’s husband was doing, he said, “put yourself in his shoes.”
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. His defense team has said they may call Fine to the stand to testify.
A challenge he and Ventura will likely get through, together.
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