NEW YORK (TNND) — The sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs is entering its second week after R&B singer Cassie Ventura testified for four days about the couple’s decade-long relationship involving paid sexual encounters known as “freak offs” that she said she was forced to endure.
Prosecutors are accusing Combs, a key witness in the trial, of exploiting his status as a powerful music executive to “violently force Ventura and other women into marathon encounters with sex workers.”
During cross-examination on Thursday, Combs’ lawyers worked to portray Ventura as a “willing and eager participant” in Combs’ lifestyle and had her read aloud her text messages to him.
Ventura, 38, testified that Combs threatened to release videos of her during the “freak-offs” to keep her involved and that he raped her when she broke things off with him in 2018.
Former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard continued her testimony Monday after taking the stand on Friday. Combs formed Danity Kane as part of the MTV series “Making the Band” in 2005.
According to Richard, she worked for Combs from 2004 to 2011, saying that she knew Combs as “Puff,” another nickname he went by.
Richard testified on Friday that she saw Combs attack Ventura with a skillet in 2009, saying that “He came downstairs screaming, belligerent, asking where his food was, and proceeded to hit her over the head, kicked her, and beat her to the ground in front of us.”
She said that she saw Combs drag Ventura upstairs by her hair and that she heard “glass breaking and yelling,” according to CNN. Richard said she did not call the police because she was afraid and was “scared to do anything in fear of what that might mean for me, too.”
Both Richard and the other woman who saw the attack, Kalenna Harper, were asked to go to Combs’ home, where he told them that what they saw was “passion.” Combs said that it was in their best interest if they did not say anything and that “where he comes from, people go missing if they talk,” CNN reports.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi Steiner asked Richard what she took “we could go missing” to mean.
“That we could die,” Richard responded, saying she was shocked because all of this happened just as she was beginning to record with Diddy—Dirty Money, a musical trio with Combs and another R&B singer.
On Monday, Steiner asked Richard how often she witnessed Combs beat his girlfriend.
“Frequently,” Richard said. “He would punch her, choke her, drag her, slap her in the mouth. I saw him kick her, punch her in the stomach.”
Richard said that on other occasions, she saw Combs punch Ventura in the face with a closed fist and that she saw him punch her in the stomach during an argument at a restaurant.
Ventura used makeup, clothing, and sunglasses to cover up injuries, which included bruising on her face, eyes, lip, arms and knees, Richard said.
Richard testified that the beatings sometimes occurred when Ventura spoke up for herself, “if she had an opinion about something.”
At other times, she said, “It could be random. We wouldn’t even know where it came from.”
Richard, who also performed in the group Danity Kane, said Combs’ staff, including his bodyguards, also witnessed violence.
“They wouldn’t react. They wouldn’t do anything,” Richard testified.
Richard supported Ventura’s testimony that Combs had stifled Ventura’s fledgling singing career, saying she heard Combs tell Ventura that he “owned her” and that any success she had would be on his terms.
“It would come when he said it would come,” Richard said.
Richard said Combs would get mad — sometimes violent — when she and other artists offered to help Ventura write songs.
“Mr. Combs didn’t like that when we talked to Cassie and oftentimes, we would pay for it,” Richard testified, adding: “If you didn’t stay in line, there was consequences.”
She recalled Combs cursing and telling her to stay out of his relationship.
Richard testified that she did not speak up sooner about the alleged abuse because Combs and Harve Pierre, the former President of Bad Boy Records, told her not to, according to CNN.
Defense lawyer Nicole Westmoreland suggested that Richard was testifying because she was angry with Combs for ending Danity Kane and Diddy — Dirty Money, and because she has a pending lawsuit against him.
“You felt that Mr. Combs ruined your career not once but twice?” Westmoreland asked.
“Yes,” Richard answered.
She contended, though, that she was sad, not angry, over the end of the groups, and is suing Combs because he mistreated her and withheld earnings.
In September 2024, Richard sued Combs, describing years of psychological and physical abuse, including groping, that she says she suffered as he helped launch her career.
After Richard finished giving testimony, Kerry Morgan, Ventura’s former best friend, took the stand. Ventura’s mother is also expected to testify early next week.
Morgan testified that Combs left her with a concussion after choking her and then slinging a wooden hanger at her in 2018 when he came to Ventura’s Los Angeles home enraged because he thought Ventura was dating someone else.
Morgan said that at the time, Combs was trying to find out who Ventura was cheating on him with. Morgan said she later found out that Ventura was cheating on Combs, but did not know when he initially asked.
She said she was going to sue Combs, but Ventura met her at a pizza parlor and had her sign a non-disclosure agreement in return for $30,000 from Combs while accusing her of “milking” and “overexaggerating” the attack. The episode ended the women’s 17-year friendship, with Morgan and Ventura both testifying that they haven’t spoken since.
Morgan, a reluctant witness who acknowledged that she only testified in response to a government subpoena, said she saw Combs beat Ventura at least twice, including once so severely that she thought her friend had been “knocked out.”
She said she encouraged Ventura to break up with him after realizing that the very confident woman she had met in 2001 during modeling gigs had “lost her spark” and had assumed a slumped posture as she catered to Combs’ needs. She also said that Combs would nitpick Ventura’s looks, whom she talked to, and how she behaved, CNN reports. But she said Ventura was reluctant to end the relationship.
“He was in charge of her career,” Morgan testified, adding that Ventura sometimes expressed frustration that her music wasn’t being released.
Morgan said that she tried to get Ventura to speak with the police after the hotel altercation in 2016, saying that she never called the police when Combs was violent towards Ventura because Ventura did not want law enforcement involved.
“He controlled everything. She would’ve lost all of her livelihood,” Morgan said, noting that Combs paid for Ventura’s car and apartment, and had her under contract with Bad Boy Records.
The last witness to testify for the day was Combs’ previous assistant, David James, working for Combs from 2007 to 2009.
James said he traveled around the world with Combs and was with Combs every day that he was working.
He testified that Combs’ security would tell him to stay in his lane, especially in situations where he was asking a lot of questions, according to CNN.
James talked about a time when he talked with Ventura, with her saying that “this lifestyle is crazy.” James said he agreed and suggested to Ventura that she should leave, with her responding that she “can’t get out.”
The former assistant also brought up a time when he and Ventura were sharing a car to the Sundance Film Festival, with Ventura saying that she was happy with an album she was working on.
James testified that he did not remember that album coming out.
According to James, when Combs talked about Ventura, he described her as “moldable,” according to CNN.
“I got her right where I want her, she’s young,” Combs allegedly said to James.
When Combs talked about Kim Porter, mother to three of his children, he described her as his “queen,” James said.
James is set to continue testifying on Tuesday.
Combs, 55, was arrested in September 2024, about roughly six months after federal authorities raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami. He has been jailed in Brooklyn since his arrest.
He has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment and faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on all charges. He is facing charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, transportation for purposes of prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.
If you or someone you know is struggling with abuse, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline for help.
Editor’s Note: The Associated Press contributed to this story.
