As Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial continued Monday, three witnesses took the stand and largely corroborated last week’s testimony from Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura about the years of sexual and physical abuse she endured.
Dawn Richard, one of the members of Danity Kane, the all-girl group formed by Combs via his “Making the Band” series in 2005, began her testimony on Friday and ended on Monday. She previously made headlines as one of the many women to come forward in the last year to allege various abuses from Combs. She sued the music mogul in September, claiming that she was a victim of physical and sexual abuse.
In her testimony, Richard told the court she once saw Combs beat Cassie with a skillet full of eggs and drag her up the stairs by her hair. She also alleged instances of witnesses him beating and choking her, the Associated Press reported. This kind of abuse occurred when Cassie spoke up or expressed opinions, Richard claimed, adding that Combs’ staff, including his bodyguards, never intervened.
Richard detailed how Combs forced those around him into silence, alleging that he threatened to kill her if she said anything.
“If we said anything, we could go missing,” Richard recalled being told, which she interpreted as a death threat. She also recalled him telling people in his inner circle to “keep out of my relationship [with Cassie] or else we would pay for it, or else something bad would happen to you.”
Richard also testified that Combs would repeatedly tell Cassie that he “owned her.”
Model Kerry Morgan, Cassie’s former best friend and one-time roommate, took the stand next and told the court she saw Combs beat Cassie at least twice, including once in Jamaica so violently she thought Cassie was “knocked out.”
She also testified she was also a victim of Combs and that he choked her in 2018. Morgan said she only took the stand because of a government subpoena.
Morgan said that Combs “controlled everything” in Cassie’s life, including paying for her car and her apartment. “She would’ve lost all of her livelihood,” Morgan said, noting that Cassie was also signed to Combs’ Bad Boy record label.
Morgan stated that Cassie had “lost her spark” since she first met her in 2001.
David James, who served as Combs’ personal assistant from 2007 to 2009, began crying as he testified that when he interviewed for the job, one of Combs’ associates pointed to a picture of the hip-hop mogul and told him, “This is Mr. Combs’ kingdom. We’re all here to serve him.”
He recalled urging Cassie to leave Combs, to which he said she replied: “I can’t. I can’t get out. You know, Mr. Combs oversees so much of my life.”
James also stated that Combs referred to Cassie as “very moldable” and that he “got her right where I want her.”
Combs has denied all allegations of sexual assault. Judge Arun Subramanian has said that the trial is expected to last about eight weeks, but may run longer.
The post Danity Kane’s Dawn Richard Testifies Diddy Threatened Her Life After She Witnessed Cassie Abuse appeared first on TheWrap.