This story may contain accounts and descriptions of actual or alleged events that some readers may find disturbing.
Dawn Richard ended her testimony at Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial Monday, after a defense attorney argued she testified because he ruined her music career by dismantling Danity Kane and Diddy Dirty Money, music groups of which she was a member.
She testified that she reached out to continue working with Combs though she’d been afraid and noted she was trying to help bandmate Kaleena Harper. She also testified she tries not to think about the volatile environment at Bad Boy Records and that she had no doubt Combs hit Ventura and threatened her to keep quiet about it.
Kerry Morgan, who was Ventura’s best friend until 2018 when, she testified, “Her boyfriend assaulted me,” then took the witness stand and testified that she and Ventura “often” discussed whether Ventura should stay in her relationship with Combs.
Morgan testified that she and Ventura last spoke in 2018. She told the court that she recalled being at Ventura’s apartment, listening to music when Combs entered and allegedly “came up behind me and choked me and boomeranged a wooden hanger at my head.”
The coat hanger hit her behind the right ear and left her with marks on her neck and a concussion, Morgan told the court. She further testified that Combs demanded that she tell him “who Cassie was cheating on him with.” According to Morgan’s testimony, Ventura had locked herself in a bathroom as this allegedly transpired.
Morgan told the court that she recalled seeing Combs’ personal assistant there at the time shrug as Morgan left the apartment. “I don’t think he knew what he could do about it,” Morgan testified.
A month later, Morgan testified, she and Ventura met at a pizza place to discuss a $30,000 payment Morgan told the court that Combs made to her after she threatened a lawsuit over the alleged attack.
“She told me she thought I was milking it, I was over-exaggerating,” Morgan told the court.
The two never spoke again, Morgan testified.
Defense attorneys questioned Morgan regarding why she hasn’t rekindled her friendship with Ventura since their last meeting, in 2018.
“I draw the line at physical abuse,” Morgan testified. “The reason I stopped speaking to her was she was not supportive of me after that incident,” referring to Combs’ alleged assault on Morgan.
Morgan testified that Ventura offered her the money to sign an NDA, or nondisclosure agreement. “That was essentially to close the case on it. You don’t get to sue anybody or say anything public about it,” Morgan alleged.
David James, a former personal assistant for Combs, also took the stand for the prosecution. He testified that he remembered interviewing to be Combs’ personal assistant at the headquarters of Bad Boy Entertainment on Broadway, during which time someone remarked on a photo of Combs hanging on the wall.
“This is Mr. Combs’ kingdom. We’re all here to serve it,” James testified the woman told him.
James told the jury about what he said were demanding hours, the weapons Combs’ security staff allegedly carried and the time James said he, Morgan and Ventura were smoking cigarettes on Combs’ dock in Miami Beach.
“She said to me, ‘Man this lifestyle is crazy,’” James testified of Ventura. “She said, ‘I can’t get out.’ You know, ‘Mr. Combs oversees so much of my life. He controls my music career, he gives me an allowance.’”
James also told the jury that part of his job was ensuring that hotel rooms in which Combs would stay were stocked with items Combs wanted.
Tune in to Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy twice weekly for real-time updates on the trial.
If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.
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