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The second week of Sean “Diddy” Combs’s racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking trial began on Monday morning with the singer Dawn Richard returning to the witness stand.
Combs, 55, is facing charges of sex-trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was arrested in September 2024 and has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Richard, a former member of the pop group Danity Kane, began testifying on Friday afternoon and continued into Monday morning.
She told the court she witnessed Combs physically abuse his former girlfriend, singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura.
Richard recounted a 2009 incident at Combs’s Los Angeles home where she alleged she saw Combs attempt to hit Ventura with a skillet, before kicking and beating her.
Richard testified that the next day, Combs threatened her and another witness to keep silent about the incident, warning them that where he comes from “people go missing if they say things like that, if they talk”.
On Monday, Richard testified that she “frequently” saw Combs be violent toward Ventura and that she saw her with visible injuries.
“Frequently, he would punch her, choke her, slap her in the mouth,” Richard said on Monday. “I saw him kick her, punch her in the stomach.
“It could be because Cassie was speaking up for herself, it could be random.”
Richard also claimed that members of Combs’s staff, including his bodyguards, also witnessed him being violent with Ventura, but told the court that “they wouldn’t react” or “do anything”.
Defense attorneys for Combs tried to challenge Richard’s credibility during cross-examination, noting inconsistencies in her account of the 2009 incident.
Richard finished testifying around 11.45am ET on Monday and told the court that she has a pending civil lawsuit against Combs.
After Richard concluded her testimony, Kerry Morgan, a former longtime friend of Ventura, was called to the stand.
The federal trial began last week in Manhattan. Prosecutors allege that Combs ran a criminal enterprise that facilitated his drug-fueled sex sessions, referred to as “freak-offs”, involving paid sex workers.
The government alleges that Combs used threats, violence and drugs to coerce women into participating in the “freak-offs”, including Ventura.
During opening statements, Combs’s attorneys argued that the sexual encounters were consensual and part of a “swingers lifestyle”. They acknowledged Combs’s history of domestic violence and drug use, but argued that this doesn’t mean he is guilty of sex-trafficking or racketeering, and denied any criminal enterprise.
Last week, most of the focus was on the testimony from Ventura, Combs’s former girlfriend and the prosecution’s star witness.
Ventura spent four days on the witness stand, alleging years of physical and emotional abuse from Combs during their relationship. She testified that Combs coerced and blackmailed her into participating in the drug-fueled sex parties with male sex workers he called “freak-offs”, and also alleged that Combs raped her in 2018 after their breakup.
Over the week, prosecutors portrayed Combs as controlling and abusive, and as someone who exerted power over nearly every aspect of Ventura’s life and decisions.
Attorneys for Combs tried to undermine Ventura’s credibility and sought to depict her as a willing and consenting – and at times enthusiastic – participant in the “freak-offs”.
The trial is expected to last around seven more weeks. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
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In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org.
