WARNING: This story comprises allegations of sexual violence and might have an effect on those that have skilled it or know somebody affected by it.
Singer Daybreak Richard advised jurors on the Sean (Diddy) Combs intercourse trafficking trial on Monday that the hip-hop mogul threatened to kill her if she advised anybody she noticed him bodily abusing his longtime girlfriend.
Richard testified Combs made the menace the day after she witnessed the Dangerous Boy Information founder punch and kick Casandra (Cassie) Ventura after taking a swing at her with a skillet. Richard stated he advised her and one other lady who noticed the assault that “we might go lacking” in the event that they did not keep quiet.
Assistant U.S. Lawyer Mitzi Steiner requested Richard what she took “we might go lacking” to imply.
“That we might die,” Richard responded, saying she was shocked as a result of all of this occurred simply as she was starting to file with Diddy — Soiled Cash, a musical trio with Combs and one other R&B singer.
Richard disclosed the alleged menace as she returned to the witness field to kick off the second week of testimony in Combs’s intercourse trafficking and racketeering trial in New York Metropolis’s Manhattan Federal Courtroom.
Cassie’s former greatest buddy speaks
Later Monday, Cassie’s onetime greatest buddy and former roommate, Kerry Morgan, testified Combs left her with a concussion after choking her after which slinging a picket hanger at her in 2018 when he got here to Cassie’s Los Angeles residence enraged as a result of he thought Cassie was courting another person.
Morgan stated she was going to sue Combs, however Cassie met her at a pizza parlor and had her signal a non-disclosure settlement in return for $30,000 from Combs whereas accusing her of “milking” and “overexaggerating” the assault. The episode ended the ladies’s 17-year friendship, with Morgan and Cassie each testifying they have not spoken since.
Morgan, a reluctant witness who acknowledged she solely testified in response to a authorities subpoena, stated she noticed Combs beat Cassie at the least twice, together with as soon as so severely that she thought her buddy had been “knocked out.”
She stated she inspired Cassie to interrupt up with him after realizing that the very assured lady she had met in 2001 throughout modelling gigs had “misplaced her spark” and had assumed a slumped posture as she catered to Combs’ wants. However she stated Cassie was reluctant to finish the connection.
“He managed every thing. She would’ve misplaced all of her livelihood,” Morgan stated, noting that Combs paid for Cassie’s automotive and condo, and had her beneath contract with Dangerous Boy.
Richard recollects violent outbursts
Combs, 55, is accused of exploiting his leisure power-broker standing to abuse ladies, together with Cassie, by way of threats and violence. He has pleaded not responsible. His attorneys argue prosecutors compiled proof of home violence, however not the federal crimes charged.
Throughout 4 days of testifying final week, Cassie stated she wished a loving relationship in her practically 11 years with Combs however was as a substitute subjected to repeated drug-fuelled “freak-offs” with male intercourse employees that left her too exhausted and broken to pursue her music profession.
Shortly after Cassie completed testifying, Richard took the stand and stated she witnessed Combs assault Cassie on a number of events, together with throughout a go to to Combs’ residence recording studio in 2009, when Richard stated she and one other lady noticed Combs hit Cassie “on the pinnacle and beat her on the bottom.”
WATCH | WARNING: This video comprises disturbing particulars: Cassie particulars sexual violence, blackmail:
Cassie particulars sexual violence, blackmail at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial
WARNING: Video comprises disturbing particulars | Singer Cassie Ventura gave her second day of testimony because the prosecution’s key witness within the sex-trafficking trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs — detailing years of rape, blackmail and bodily abuse.
She stated Combs tried to hit Cassie over the pinnacle with a skillet, however Cassie was capable of deflect it.
On Monday, Steiner requested Richard how usually she witnessed Combs beat his girlfriend.
“Incessantly,” Richard stated. “He would punch her, choke her, drag her, slap her within the mouth. I noticed him kick her, punch her within the abdomen.”
Richard, a recording artist, attends the Grammys in Los Angeles in February 2024. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/The Related Press)
Richard stated that on different events, she noticed Combs punch Cassie within the face with a closed fist and that she noticed him punch her within the abdomen throughout an argument at a restaurant.
Cassie used make-up, clothes and sun shades to cowl up accidents, which included bruising on her face, eyes, lip, arms and knees, Richard stated.
Richard testified the beatings typically occurred when Cassie spoke up for herself, “if she had an opinion about one thing.”
WATCH | WARNING: This video comprises disturbing particulars: Cassie grilled about messages at trial: 
Sean (Diddy) Combs’ ex-girlfriend grilled about messages at intercourse trafficking trial
WARNING: Video comprises disturbing particulars | Cassie Ventura, the ex-girlfriend of Sean (Diddy) Combs, confronted cross-examination Thursday at his sex-trafficking and racketeering trial, because the defence pointed to messages they are saying present consent. She alleges that Combs directed her to carry out degrading intercourse acts — claims central to the case that might carry a life sentence.
At different occasions, she stated, “it might be random. We would not even know the place it got here from.”
Richard, who additionally carried out within the group Danity Kane, stated Combs’s workers, together with his bodyguards, additionally witnessed violence.
“They would not react. They would not do something,” Richard testified.
Richard supported Cassie’s testimony that Combs had stifled Cassie’s fledgling singing profession, saying she heard Combs inform Cassie that he “owned her” and that any success she had could be on his phrases.
“It will come when he stated it might come.”
Singers say Combs damage their careers
Dangerous Boy signed Cassie to a 10-album deal in 2006, however solely launched one — the self-titled Cassie, which got here out the identical yr. Cassie and Combs began courting in 2007 and broke up for good in 2018.
Cassie testified final week that though she continued to go to the recording studio and work on songs, Combs refused to launch them.
“He was in command of her profession,” Morgan testified, including Cassie typically expressed frustration that her music wasn’t being launched.
Combs, left, watches as defence lawyer Nicole Westmoreland cross-examines Richard on Monday. (Elizabeth Williams/The Related Press)
Richard stated Combs would get mad — and typically violent — when she and different artists provided to assist Cassie write songs.
“Mr. Combs did not like that once we talked to Cassie and oftentimes, we’d pay for it,” Richard testified, including: “In case you did not keep in line, there was penalties.”
She recalled Combs cursing and telling her to remain out of his relationship.
Defence lawyer Nicole Westmoreland prompt that Richard was testifying as a result of she was offended with Combs for ending Danity Kane and Diddy — Soiled Cash and since she has a pending lawsuit in opposition to him.
“You felt that Mr. Combs ruined your profession not as soon as however twice?” Westmoreland requested.
“Sure,” Richard answered.
She contended, although, that she was unhappy, not offended, over the top of the teams, and is suing Combs as a result of he mistreated her and withheld earnings.
Help is on the market for anybody who has been sexually assaulted. You possibly can entry disaster strains and native help companies by way of this Authorities of Canada web site or the Ending Violence Affiliation of Canada database. In case you’re in speedy hazard or concern in your security or that of others round you, please name 911.
