NEW YORK (AP) — Singer Dawn Richard told jurors at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial on Monday that the hip-hop mogul threatened to kill her if she told anyone she saw him physically abusing his longtime girlfriend.
Richard testified that Combs made the threat the day after she witnessed the Bad Boy Records founder punch and kick Casandra “Cassie” Ventura after taking a swing at her with a skillet. Richard said he told her and another woman who saw the attack that “we could go missing” if they didn't stay quiet.
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.
Richard disclosed the alleged threat as she returned to the witness stand to kick off the second week of testimony in Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering trial in Manhattan federal court.
Combs, 55, is accused of exploiting his entertainment powerbroker status to abuse women, including Cassie, through threats and violence. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argue prosecutors compiled proof of domestic violence, but not the federal crimes charged.
During four days of testifying last week, Cassie said she wanted a loving relationship in her nearly 11 years with Combs but was instead subjected to repeated drug-fueled “freak-offs” with male sex workers that left her too exhausted and damaged to pursue her music career.
Shortly after Cassie finished testifying, Richard took the stand and said she witnessed Combs attack Cassie on multiple occasions, including during a visit to Combs’ home recording studio in 2009, when Richard said she and another woman saw Combs hit Cassie “on the head and beat her on the ground.”
She said Combs tried to hit Cassie over the head with a skillet, but Cassie was able to deflect it.
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 Cassie in the face with a closed fist and that she saw him punch her in the stomach during an argument at a restaurant.
Cassie 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 Cassie 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.
Cassie's longtime friend, Kerry Morgan, testified that she twice saw Combs physically assault her. She recalled Combs hitting Cassie, pulling her hair, kicking her and pushing her.
Richard supported Cassie’s testimony that Combs had stifled Cassie’s fledgling singing career, saying she heard Combs tell Cassie 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.
Bad Boy signed Cassie to a 10-album deal in 2006, but only released one — the self-titled “Cassie,” which came out the same year. Cassie and Combs started dating in 2007 and broke up for good in 2018.
Cassie testified last week that although she continued to go to the recording studio and work on songs, Combs refused to release them.
“He was in charge of her career,” Morgan testified, adding that Cassie sometimes expressed frustration that her music wasn't being released.
Richard said Combs would get mad — sometimes violent — when she and other artists offered to help Cassie 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.
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.
Michael R. Sisak And Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
