Dawn Richard, a former member of Danity Kane, a musical group formed by Sean “Diddy” Combs as part of the MTV reality series “Making the Band,” came back on the stand to resume the testimony that she started last week.
She “frequently” saw Combs be violent toward Ventura
Dawn Richard testified that after the 2009 incident in which she said she saw Sean “Diddy” Combs attack Cassie Ventura with a skillet, she “frequently” saw Combs being violent toward Ventura.
“He would punch her, choke her, drag her, slap her in the mouth,” Richard said. “I saw him kick her, punch her in the stomach.”
She said that the violence was prompted by a variety of reasons.
“It could be Cass speaking up for herself. It could be random. We didn’t even know where it came from,” Richard said.
She saw Ventura with injuries on face, arms and legs
Dawn Richard said she saw Cassie Ventura at different times with injuries on her face, arms and legs after Sean “Diddy” Combs was violent toward his former girlfriend. Ventura attempted to cover up the injuries with clothing, makeup and sunglasses, Richard said.
Some members of Combs’ security staff also witnessed Combs being violent towards Ventura, Richard testified.
“They wouldn’t react, they wouldn’t do anything,” she said.
They wore sunglasses for solidarity with Ventura
Combs and Ventura got into an argument, and then “he punched her in the face,” Richard testified. Richard said Ventura went into the bathroom crying while Combs “walked off, angry.”
Richard said that Ventura’s eye was swollen, so she put on makeup and wore sunglasses to try to hide the injury.
The jury saw a photo of the three women wearing sunglasses in public after the alleged assault.
Richard said she and Harper also wore sunglasses “to have solidarity, to be a friend, to be a support system for someone who needed it.”
Combs punched Ventura at a restaurant
Dawn Richard testified about another occasion in which she says she saw Sean “Diddy” Combs punch Cassie Ventura – this time in the stomach, while at a restaurant.
Several people from the record label were present in the room at a dinner, and Combs and Ventura had been arguing quietly, Richard said. After Ventura bent over – reacting to the punch – Combs directed her to leave, Richard said.
After leaving the restaurant, Richard testified, Combs and Ventura were arguing in a car. Ventura was “embarrassed” and told Combs he shouldn’t have done that in public, Richard said.
“He grabbed her by the neck and popped her, slapped her in the mouth,” and told her to shut up, she testified.
Security personnel who were present in the car didn’t do anything, and the rest of the car ride was quiet, Richard testified.
Richard later testified in cross-examination that R&B singers Usher, Ne-Yo and Beats Electronics co-founder Jimmy Iovine were among the celebrities who were at the restaurant that day.
Combs punched Ventura at a restaurant
Dawn Richard testified about another occasion in which she says she saw Sean “Diddy” Combs punch Cassie Ventura – this time in the stomach, while at a restaurant.
Several people from the record label were present in the room at a dinner, and Combs and Ventura had been arguing quietly, Richard said. After Ventura bent over – reacting to the punch – Combs directed her to leave, Richard said.
After leaving the restaurant, Richard testified, Combs and Ventura were arguing in a car. Ventura was “embarrassed” and told Combs he shouldn’t have done that in public, Richard said.
“He grabbed her by the neck and popped her, slapped her in the mouth,” and told her to shut up, she testified.
Security personnel who were present in the car didn’t do anything, and the rest of the car ride was quiet, Richard testified.
Richard later testified in cross-examination that R&B singers Usher, Ne-Yo and Beats Electronics co-founder Jimmy Iovine were among the celebrities who were at the restaurant that day.
Combs said Ventura’s career depended on him
Richard testified she heard Sean “Diddy” Combs discuss Ventura’s career with her.
During those conversations, Combs would sometimes turn violent toward Ventura but he’d usually say Ventura’s career would progress on his timeline, Richard testified.
“It would be on his time, it was coming but when he said,” Richard said.
“’I own you … when I’m ready for you, you’ll do’,” Richard said. “And it was always wait, wait, wait for her. She had to wait her turn.”
she stopped commenting on Combs and Ventura’s relationship for her own safety
Dawn Richard — a former member of the musical group Danity Kane, a musical group formed by Sean “Diddy” Combs — said that after she witnessed Combs’ violent behavior, she told Cassie Ventura she should leave.
“Cass looked torn, like she would listen but you could see, I could see the fear–” Richard started to say before being cut off by a defense objection, which was sustained by the judge.
Richard testified that when Combs found out about these conversations, he told her to stay out of their relationship. He told her she was “here to work.”
He would also tell her to stop “or else we would pay for it,” she said.
Richard said she made a decision to stay out of the relationship between Combs and Ventura for her own safety.
“I made a decision that it would be best for the safety of myself to not interfere, because I don’t think that she was really ready to do anything,” she said.
She often saw Combs taking drugs and carrying a gun
Dawn Richard testified that she “often” saw Sean “Diddy” Combs taking drugs, including weed, ketamine, and cocaine. She didn’t see him take opiates, she testified.
The drugs were delivered to the studio by a man she said was called “One Stop,” and Combs kept the drugs in a Louis Vuitton toiletry bag that “went everywhere, from domestic to overseas,” she said.
Richard also saw Combs frequently carrying a handgun, she testified. He’d typically place the gun on his lower back, she said. Two of his bodyguards also carried handguns in the same place, she testified.
Later Monday, on cross-examination, Richard testified that she had seen Combs’ assistant giving money to “One Stop” in exchange for drugs.
Defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland pointed to a previous meeting Richard had with prosecutors in which, Westmoreland said, Richard said she had never seen anyone give payment to “One Stop.”
Seeing Ventura “tell the truth” encouraged her to speak out about Combs
Richard testified she didn’t immediately talk about the alleged abuse that she witnessed because Sean “Diddy” Combs and Harve Pierre, the former president of Bad Boy Records, told her not to.
When asked what made her speak out, Richard pointed to Cassie Ventura.
“I saw Cassie finally take a stand and tell the truth,” Richard replied.
Judge Arun Subramanian sustained a defense objection to her response.
Richard said she left Bad Boy Records in 2011 and would periodically hear from Combs anytime her career got momentum. If she didn’t pick up the FaceTime call other people in Combs’ circle would call her repeatedly until she picked up, she said.
The former Danity Kane member said she also filed a civil lawsuit against Combs, which is still pending.
