Five takeaways from Dawn Richard's testimony in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' trial
NEW YORK — After Cassie Ventura's graphic testimony last week in the Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial, new details are emerging from another witness, Danity Kane's Dawn Richard.
The 'Making the Band' alum took the stand on Friday and Monday to testify against her ex-boss, revealing threats from Combs, violence she observed and other celebrities who also witnessed assaults.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Richard's testimony:
Dawn Richard, who was introduced to Combs as a contestant on his MTV music competition series 'Making The Band,' was chosen to be a member of his girl group Danity Kane, which formed in 2004.
After the group broke up, Diddy went on to form another band called Dirty Money in 2009 that included himself, Richard and singer Kalenna Harper.
Richard and Ventura were both artists signed to Combs' Bad Boy Records label.
'Frequently, he would punch her, choke her, slap her in the mouth, kick her, punch her in the stomach,' Richard told jurors.
'It could be because Cassie was speaking up for herself. It could be random. It could be if she had an opinion for herself.'
Richard continued: 'She would be quiet and when she had these moments of trying to stick up for herself, he would hurt her for it.'
Richard started her testimony recalling a 2009 incident she witnessed when Combs tried to hit Ventura with a hot frying pan.
'He came downstairs angry and was saying, where the f–k was his eggs and he was telling Cassie she never gets anything right and where the f–k was his food,' Richard said in court.
'And he came over to the skillet with the eggs in it and tried to hit her over the head and she fell to the ground.'
Richard says Ventura immediately 'went into the fetal position and was 'literally trying to hide her head.'
When asked why she didn't call the police, Richard said, 'I was scared for her and scared to do anything. I had never seen anything like that before.'
Richard also claimed multiple members of Combs' staff, including bodyguards, were present to witness him physically abuse Ventura, but 'they wouldn't react' or 'do anything.'
The 41-year-old singer says she witnessed another incident in 2010 where Combs beat and punched Ventura in front of several celebrities at a restaurant. 'She immediately bent over, he told her to leave,' she testified.
Among the celebrities Richard recalls being in the room that day were Usher, Ne-Yo and Jimmy Iovine. 'No one intervened.'
Richard says, after witnessing several incidents of Combs' violence towards Cassie, she encouraged her to walk away from the music mogul. 'I told her she should leave.'
She testified that Combs warned her to stay out of their relationship.
Richard told jurors the hip-hop mogul threatened her life to keep her quiet about the violence she witnessed.
'He said, 'You could go missing.'' When asked what she thought he meant by that, Richard responded, 'That people could die.'
'I was shocked but also scared, I couldn't believe this would be the beginning of a journey for us.'
Days before Combs' arrest last year, Richard sued Combs in a lawsuit of her own accusing him of sexual abuse.
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