Diddy trial live: Combs 'jealous' of actor Michael B Jordan, court hears

Sky News

19-05-2025

The trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs returns, with Cassie's former friend Kerry Morgan giving evidence. Combs denies all five felony charges against him. We'll have live updates from the court in Manhattan below.
19:36:59
'I draw my line at physical abuse'
Kerry Morgan is asked about her current relationship with Cassie, and confirms that despite being friends for 17 years, the last time they spoke was in 2018, just after Combs allegedly threw a wooden coat hanger at her head, leaving her with a concussion.
Marc Agnifilo says: "She is married to another man and about to have another baby, you have not spoken to her in seven years?"
Morgan answers: "Yes."
Agnifilo goes on: "In that period, she left him six and a half years ago, how come you haven't spoken to her?"
Morgan says: "The reason I stopped speaking to her was because she was not supportive of me after that incident. I draw my line at physical abuse."
She goes on to confirm Cassie had not contacted her since meeting her in a pizza restaurant shortly after the incident.
Discussing the settlement Morgan reached with Combs, she describes Cassie as the "go-between", adding: "The money wasn't coming from her… I did not demand money from anyone, she offered money to close the case on it, so I don't sue anybody or say anything public about it. All I got was $30,000."
19:21:53
'Gina was a problem'
Kerry Morgan is asked about another woman, Gina, who Combs was dating for part of the time he was in a relationship with Cassie.
Morgan says: "She was a big problem, she wouldn't go away.
"Cassie found out about it and she wouldn't go away. We looked at her like a little girl, she acted like a little girl. She was much younger than us. Cassie was having conversations with her… Gina was a problem, yes".
She's asked if Combs's relationship with Gina "lasted for years and years and years" and if Combs "was romantic with Gina at the same time he was with Cassie".
"Correct," she answers.
19:13:04
Combs was 'jealous' of Michael B Jordan
Staying on the theme of jealousy, Marc Agnifilo asks if Combs's jealousy was a source of stress, and if the rapper "would be jealous and act up". Morgan says yes.
Asked if she remembered Cassie dancing with rapper Chris Brown, and if Combs was angry about it, Morgan says she doesn't recall Cassie dancing with Brown.
Agnifilo then asks if Combs was jealous about actor Michael B Jordan, who Cassie mentioned in her testimony last week.
Morgan says: "I remember she started talking to Michael B Jordan before she went to South Africa, and I remember them not being together when she went there to film a movie."
While she says she can't confirm if Cassie was in a relationship with Jordan, as she says she never saw them together, Morgan confirms: "What I remember was that she was speaking to Michael B Jordan and they hung out together and [Combs] was jealous of it."
19:10:18
Cassie 'jealous' of Diddy's former partner Kim Porter, Morgan claims
Now, Kerry Morgan is asked about Kim Porter, one of Sean Combs's former partners, and mother to three of his children.
When asked if Cassie was jealous of Porter, Morgan says: "I'm sure. Yes, she was jealous because she could never go to New Year's Eve parties."
18:47:41
Cassie's former best friend is cross-examined
Kerry Morgan is now back on the stand and is being cross-examined by Marc Agnifilo, lead counsel for Combs's defence.
He establishes that she was best friends with Cassie between 2001 and 2018 and that they first met on a modelling job when they were both still in high school.
Morgan confirms Cassie's modelling career was already going well, confirming she'd been paid a quarter of a million dollars for one modelling shoot.
18:23:15
The court is now back in session
The court is now in session again, with the judge and the lawyers discussing a few details ahead of the jury coming back into the room.
They are talking about establishing the credibility of the current witness, Kerry Morgan, and if that would mean re-calling Cassie to the stand.
The prosecution say it's unlikely Cassie, who is over eight-and-a-half month pregnant, would be available to be recalled.
17:50:59
Court pauses for lunch
The New York court is now taking a lunch break and will reconvene at 6.05pm UK time.
17:50:41
Combs 'hit me with a wooden coat hanger' leaving me with 'concussion'
Morgan says Combs assaulted her once, when she was with Cassie at her home.
She says they were listening to her music, and Cassie got up to go to the bathroom, at which point she says Combs came in.
She Combs "came up behind me and choked me and left finger marks on my neck and hit me in the head with a wooden coat hanger".
She says the hanger hit her behind her right ear and left her with concussion.
Morgan says while the attack was taking place, Combs was talking about "who Cassie was cheating on him with".
She says she gathered her belongings and left, adding: "I was dizzy, I vomited a few times. I went to an urgent care facility. I hired a lawyer about the assault. I was planning on filing a lawsuit, but I did not."
Asked if she received money, she confirms she received $30,000 from Combs.
She says her friendship with Cassie ended that night, explaining: "Cassie said I was milking it and over exaggerating. I signed an NDA, we haven't spoken since."
She says she last spoke to Combs on the night of the alleged assault, and last saw Cassie when she signed the NDA.
She confirms she has no other lawsuits pending.
17:37:50
'Guttural screams' and a golf cart chase
Kerry Morgan goes on to discuss the second incident, which she says took place during a holiday in Jamaica, which she says Combs joined halfway though.
She says she was in the bar area when she heard "guttural, terrifying" screaming.
She explains that Cassie had gone to the bathroom, but that after a few minutes Combs had gone to find her saying she was "taking too long".
She says she then went into the hallway and saw Combs dragging Cassie from the master bedroom by her hair.
"I saw him push her on the ground and she hit her head on the brick, she didn't move, I thought she was knocked out," Morgan says.
She says she and Combs began yelling at each other and while they were arguing "Cassie got up and ran".
She then describes a golf cart chase ensuing, saying: "I got in one golf cart and [Combs] got in another and we went different ways to find her."
She says: "I found her, and we turned the lights out, we hid in a ditch and were whispering because you could hear Sean going back and forth, going around the community. It felt like hours. She had a really big bump on her forehead. I'm not sure if she got medical attention."
Morgan says she also witnessed Combs being violent to Cassie on other occasions.
She says Cassie did not want the police involved, and also told her she couldn't leave Combs "because of her job, her car, her apartment".
17:20:53
'I saw him push her'
Morgan says she twice witnessed Combs physically assault Cassie, and that he was not intoxicated or high on either occasion.
She describes the first incident, which she says took place in a rented house in the Hollywood Hills.
Morgan says she was in the front foyer with Ruben, one of Combs's security guards, while Combs and Cassie were in the master bedroom.
She says: "I saw him push her, pretty sure he hit her or kicked her, she didn't do anything in response. I was upset, and I said to Ruben, 'do something,' and he responded that he wasn't going to do anything."
She says she and Cassie then hid at a neighbour's house, lying face down on the stairs for 20 to 30 minutes, while Combs drove around looking for them.
She says eventually Cassie returned to the house.