Cassie’s friend Kerry Morgan took the witness stand in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs after the “Me & U” singer mentioned her during her testimony last week.
Morgan, 39, was questioned on Monday, May 19, about a 2018 incident where Diddy, 55, allegedly hit her with a wooden hanger. Cassie, 38, said in her own testimony that the alleged altercation ended her friendship with Morgan. “We were best friends,” Morgan told the jury. “We don’t speak anymore.”
Of the alleged incident, Morgan claimed that Diddy hit her in a fit of anger over another relationship Cassie (full name Casandra Ventura) was having at the time. “I had a concussion. I was dizzy. I vomited a few times,” she recalled.
She went on to claim that Cassie and Diddy asked her to sign a nondisclosure agreement for $30,000 after the alleged incident. She told the jury she signed the NDA and did not speak to Cassie again.
Diddy was arrested in September 2024 and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied all the allegations against him.
On Monday, Morgan also claimed that she witnessed Diddy physically abuse Cassie, who dated the mogul off and on from 2007 to 2018. “She lost her confidence big-time,” Morgan said of the singer. “She lost her spark.”
Morgan also corroborated Cassie’s previous claims that Diddy had a major hand in the success of her music, saying, “Sometimes she’d be frustrated because she’d be working on music and it would never work out. He was in charge of her career.”
During direct questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Foster, Morgan alleged she saw Diddy hit Cassie on two separate occasions: once in the Hollywood Hills and once in Jamaica. After the Hollywood Hills incident, Morgan claimed she hid with Cassie on the steps of Diddy’s neighbor’s house for 20 to 30 minutes as Diddy and an employee drove around looking for them.
In Jamaica, Morgan allegedly saw Diddy drag Cassie on the floor by her hair. At one point, she “hit her head on the brick” and was motionless for 20 to 30 seconds. “I thought she was knocked out,” Morgan recalled.
Upon waking up, Cassie ran off into a wooded area. When Morgan found her, they hid in a ditch together for “what felt like hours.”
Morgan also testified about the aftermath of the 2016 incident where Diddy assaulted Cassie at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, surveillance video of which was shown to the jury. After the incident, Cassie returned to her apartment where Morgan was staying with her. Morgan said Cassie had a black eye.
About 30 minutes after Cassie’s return, Diddy allegedly arrived at the apartment and started trying to break down a door with a hammer. Cassie was “numb,” Morgan claimed, adding, “I don’t think she would’ve cared if he came in and killed her.”
Morgan noted that she was one of the only friends in Cassie’s life at the time who was not an employee of Diddy. “Combs controlled everything,” she claimed, adding that she felt like Cassie would come away from hangouts with Diddy’s entourage feeling more positive about their relationship. “You could tell they were convincing her it was OK,” Morgan alleged.
Cassie testified in court for four days last week, sharing details about the hotel incident and other alleged abuse by Diddy. She previously sued him in November 2023, alleging that he physically and sexually abused her throughout their 11-year relationship.
Diddy denied her allegations in a statement via his lawyer at the time. “Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations,” the mogul’s lawyer Ben Brafman said.
One day after the lawsuit, Cassie and Diddy settled the suit out of court. Cassie revealed last week that the settlement was for $20 million.
Six months later, CNN published an edited version of the 2016 hotel assault video. Diddy issued a public apology for his actions in the video via Instagram in May 2024.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
