Danity Kane’s Dawn Richard took the witness stand for the second time on Monday, May 19, to testify in the trial of her ex-boss Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Richard, 41, answered questions about Diddy’s relationship with ex-girlfriend Cassie, who testified last week for four days. On Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi Steiner asked Richard about what she observed between Diddy, 55, and Cassie, 38, between 2009 and 2011 when she was part of the trio Dirty Money (with Diddy and Kalenna Harper).
The former Danity Kane member claimed that she “frequently” saw Diddy be violent with Cassie (full name Casandra Ventura), alleging he would “punch her, choke her, drag her, slap her in the mouth.” She went on to claim that she “saw him kick her” and “punch her in the stomach.”
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 of the allegations against him.
Speaking on Monday, Richard detailed multiple separate instances of alleged violence perpetrated by Diddy. She claimed one occurred at a Central Park concert where she saw Diddy punch Cassie in the face using his closed fist. “Her eye was swelling,” Richard claimed, adding that she and other members of Diddy’s entourage wore sunglasses to the festival in solidarity with Cassie.
On another occasion in 2010, he allegedly punched Cassie in the stomach at a West Hollywood restaurant where other celebrities and employees from Diddy’s record label, Bad Boy, were present.
Later, Richard further claimed, she saw Diddy grab Cassie around the neck, slap her on the mouth and tell her to “shut the f*** up.”
Richard went on to claim that multiple Diddy employees witnessed the alleged abuse, including former Bad Boy executive Harve Pierre, security guards D-Roc and Roger Bonds and assistants Capricorn Clark and “Mia,” the latter of whom is another alleged victim of Diddy’s who is expected to testify.
The singer explained that she encouraged Cassie to leave Diddy, but Cassie said she was “torn” about it. When Diddy found out that Richard and Cassie were having these conversations, Richard claimed he told her to stay out of his relationship “or else y’all are gonna pay for it.”
Eventually, Richard said, she stopped trying to intervene in the relationship because she didn’t feel Cassie was ready to move on. According to Richard, the reasons for Diddy’s alleged abuse of Cassie “varied.” She claimed it “could be Cass speaking up for herself,” “it could be random” or it could be “her having an opinion.”
When cross-examination began, defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland asked Richard about the testimony she gave on Friday, May 16, when she claimed she once saw Diddy try to hit Cassie with a hot skillet. Westmoreland asked the singer whether “it’s been hard to keep your story the same” regarding the alleged incident because she gave slightly different accounts about it in different conversations with lawyers, but Richard replied, “No, I wouldn’t agree with that.”
Westmoreland concluded her cross-examination by asking Richard about her attempts to continue working with Diddy even after she left Bad Boy. When the attorney said, “You were trying to succeed for a long time,” Richard responded, “I have succeeded.”
During redirect questioning, Richard fielded questions about why her stories have sometimes changed. “Every day it gets easier to remember certain things,” she told the court. “I try my best to do it to the best of my ability.” She added that she had “no doubt” she saw Diddy drag Cassie up the stairs on the day of the egg incident.
As for why Richard once asked Diddy about the possibility of reuniting Dirty Money, she claimed it was a favor for her bandmate Harper, whom she believed to be having a difficult time. “I didn’t want to go back,” she said. “It wasn’t good. I didn’t want it.”
Richard began her testimony late on Friday and claimed she once saw Diddy try to hit Cassie with a hot frying pan that had just been used to cook eggs. “He came downstairs angry and was saying, ‘Where the f*** was his eggs’ and he was telling Cassie she never gets anything right and where the f*** was his food,” she alleged. “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.”
Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo subsequently asked Judge Arun Subramanian to strike that part of Richard’s testimony from the record, arguing that it did not support the charge of sex trafficking and noting Cassie did not mention that alleged incident herself.
On Monday, however, Subramanian issued a tentative ruling that Richard’s Friday testimony is permissible. He will hear additional arguments from both sides before issuing a final ruling.
Richard starred on Diddy’s MTV reality show Making the Band 3 from 2005 to 2006 and was a member of the girl group Danity Kane alongside Aubrey O’Day, D. Woods, Shannon Bex and Aundrea Fimbres. Days before Diddy’s arrest last year, Richard filed a lawsuit accusing him of manipulating, terrorizing and sexually abusing her. She also claimed that she witnessed him physically abusing Cassie.
In her suit, Richard alleged, among other things, that Diddy abused her by forcing her to rehearse 48 hours at a time without sleep, which led to dehydration and fatigue that caused her to develop rashes. She also claimed that he promised to advance her singing career if she complied with his demands.
Diddy denied Richard’s allegations in a September 2024 statement shared via his attorney Erica Wolff. “Mr. Combs is shocked and disappointed by this lawsuit. In an attempt to rewrite history, Dawn Richard has now manufactured a series of false claims all in the hopes of trying to get a payday — conveniently timed to coincide with her album release and press tour,” Wolff told Us. “If Ms. Richard had such a negative experience with Making the Band and Danity Kane, she would not have chosen to continue working directly with Mr. Combs for Dirty Money, nor would she have returned for the Making the Band reboot in 2020 or agreed to be featured on The Love Album last year. It’s unfortunate that Ms. Richard has cast their 20-year friendship aside to try and get money from him, but Mr. Combs is confidently standing on truth and looks forward to proving that in court.”
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.
