The Latest on the Sean Combs Trial

Is there any world in which Sean Combs comes out of this trial and still has any kind of career? His lawyers have been arguing that he’s an abusive creep but not a sex-trafficker which is probably the best they can do. But even if the jury somehow buys that he’ll be branded an abusive creep from here on out. Will anyone want to work with him knowing what we now know? Or is this a case where jail will only enhance his appeal to a certain segment?

After his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura testified against him last week another one of his former female artists, Dawn Richards, took the stand and testified that she’d seen Combs being abusive to Ventura.

The singer Dawn Richard testified at Sean Combs’s racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking trial on Monday that while performing in a group backed by the music executive, she saw Mr. Combs punch, kick and slap his former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura.

Ms. Richard, who was a performer in the now-defunct groups Danity Kane and Diddy — Dirty Money, recalled an altercation at Mr. Combs’s Los Angeles home in 2009, when she said Mr. Combs attempted to hit Ms. Ventura in the head with a skillet that Ms. Ventura had been using to cook him eggs, then punched and kicked her while she was curled up on the kitchen floor.

In two other incidents that she said occurred during her time in Diddy — Dirty Money, which lasted from 2009 to 2011, Ms. Richard said Mr. Combs punched Ms. Ventura in the face with a closed fist at his home in New York, and punched her in the stomach at a restaurant in Los Angeles.

“I told her she should leave,” Ms. Richard recalled of her conversations with Ms. Ventura, known as the singer Cassie. She testified that Mr. Combs warned her to stay out of his relationship, convincing her to back off.

The defense tried to undermine her story by noting she’d told different versions of the skillet story over time. The next witness who testified today under a subpoena to appear was Kerry Morgan, who’d been a friend of Cassie Ventura’s since they were both teen models.

Here’s a photo of Kerry Morgan arriving* to the #DiddyTrial today 5-19-25 to testify pic.twitter.com/rnptu9zY1s

— Put Up Prince$$ (@SunnyBanks_) May 19, 2025

Kerry Morgan described witnessing Combs get violent against her friend Cassie.

Morgan first detailed an incident when she and Ventura were vacationing in Jamaica and Combs arrived halfway through their trip.

“Cassie had gone to the bathroom and after a few minutes Sean said she was taking too long, and he left me and then I heard her screaming,” the witness testified. “It was guttural, terrifying. I heard her screaming so I went to the long hallway, they were coming out of the master bedroom and he was dragging her by her hair.”

Combs then dragged Ventura outside and threw her to the ground, where she hit her head on brick, Morgan said. Ventura and Morgan then fled the scene in a golf cart and hid in a ditch as Combs searched for them in another golf cart for hours, Morgan testified.

Morgan urged Cassie Ventura to leave Combs but she always returned saying that Combs controlled her money and her career. Eventually, Morgan walked away from her friend after she was assaulted by Combs herself.

She testified that she was at Ventura’s house listening to music when Combs came into the singer’s apartment. Cassie was in the bathroom and Morgan said she was in the living room at the time.

“He came up behind me and choked me and left finger marks on my neck and hit me in the head with a wooden hanger,” Morgan told the court. “Cassie was in the bathroom. It hit me behind my right ear.”

Morgan added that Combs was talking about Cassie cheating on him and she grabbed her personal things and left. She said she went to an urgent care for a concussion, noting that she was dizzy and “vomited a few times.”

She hired an attorney but eventually agreed to sign an NDA about the incident (that Cassie presented to her) for a sum of $30,000. She hasn’t spoken to Cassie or Combs since then.

“She said it was through him, the money wasn’t coming from her. She was the go-between,” Morgan said. “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,” Morgan said. “All I got was $30,000.”

Next to the stand today was David James, one of Combs’ personal assistants. He recalls the attitude of complete loyalty to Combs among his staff.

James recalled meeting with staffers during the interview process in 2007 and one female executive left a lasting memory.

An overcome James grabbed tissues and testified the executive pointed to a picture of Combs on the wall and said, ‘This is Mr. Combs’ kingdom and we are all here to serve in it.'”

And that was all for today. James will be back on the stand tomorrow morning.

I don’t know if prosecutors are winning with the jury but the trial testimony makes a pretty convincing case that Combs was an unhinged, abusive, violent creep who beat up and terrorized women around him.