NEW YORK (TNND) — The sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs resumes on Tuesday with his former personal assistant, David James, returning to the stand.
James worked for Combs from 2007 to 2009 and testified Monday that security staffers would often tell him to stay in his lane and that “This is Mr. Combs’ kingdom. We’re all here to serve in it.”
He also recalled a conversation with Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura where he suggested she leave, but she responded that she can’t.
Ventura, 38, took the stand for four days last week to testify about the couple’s decade-long relationship involving paid sexual encounters known as “freak offs” that she said she was forced to endure.
Prosecutors wanted cross-examination by the defense to wrap up by the end of the day Friday, over concerns that Ventura, who’s pregnant, is nearing the birth of her third child with husband Alex Fine.
Ventura’s former best friend, Kerry Morgan, also testified on Monday and corroborated that Combs was physically abusive toward the singer.
Morgan, a reluctant witness who acknowledged that she only testified in response to a government subpoena, said she saw Combs beat Ventura at least twice, including once so severely that she thought her friend had been “knocked out,” CNN reported.
She said she encouraged Ventura to break up with him after realizing that the very confident woman she had met in 2001 during modeling gigs had “lost her spark” and had assumed a slumped posture as she catered to Combs’ needs. But she said Ventura was reluctant to end the relationship.
Morgan said that she tried to get Ventura to speak with the police after the hotel altercation in 2016, saying that she never called the police when Combs was violent towards Ventura because Ventura did not want law enforcement involved.
“He controlled everything. She would’ve lost all of her livelihood,” Morgan said, noting that Combs paid for Ventura’s car and apartment, and had her under contract with Bad Boy Records.
Morgan also testified that Combs left her with a concussion after choking her and then slinging a wooden hanger at her in 2018 when he came to Ventura’s Los Angeles home enraged because he thought Ventura was dating someone else, according to CNN.
She said she was going to sue Combs, but Ventura met her at a pizza parlor and had her sign a non-disclosure agreement in return for $30,000 from Combs while accusing her of “milking” and “overexaggerating” the attack. The episode ended the women’s 17-year friendship, with Morgan and Ventura both testifying that they haven’t spoken since.
Former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard resumed her testimony Monday morning after telling the jury on Friday that she saw Combs attack Ventura with a skillet in 2009.
“He came downstairs screaming, belligerent, asking where his food was, and proceeded to hit her over the head, kicked her, and beat her to the ground in front of us,” she testified.
She said that she saw Combs drag Ventura upstairs by her hair and that she heard “glass breaking and yelling,” according to CNN. Richard said she did not call the police because she was afraid and was “scared to do anything in fear of what that might mean for me, too.”
In September 2024, Richard sued Combs, describing years of psychological and physical abuse, including groping, that she says she suffered as he helped launch her career.
Combs, 55, was arrested in September 2024, about roughly six months after federal authorities raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami. He has been jailed in Brooklyn since his arrest.
He has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment and faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on all charges. He is facing charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, transportation for purposes of prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.
If you or someone you know is struggling with abuse, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline for help.