May 19, 2025 – Day 6 of testimony in the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial

• Today’s testimony: Three witnesses testified today in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal criminal trial. The jury heard fromDawn Richard, a former member of the musical group Danity Kane, who said she “frequently” saw Combs be violent toward Cassie Ventura. Kerry Morgan, Ventura’s ex-best friend, said their friendship ended when Combs assaulted her in 2018.

• Up next: David James, a former assistant to Combs, began testifying and will return to the stand tomorrow.

• About this case: Ventura — who dated Combs and is one of his accusers — testified for nearly 20 hours over four days last week, describing how Combs orchestrated drug-fueled sex performances he called “Freak Offs.” Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that include racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to life in prison.

• Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with intimate partner violence, there are resources available, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Our live coverage of the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial has ended for the day. Follow the latest updates or read through the posts below.

The jury in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ racketeering and sex-trafficking trial has been dismissed for the day after hearing testimony from three witnesses.

If you’re just tuning in, here’s a recap of their testimony:

Dawn Richard, a former member of the musical group Danity Kane:

Kerry Morgan, friend of Ventura from 2001 to 2018:

David James, former assistant to Combs:

David James, an assistant for Sean “Diddy” Combs, recalled a second conversation he had with Cassie Ventura when they shared a cab to the Sundance Film Festival.

James said Ventura was “super happy” about an album she was working on.

“I do not remember that album coming out,” James testified.

He also described a time when a business associate asked Combs about Porter and Ventura.

Combs said Porter was doing well and described her as his “queen,” James testified.

When Combs talked about Ventura, James said he described her as “moldable.”

“’I got her right where I want her, she’s young’,” Combs said, according to James.

The jury has been dismissed for the day.

David James will continue testifying tomorrow morning. Prosecutors indicated that their first round of questions for James should take an hour or less.

An escort, Sharay Hayes, is expected to testify next, followed by Regina Ventura, who is Cassie Ventura’s mother. A former professional chef to Sean “Diddy” Combs and a law enforcement officer are also expected to be called soon.

Judge Arun Subramanian said he’d like to talk about keeping the jury a bit later than 3 p.m. ET this week. Prosecutors said their case is running right on time, and defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said the defense appreciates the 3 p.m. ET adjournment because it gives them more time to prepare with Combs.

The lawyers agreed to revisit the schedule on Thursday and see if they’re still on track.

David James, who was an assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs from 2007 to 2009, testified he was with Combs in Miami when he first met Cassie Ventura. Combs rented a yacht, and they partied all weekend, James said. He recalled Combs saying he wanted to impress Ventura that weekend.

James said he and Ventura didn’t speak frequently, but he recalled two specific conversations he had with her.

While in Miami sometime within the first year of working for Combs, James said, he was standing with Ventura on a dock on Star Island.

“Man, this lifestyle is crazy,” James recalled Ventura saying. He agreed and suggested she leave, he testified.

“I can’t. I can’t get out,” Ventura told him, according to James. She told him Combs controlled her music career, paid for her apartment, and gave her an allowance, James testified.

“I just didn’t think that she could easily leave,” James said on the stand.

Ventura had testified she signed a contract with Combs’ company, Bad Boy Records, in early 2006, and she and Combs struck up a platonic relationship. After a boat party in Miami, their relationship became more intimate and sexual, she testified. The pair first began dating around 2007 and split in 2018.

Prosecutors are continuing to focus on Sean “Diddy” Combs’ control over Cassie Ventura as they aim to solidify sex trafficking charges against him, Mercedes Colwin, legal analyst and trial attorney, told CNN.

“It all goes back to the sex trafficking, and we already heard from Cassie Ventura that she was a recording artist that had signed a contract with Combs, and then ultimately became a sex worker. And that means when you look at those charges of sex trafficking, it’s force, coercion, violence. That’s why talking about the violence and the level of control continues to solidify those specific charges against Combs,” Colwin said.

Ventura signed a 10-album contract with Combs’ label Bad Boy Records at the beginning of her career and has testified that the music mogul had control over various aspects of her life.

David James, a former assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs, testified that Combs’ security staffers often told him to “stay in my lane,” especially if he was asking too many questions.

David James, a former assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs, asked, “How long do we have,” when he was asked to describe his role working as an assistant for Combs.

James said he was with Combs every day he was working and traveled around the world with him.

James said his job was to make sure Combs “was able to operate as a chairman of company” and to “get every environment comfortable.”

James said he sometimes worked three weeks straight without a day off. As Combs hired more personal staff he could work five-day weeks, James said.

James said he would arrive at Combs’ house before he woke up and coordinate with the chef to make sure breakfast was getting started. He would compile documents for Combs, including business decisions he needed to approve, his daily schedule and news stories about Combs.

After Combs woke up and ate breakfast, they would go to the studio and then back to Combs’ house or another destination, James testified.

David James, a former assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs, said he sought the job after reading an article in The New York Times, saying the chairman of Bad Boy Entertainment was looking for an assistant.

He applied multiple times, sending his resume via fax, email, and dropping it off in-person, James testified.

He met several people at the company when he was interviewed for the job, including a senior vice president of human resources. During their meeting, the executive pointed at a picture of Combs on the wall and James said he told him, “This is Mr. Combs’ kingdom. We’re all here to serve in it.”

Former Danity Kane group member Dawn Richard and Kerry Morgan, a former friend of Cassie Ventura, both testified in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ criminal federal trial today. Their testimonies helped corroborate Ventura’s account, legal analyst and trial attorney Mercedes Colwin told CNN.

Colwin said Morgan’s testimony “really is about the corroboration of the violence that Cassie Ventura endured at the hands of Combs,” who had testified last week “about the abuse, the kicking, the punching, the dragging” she endured during her years-long relationship with Combs.

“And now you have Kerry Morgan, her former best friend, come forward and say that Cassie lost her spark, that she was subjected to punching, to being dragged on the floor by Combs,” Colwin said.

She added that Morgan also testified she “begged Cassie to leave Combs, but Cassie said that she was unable to because of the level of control that Combs had over her life, that he controlled every aspect of her finances, her apartment, her car, and, frankly, her career.”

Morgan also testified today she “had to end this long friendship” with Ventura because she, too, “suffered an assault by Combs,” Colwin said.

Colwin added that Richard’s testimony today about how she “witnessed the abuse by Combs” of Ventura also corroborated Ventura’s testimony.

“These are two very compelling witnesses,” Colwin said.

The defense’s cross-examination of Kerry Morgan has ended.

In a brief redirect, Assistant US Attorney Meredith Foster asked Morgan to reiterate her accounts of the two times she says she clearly remembers seeing Sean “Diddy” Combs assault Cassie Ventura.

When asked, Morgan said the couple wasn’t arguing about jealousy on either occasion.

Prior to assaulting Ventura in Jamaica, Combs yelled at Ventura for taking too long in the bathroom, Morgan alleged.

After the short redirect, Morgan left the stand.

The next witness will be David James, a former assistant to Combs. James will be the seventh witness to testify in the trial.

Kerry Morgan testified that when Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulted her in 2018, he was asking who Cassie Ventura was cheating on him with.

Morgan said that she later learned Ventura was cheating on him, but at the moment she didn’t know that.

Kerry Morgan, Cassie Ventura’s former best friend, confirmed that she believed Sean “Diddy” Combs and Ventura loved each other.

Morgan said there were times when she thought they should try to work things out.

Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo asked Kerry Morgan to further explain why she broke off her friendship with Cassie Ventura in 2018 after 17 years.

This question came after Morgan, earlier Monday, testified she was no longer Ventura’s friend because, she alleges, Combs assaulted Morgan in Ventura’s apartment in 2018.

Answering Agnifilo’s question, Morgan said: “The reason I stopped speaking with her is because she was not supportive of me after that incident.”

Morgan again recounted her fallout with Ventura after the alleged 2018 assault. Agnifilo suggested that Ventura paid Morgan in a meeting after the alleged incident, but Morgan maintained that her understanding was that the money came from Combs.

“She offered me money to sign a (non-disclosure agreement), and that was essentially … to close the case on this” and ensure Morgan didn’t file a lawsuit or say something publicly, Morgan testified.

Ventura hasn’t reached out to her since the fallout in 2018, Morgan said.

Context: Morgan earlier today testified that a month after the alleged 2018 assault, she met with Ventura, and Ventura told her she would be receiving $30,000 from Combs. Morgan signed a non-disclosure agreement that day, she said. Morgan testified that she received the money.

Kerry Morgan testified that police came to Cassie Ventura’s apartment after the March 2016 incident at the InterContinental hotel because of the banging on the door.

She said at the time, Ventura had a black eye and was wearing a hoodie.

Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo asked if the police said anything that would lead her to believe they saw the injury.

“Yes, they asked what happened,” Morgan said, adding that Ventura didn’t say anything in response.

Morgan said she didn’t remember if she told police about Sean “Diddy” Combs’ hammering on the door.

Another woman, Gina, had a yearslong relationship with Sean “Diddy” Combs that overlapped with his relationship with Cassie Ventura, and that “was a big problem” for Ventura, Kerry Morgan testified.

“He was having a full-on relationship with this (person) and Cassie found out about it, and she wouldn’t go away – he wouldn’t leave her. So it just went on for a really long time,” Morgan said.

Morgan initially referred to this person as a “little girl,” but when asked to clarify, Morgan said Gina was an adult. Still, she remembered her to be much younger than Morgan and Ventura, Morgan said.

Context: Ventura testified last week that she learned Combs was spending time with Gina in April 2014.

“I was really upset,” Ventura testified. She said Combs denied the relationship to an extent, but added that she and Combs argued multiple times about him getting back together with Gina.

Kerry Morgan testified Sean “Diddy” Combs was jealous when Cassie Ventura started talking to actor Michael B. Jordan.

“They were not together, and he was jealous about it,” Morgan said. “And I think she was trying to leave him.”

Morgan said she visited Ventura while she was shooting a movie in South Africa around that time and one of Combs’ assistants was also there during her trip.

“She was pretty close with Cassie, close enough that she came with her to South Africa to help her out,” Morgan said.

The assistant, who was referred to as “Mia,” had a lot of energy and the stamina to keep up with the demands of the job. She was with Ventura when Combs sent her to Mexico for drug treatment, Morgan testified.

Context: Last week, Ventura testified “Mia” and other assistants witnessed Combs physically abusing her.

Kerry Morgan testified that she would see Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cassie Ventura often.

“If we were in the same town, we’d probably be hanging out,” she said.

Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo asked her to give a ballpark of how many times they saw each other in 2008. Morgan said probably a couple times a month, but added that she had a boyfriend at that time, so she was probably seeing them less frequently than usual.

Agnifilo then asked Morgan if Ventura was jealous of Kim Porter, the mother of several of Combs’ children. Morgan acknowledged it was an ongoing issue. When asked to be more specific, Morgan recalled, “She was jealous because she could never go to the New Years Eve parties.”

The jury is back from the lunch break. The prosecution has said it has no further questions for Kerry Morgan, so the defense’s cross-examination has begun.

Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo is cross-examining Morgan, who has said she was Cassie Ventura’s best friend for years until 2018 – when, Morgan alleges, Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulted Morgan in Ventura’s apartment.

As Dawn Richard, a former Danity Kane band member, testified about an incident in 2009 where she said she saw Sean “Diddy” Combs attack Cassie Ventura with a skillet, Misty Marris, a defense attorney, told CNN’s Boris Sanchez, “she did what prosecutors needed her to do.”

By detailing a threat Diddy allegedly made toward Richard following the skillet incident, Marris, who was in the court room, said the testimony is “critical to the prosecution’s argument because this is all about control, and that speaks to that idea of blackmail, of cover-up, of keeping people in line” — a theme that has been persistent throughout opening statements and Ventura’s testimony.

During cross-examination, Richard was questioned about why this threat was never mentioned in prior interviews with prosecutors.

That detail, coupled with her pending civil suit seeking financial damages, allowed the defense to “box her in,” Marris said, and show that she may have other motives for what she shared on the stand.

“The goal is to impeach the credibility and one way to do that is to talk about how somebody might be remembering something differently today than back when it actually happened,” Marris explained.

And that’s what the defense will argue, she said, “that this story has been molded.”

Kerry Morgan, on the other hand, “came off as very, very credible” during her testimony, Marris said, as Ventura’s former friend detailed two incidents where she testified that she witnessed Combs be violent.

“This all speaks to that idea of control and coercion, and her testimony thus far has been really, really compelling, and she’s coming off as a pretty great witness for the prosecution, corroborating Cassie Ventura’s story.”