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Dawn Richard, who used to be part of the girl group Danity Kane, took the stand in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ big federal trial on Friday, May 16. She gave a powerful and unsettling testimony about an incident back in 2009 when she says she saw Diddy physically assault his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. Dawn also shared painful details about the abuse she says she suffered at Diddy’s hands. Her story supports the prosecutors’ case that Diddy’s world was filled with manipulation, violence, and intimidation for a long time.
Dawn, who is now 41, described that 2009 event at Diddy’s house in Los Angeles. She said she saw Diddy yelling at Cassie, demanding to know “where the f*** his eggs” were. Then, according to Dawn, Diddy tried to hit Cassie over the head with a skillet full of eggs. She testified, “He came over to the skillet with the eggs in it and tried to hit her over the head. She fell to the ground.”
She continued, saying that Diddy dragged Cassie by her hair up the stairs. Later, Diddy told Dawn and another artist, Kalenna Harper, that what they witnessed was just “passion.” Dawn also said he threatened them by warning, “People who say something can end up missing.”
Dawn first became famous through Diddy’s guidance on the MTV show Making the Band 3. She also talked about her own traumatic experiences with him. Before Diddy’s 2024 arrest, Dawn had filed a lawsuit accusing him of manipulation, terror, and sexual abuse. She claimed that he forced her to rehearse for 48 hours straight without sleep, made unwanted sexual advances, touched her inappropriately, and once locked her in a car for two hours while she screamed for help. She also said she saw abuse happening to others, including Diddy’s late girlfriend, Kim Porter.
Diddy’s lawyers asked the court to remove Dawn’s testimony, saying it didn’t have anything to do with the specific sex trafficking charges against him. But the prosecutors argued that showing a pattern of violence and control is important for understanding the full picture of abuse.
Diddy has denied all the accusations and pleaded not guilty to charges like sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transporting people for prostitution. He is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, with his bail requests denied several times. As the trial goes on, testimonies from people like Dawn Richard and Cassie Ventura are revealing what prosecutors say is a long history of abuse in Diddy’s inner circle.