Sean “Diddy” Combs’s defence team has finished its cross-examination of his ex-girlfriend Cassie, as his trial on sex-trafficking charges continues. Diddy denies all the charges.
Saturday 17 May 2025 01:56, UK
Cassie took to the stand today for one final time, as Diddy’s defence team wrapped up its cross-examination of the trial’s star witness.
That brought an end to the first week of the trial, following five eventful days at the court in Manhattan.
To catch you up, we’ve broken down the key developments from each day below…
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Readers may find details of allegations read out in court this week distressing.
If you or someone you know is struggling with intimate partner violence, there are resources available, including Refuge, the UK’s largest domestic abuse organisation.
Call for free and in confidence, 24 hours a day on 0808 2000 247, or contact them online via live chat on their website.
The jury has been sent home for the weekend, with the judge thanking them for their service.
He told them: “We know how hard it is for you, your families, for everyone – you are the bedrock for democracy”.
Court will resume on Monday at 1.30pm UK time – an hour earlier than it has started this week.
Join us back here, where we’ll be providing text updates from the sixth day of Sean “Diddy” Combs’s trial.
Dawn Richard, a former member of girl group Danity Kane and trio Dirty Money, is now giving evidence.
Danity Kane is the girl group Combs put together on the MTV reality competition Making The Band, while Dirty Money was made up of Richard, singer Kalenna Harper and Combs.
Richard sued Combs last year, alleging that he groped, assaulted and imprisoned her, and threatened her life when she tried to intervene in Cassie’s defence.
She tells the court of various times she says she observed Combs attacking Cassie, including a time he “hit her over the head with a skillet of eggs” in 2009.
She says on that occasion, when Combs attempted to kick Cassie, “She fell to the ground and went into the foetal position, literally trying to hide her head”.
She says Combs went on “kicking and punching her,” before “he put his arm around her neck and dragged her upstairs to the first floor”.
She goes on: “Then I heard glass breaking… I was scared for her, I was scared to do anything.”
She says she didn’t intervene or call the police, adding “I had never seen anything like that before, and I was scared for myself, he was punching his girlfriend”.
One of the exhibit pictures shows a black bum bag – called a “fanny pack” in the US – containing $9,000 (£6,800) in cash.
Binda shows the stack of notes to the court.
She is asked, “Is that the standard to take money from someone?”
Binda answers: “The warrant had cash in it, so we keep that”.
To clarify, she’s asked: “You took the $9,000 because it could be evidence of a crime?”
Binda answers, “Yes”.
Her evidence is now complete.
We are now hearing evidence from special agent Yasin Binda, who has worked at Homeland Security Investigations for five years, where she is responsible for conducting criminal investigations into domestic incidents, as well as crisis negotiations.
Prosecutor Madison Smyser asks her about her search of the Park Hyatt Hotel in New York City following his arrest last year.
She says room 2115 of the luxury five-star hotel was searched at 11.30pm on 16 September 2024, after a warrant was obtained.
She describes the process to the court, saying they “cleared the hotel room to make sure no one was there” and then “took a video” and “marked each room with a letter”.
She says if an item was found, they would call a photographer to take a picture before putting it into an evidence bag. She says items were then brought into the office.
The court is then shown the photos, which Binda confirms she recognises.
Exhibits include:
Following a brief break, the jury are now coming back into the court room.
Cassie has now left the courtroom, and it’s time for the next witness.
Special Agent Yasin Binda will be the next to testify shortly.
Talking about the highly-publicised security camera footage from the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles – which allegedly shows Combs beating Cassie – Estevao calls the videos “highly embarrassing to him too”.
Estevao asks if the plan was “to have a short freak off” on that night.
Cassie says the plan was to “start at eight and end at four, take a Xanax and an Ambien and you will be OK”.
She says she was feeling overwhelmed by the civil lawsuit going on at the time.
Estevao adds: “Your name has been in the press and hard on Mr Combs too.”
She asks if Cassie received a settlement over the incident, and says she expects to receive “$10m maybe” from the hotel.
Emily Johnson, for the prosecution, then asks if Cassie has any pending lawsuits and Cassie says no.
Johnson asks if she has any financial stake in the outcome of this trial? Cassie answers: “Absolutely not.”
Cassie’s time on the witness stand is now over, and she leaves the court. Heavily pregnant with her third child, she is due to give birth within a matter of weeks.
Cassie is asked about controlling behaviour from Combs both towards her and others.
She says he was controlling towards other artists on his label, Bad Boy Records.
Cassie left the label in 2019.
She is also asked about Combs’s “blackouts” – periods in which he says he was unable to remember things, including alleged violence towards her.
Cassie says she believes he blacked out “sometimes”.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free