Photo Credit: Dawn Richard with Danity Kane by Jay1095 / CC by 4.0
A former bandmate of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accuses him of sexual abuse in a new lawsuit that also recounts his abuse of Cassie Ventura.
The latest in the seemingly unending stream of sexual abuse lawsuits filed against disgraced producer and business mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs comes from Dawn Richard, a member of Combs’ Danity Kane and Dirty Money musical groups.
Richard’s lawsuit accuses Combs of sexually abusing and terrorizing her, but also claims she witnessed him beating his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.
According to the lawsuit, shared with Digital Music News on Wednesday (September 11th), Combs’ “persistent abuse” of Cassie included “choking and strangling,” as well as “striking her with his hands and with objects, slapping her, punching her, and throwing items at her, including a scalding hot pan.”
“On many occasions, Ms. Richard tried to intervene, offering Ms. Ventura support and encouragement to leave Mr. Combs,” the lawsuit reads. “Each time, Mr. Combs learned of her efforts to help Ms. Ventura and became enraged, threatening Ms. Richard’s life with statements such as, ‘you want to die today,’ ‘I make n—— go missing,’ and ‘I end people.’”
Further, Dawn Richard accuses Diddy of withholding her earnings, stealing her copyrighted works, and subjecting her to “years of inhumane working conditions which included groping, assault, and false imprisonment.”
Specifically, the lawsuit cites work Richard did with Combs on MTV’s Making the Band 3 and 4, in which Combs allegedly “deprived Ms. Richard and her Danity Kane bandmates of basic needs such as adequate food and sleep.”
“When Ms. Richard or her Danity Kane bandmates requested meals or rest, Mr. Combs refused and chastised them with derogatory comments like, ‘you bitches don’t want this,’ or ‘y’all are not hungry enough,’ and ‘I’m paying you bitches to work.’”
Richard’s lawsuit also recounts an incident in 2005 in which she says she saw another of Combs’ former girlfriends, Kim Porter, crying as she left the studio with her face banged up. This, she says, was when she first realized Diddy was capable of violence. It was a year later that she was present when Combs met Cassie Ventura.
“Coincidentally, this first meeting between Mr. Combs and Ms. Ventura was the first time that Ms. Richard was in Mr. Combs’ presence without a camera crew filming. Observing Mr. Combs behave in such an intimidating, predatory manner the first time that they were off camera made Ms. Richard feel deeply apprehensive and afraid of him.”
So far, Combs and his attorneys have not responded to media requests for comment on the latest allegations against him.
