Singer Dawn Richard returned to the witness stand Monday at music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal sex-trafficking trial — the latest twist in the pair’s association that goes back two decades.
Richard, 41, is a former member in the Combs-created girl group Danity Kane, which formed in 2004 and was signed to his Bad Boy Records label.
But Richard later said that she was both a victim and witness to Combs’ alleged abuse.
She testified during Combs’ ongoing Manhattan trial that he would “frequently” be violent with his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura between 2009 and 2011 when Richard was part of the trio Diddy Dirty Money with Combs and fellow singer Kalenna Harper.
Richard told jurors that she saw Combs punch Ventura in the stomach during a 2010 outing in a West Hollywood restaurant, where singers Usher and Ne-Yo and hotshot music exec Jimmy Iovine were also present.
On Friday, she detailed a disturbing incident in which she testified she saw Combs charge at Ventura with a skillet and knock her to the floor.
Combs locked Richard and other artists in a recording studio the following day and threatened them, she claimed.
But Combs’ defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland tried to pick apart Richard’s accusations Monday, zeroing in on inconsistencies in what she told prosecutors and her testimony.
Richard, who participated in Combs’ 2004 MTV show “Making The Band,” filed a sexual assault suit against the rapper in September alleging he once “broke into her dressing room and groped her breasts and butt.”
Another time he invited her to his Miami home and welcomed her wearing nothing but his underwear, according to her suit.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges that carry up to life in prison, if convicted.