Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - P. Diddy Choked Me and Paid Me Off: Cassie's Ex-BFF

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. but to end their 17-year friendship. Morgan also claims the rap mogul attacked her and paid her to keep quiet. I have the disturbing testimony out of New York and why the government is calling her to testify at the trial. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy.

Starting point is 00:00:44 And just one reminder, we are on Spotify now, both audio and video, so you can check us out there. So give us a follow. If you thought the only people that you would hear from in Sean Combs' Rico and sex trafficking trial in New York were former girlfriends of the rapper, sex workers and cops, think again. Kerry Morgan was the fifth witness to take the stand for the government in its case against Combs. And when asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Foster whether she wanted to testify, Morgan said she didn't want to because, quote, I have moved on with my life and away from all these people and their problems.

Starting point is 00:01:22 So Morgan did not show up willingly to court. The government had to actually subpoena her. She wanted nothing to do with this trial. And get this, she said her friendship with Cassie, her friend of 17 years, ended because Sean Combs assaulted her in 2018. More on that in a bit. Morgan told the jury she and Cassie Ventura became friends when they were teenagers. Cassie was a model who didn't drink much at all and never did drugs. Morgan said Cassie started dating Sean Combs in 2007, and she saw them together quite often. They would hang out. Sometimes they would travel, go to eat dinner. Morgan said the three of them would take drugs supplied by Combs. Now you're probably wondering what drugs? Well, name it. Morgan said the three of them would take drugs supplied by Combs. Now, you're probably wondering, what drugs?

Starting point is 00:02:05 Well, name it. Morgan said they took molly, marijuana, and ecstasy, and the ecstasy made Morgan feel euphoric. And sometimes Morgan said she and Cassie Ventura would actually use marijuana and opiates alone when they were together. Morgan said of Combs, Um, I thought he was very nice, extremely generous, also sort of intimidating and a strong presence, Meredith Foster asked. And as you got to know him more, how did those views change? Morgan said, you see that he had mood swings. Sometimes he would get aggressive or he would be upset instead of just always having fun. Foster asked, what would he do when he was aggressive or upset?

Starting point is 00:02:46 Morgan responded, what would he do? Sometimes he would just yell at Cassie or you could feel like he was mad. Foster asked, you mentioned earlier that Cassie was very confident when you first met her. Is that right? Morgan answered, yes. Foster asked, based on the time you spent with Cassie during her relationship with Combs, what changes did you notice in her confidence? Morgan responded, she lost her confidence big time. She lost her spark. She was not who, like, the same Cassie. Morgan said she noticed changes in Cassie Ventura. Her posture was slumped, and she said Combs criticized Cassie Ventura's looks and who she talked to. She also

Starting point is 00:03:26 said Combs would call her on her cell phone, looking for Cassie, sometimes 50 times in a row. Morgan said someone else would also call her looking for Cassie. That was Combs' chief of staff, Christina Coram. Then there was questioning about the assaults by Combs. Foster asked, and what types of things did you see him do to her? Morgan said, hit her, pull her hair. I've seen him kick her, push her. Foster asked, did Mr. Combs appear to be intoxicated or high on all of those occasions? Morgan said no.

Starting point is 00:03:59 Foster asked, okay, and where were these two assaults that you described? Morgan said one was in Los Angeles at a home in Hollywood Hills and one was in Jamaica. Morgan described seeing Combs assault Cassie Ventura at Combs' home in the Hollywood Hills as she stood with his security guard, Ruben, in the front foyer. Morgan said, in the master bedroom that was directly off of the front. Foster asked, so did you have a direct view into the bedroom? Morgan said, yes. Foster asked, and where was Ruben? Morgan said, I think he was just to the left of me. Foster asked, and what did you see happen? Morgan responded, I saw him push her.

Starting point is 00:04:38 I'm pretty sure he hit her. They were on the other side of a bed, so I'm not sure what was, if he kicked her or something, but it was he pushed her. Foster asked, and this was Mr. Combs to Cassie? Morgan said, yes. Foster asked, what did you see Cassie do in response? Morgan said, nothing. Foster asked, what did you say when you saw this?

Starting point is 00:05:00 Morgan responded, I don't remember exactly what I said, but I was upset. Foster asked, did you say anything to Ruben? Morgan responded, I don't remember exactly what I said, but I was upset. Foster asked, did you say anything to Ruben? Morgan responded, yes. Foster asked him, what did you say? Morgan said, do something. Foster asked, and how did Ruben respond? Morgan said, like that he Ventura left Combs' house and went to the neighbor's house and actually laid down on concrete steps to hide for 20 to 30 minutes because they could hear Sean Combs and this Reuben driving around looking for them. Eventually, Morgan said she went back to her hotel and Cassie Ventura went back to Combs' house.

Starting point is 00:05:39 The next time Morgan said she saw Combs assault Cassie Ventura was in Jamaica in 2013. Morgan said Cassie Ventura went to the bathroom and Combs said Cassie Ventura was in Jamaica in 2013. Morgan said Cassie Ventura went to the bathroom and Combs said Cassie had been gone too long. Then Morgan said she heard a terrifying guttural scream. Morgan said, so I heard her screaming and I went to the hallway. The hallway was extremely long and they were coming out of the master bedroom and he was dragging her by her hair on the floor. Foster asked, and how far did you see him drag her by her hair? Morgan responded, I saw, I only saw, I probably saw like 10 feet, and then I ran back to get my purse so that we had credit cards and a phone and stuff, and when I came back, they were outside, so I didn't actually see him drag

Starting point is 00:06:21 her all the way down the hall. Morgan describes in detail what she witnessed that night. When I came back to the front, they had been, they were outside in the front, like outside the front doors in the driveway. So where I was coming from to get my bag, it was like a long thing until the front door, but the doors were open and I saw him push her on the ground and she hit her head on the brick. The questioning continued. Foster asked, how did you see Ms. Ventura react after she hit her head on the brick? Morgan said she didn't move. Foster asked, and how was her body positioned? Morgan said she fell. She fell on her side. So she was like this and her hands were kind of out. She was like a loose fetal position, I would say. Foster asked, were

Starting point is 00:07:05 her eyes opened or closed? Closed. Foster asked, and what, if anything, was she saying when she was in that position? Morgan responded, nothing. Morgan said Cassie Ventura laid on the ground for 20 to 30 seconds, and then she got up and ran into the woods. Morgan then drove around looking for her, yelling Cassie's name until she found her. Then Morgan testified that she was at Cassie Ventura's apartment on March 5th, 2016 when Ventura showed up. It was after she'd left the freak off at the Intercontinental Hotel. Morgan said Cassie Ventura was wearing a hoodie and had a black eye. 30 minutes later, she said Sean Combs showed up. Morgan said he was hitting the door with a hammer

Starting point is 00:07:45 to try to open it. Foster asked, and how did you know it was Mr. Combs? Morgan said he was yelling. I could hear him. There was a peephole. We could see through. Foster asked, how did you know it was a hammer? Morgan responded, we could see it. Foster asked Morgan, how did you feel when you saw, when you heard this? Morgan said, I was terrified. Foster asked, and how did you feel when you saw, when you heard this? Morgan said, I was terrified. Foster asked, and how did Cassie appear? Morgan said, numb. Foster asked, why did you say numb?

Starting point is 00:08:15 Morgan said, she was just sitting on the couch. She wasn't doing anything. She wasn't, I was freaking out. And she was just like, she didn't care if he came in and killed her. Sean Combs never got into the apartment that day. Morgan said she called Combs' chief of staff, Christina Coram, and Combs' head of security, D-Rock, to get Combs out of there. Morgan said she was one of the only friends of Cassie Ventura's around her at that time, and they would talk about her relationship with him often. Foster asked, what would you say to her? Morgan said, I wanted her to do what she wanted

Starting point is 00:08:45 to do, but I sometimes I would tell her she should leave him. Foster asked, what would she say in response? Morgan said that she couldn't. Foster asked, why did she say she couldn't? Morgan said, because of her job, her car, her apartment, he controlled everything. She would have lost all of her livelihood. Foster asked, and that's Mr. Combs? Morgan said yes. Now I've told you about Morgan testifying about Combs assaulting Cassie Ventura, but she also testified that Combs actually assaulted her at Cassie's apartment. Morgan said Combs came into the apartment unexpectedly and Cassie Ventura locked herself in the bathroom and Combs came in looking for her.

Starting point is 00:09:26 Morgan said, so she was in the bathroom, so she saw him come in, and she locked herself in the bathroom, and I was in the living room, and he came up behind me and choked me, and then when I got away, he boomeranged a wooden hanger on my head. Foster asked, and how did he choke you? Morgan responded, I'm not sure, but I had finger marks on my neck. So Foster asked, what type of hanger did he hit you with? Morgan responded, a wooden coat hanger. Foster asked, and when he did these things, where was Cassie? Morgan said, in the bathroom. Foster asked, and what part of your body did the hanger hit you? Morgan said, behind my right ear. Foster asked, without telling me Mr. Combs' specific words, what did he express concern about when he hit you? Morgan said, who Cassie was cheating on him with. Morgan asked,

Starting point is 00:10:17 at that time, did you know what he was talking about? Morgan said, I had no idea. Morgan said she vomited after this assault and was diagnosed with a concussion. She testified she had a lawyer contact Sean Combs because she planned to file a lawsuit. A month after the assault, she and Cassie Ventura met at a pizza place and Cassie told her that Combs was willing to give her $30,000. Foster asked, what did Cassie say when she told you about the money? Morgan said, she told me she thought I was milking it, that I was over-exaggerating and da, da, da, da, da, da. Foster asked, what, if anything, did she give you to sign when she told you about the money?

Starting point is 00:10:56 Morgan responded, an NDA. Foster asked, do you still have a copy of that NDA? Morgan responded, no. Foster asked, how closely did you read it prior to signing it? Morgan responded, I barely read it. Foster asked, what happened to your relationship with Cassie after this? Morgan said, we haven't spoken since. Foster asked him, what about Mr. Combs? Morgan responded, same. Morgan said she hasn't spoken to Cassie Ventura since that day in 2018 because she felt Ventura didn't support her in that situation and said she hasn't spoken to Cassie Ventura since that day in 2018 because she felt Ventura didn't support her in that situation and Ventura hasn't reached out to her since that time either. On cross-examination, Combs' defense attorney Mark Agnifilo, he worked to score some

Starting point is 00:11:37 points confirming through Morgan that Combs' ex Kim Porter was a source of jealousy for Cassie Ventura. Agnifilo asked, Cassie, was Cassie ever jealous of Kim? Morgan said, I'm sure, yes. Agnifilo asked, I'm trying to see if there's more than I'm sure. Is there anything that you saw because of your friendship with Cassie that would lead you to that conclusion? Morgan responded, I, yes, she was jealous because she could never go to the New Year's Eve parties. Agnifilo asked, Fair to say this was sort of an ongoing situation? Morgan responded, Yes.

Starting point is 00:12:09 Agnifilo asked Morgan whether Combs was jealous of Chris Brown, but she didn't remember that, but she did recall Combs being upset about Ventura's relationship with Michael B. Jordan. Agnifilo asked, Very, very succinctly, what was the nature of that? Morgan responded, I actually don't know. I never met him. I never seen them together. I know they were speaking when she was in South Africa, but I don't know anything about when they met up. Or Agnifilo responded, understood. And at some point you were aware, were you not, that Mr. Combs expressed in your presence jealousy over this situation. Morgan said, I'm not sure that it was in my presence, but Agnifilo said, was it only things that Ms. Ventura would tell you? Morgan said, I don't remember. I'm not sure. Agnifilo asked, but do you remember this being an issue

Starting point is 00:12:57 at some point? Morgan responded, yes. Agnifilo said, tell the jury what you remember. Morgan responded, the only thing that I do remember would be that she was speaking to Michael B. Jordan. They were not together and he was jealous about it. I think she was trying to leave him because especially when she was in Africa, she was away. So Agnifilo asked, Miss Ventura was trying to leave Mr. Combs. Morgan responded, yes.

Starting point is 00:13:22 Now that day in March of 2016, when Sean Combs showed up at Cassie Ventura's apartment, the police showed up sometime later, but nothing came of it. Cassie had a chance to report Combs' behavior, but she chose not to. Morgan knows what really happened that day. Agnifilo asked, Did you tell police what happened with the hammer? Morgan responded, Agnifilo asked, Morgan responded, I don't remember. I'm not sure. Agnifilo asked, you didn't hear Miss Ventura tell the police what happened with the hammer? Morgan said, I don't think she said

Starting point is 00:13:49 anything. Agnifilo asked, did the police do or say anything to indicate that they saw any damage to the wooden door? Morgan said, I don't remember. Agnifilo asked, how long would you say the police were in the apartment total? If you answered that, I've already forgotten it. Morgan responded, I already said I don't recall. Agnifilo asked, they leave and this incident comes to an end. Morgan responded, yeah. She had a black eye. Agnifilo asked, and was it noticeable? Could one see it? Morgan responded, yeah. Agnifilo responded, now tell me when the police get there, what do the police do? What happens? Morgan responded, I opened the door. They pushed me against the wall until I gave them my ID and Cassie was sitting on the couch. She didn't move. Agnifilo asked, what did the officer say to you other than

Starting point is 00:14:35 asking for your ID? Morgan said, they asked me what happened, what was happening. She was visibly injured. I wasn't at the prior hotel where she was injured. So I didn't have anything to say about how it happened to her. And she didn't say anything. She didn't say. Agnifilo asked, and did the police, from what you could see, did the police approach Ms. Ventura and speak to her? Morgan gave Combs. It was a self-help book that she sent to him. Morgan said sometimes it seemed like Combs didn't love himself and she wanted to encourage him, although she didn't remember sending the book. Agnifilo got Morgan then to admit that Combs tried to get Cassie to do fewer drugs and that Cassie told her the $30,000 settlement money came from Combs. Morgan also said she considered Combs' chief of staff, Christina Corum, a friend. She said she was a nice girl and seemed innocent and wanted to help

Starting point is 00:15:32 people. Agnifilo asked Morgan, fair to say there was a lot of chaos with being in Combs' circle, correct? Morgan responded, yes. But from time to time, you guys had a lot of fun. She responded, we had a lot of fun, yeah. And Agnifilo asked, and you had a lot of fun. She responded, we had a lot of fun, yeah. And Agnifilo asked, and you had a lot of fun at the time, right? Morgan responded, yeah. Agnifilo asked, it was exciting, was it? And sometimes it was exciting for all the wrong reasons, right? Morgan responded, that's fair, yes. Agnifilo asked, but sometimes it was exciting for all the best reasons, right? Morgan responded, yes. So to break down Kerry Morgan's testimony, I want to bring in Dr. Amy Schlossberg. She is

Starting point is 00:16:10 a criminologist and the co-host of the Women in Crime podcast. Thanks so much for joining me, Dr. Schlossberg. What are your thoughts about Kerry Morgan's testimony? This is somebody who really seemed to have a front row seat to Cassie Ventura and Sean Combs' relationship. Yeah, she definitely had a lot to say about the abuse that she witnessed and the abuse that she was actually, you know, she was firsthand the victim as well. You know, where my question comes in is,

Starting point is 00:16:43 I was trying to understand how her testimony speaks to the charges, though. It's clear that a lot of what we're seeing so far in this case, it's, you know, character assassination. It's very clear that if this was an abuse case, anything surrounding domestic violence allegations, I think this would be a slam dunk. I think this would be one of the star witnesses. But when we look at the actual charges, I'm having a lot of trouble connecting. The only part that I picked out that seemed to connect to any charges, and it's a little far-fetched, is when she spoke about Cassie telling her that she was fearful of her career if she were to leave Diddy. So that kind of in a tangential way speaks to some of the allegations of the, you know, coerciveness and feeding into the racketeering and the sex

Starting point is 00:17:32 trafficking. But I'm having difficulty connecting it. I think it's a very good point that you bring up. And a lot of people have been raising that question because this is clearly a relationship, the Cassie Ventura and Sean Combs relationship is, this is clearly a relationship filled with domestic violence, with jealousy. It's toxic and it's awful. I mean, Sean Combs was obviously, and he, his defense admits it. He was mistreating Cassie Ventura. There's this massive age difference. He had power over her career. These are all things that are hallmarks of domestic violence. So when does it cross over into sex trafficking and RICO, organized crime? And I think there were some points that I saw in her testimony that were interesting. Like we, this is a guy who's, who's got a business. He has a staff. The staff members

Starting point is 00:18:31 were sometimes brought in to talk to Cassie and kind of almost, they smoothed things over and then she didn't want to leave Combs anymore. You know, it almost sounds like she was coerced in some ways to take part in the freak offs and some things like that. But I think you're, I think you raise fair points. Is the jury going to take all of this? And are they going to see an abusive relationship that was also sex trafficking, that was a violation of federal law? Yeah, I think it's clear that her accounts help establish this pattern of coercion, this pattern of violent behavior by Combs. And again, it just seems like a little bit of a stretch. You know, does it support the prosecution's claims of sex trafficking? I'm not sure, but I can say that I think her experience underscores some of the isolating tactics that allegedly that Combs was using to control and manipulate those around him.

Starting point is 00:19:32 Now, did he run an enterprise to facilitate these crimes? I'm not so sure that we see proof of that in this testimony. Is it possible that employees saw his abuse as coercive, as intimidating? Possibly, but she was not an employee of his. If she were one of his employees, I think that her testimony would have held a little more weight. Obviously, the government called Kerry Morgan to back up Cassie Ventura's testimony. And there were probably some other reasons they called her as well. But I really felt like they called her because they were like, this is somebody who's no longer friends with Cassie Ventura, who no longer who doesn't have a dog in this fight. And she's going to back up what Cassie told you last week. Do we really need her to back it up? I think we have enough evidence. I don't think there's

Starting point is 00:20:32 anyone who doesn't believe Cassie. I think it's clear that Cassie was a victim of abuse. It's clear that she was a victim of, you know, probably coercive tactics and isolation. And, you know, the sex trafficking part, unclear. There's the issue of consent. I guess we could say that this testimony shows that it was not consensual or it speaks to the fact that Cassie did not maybe consent to this. But again, it also, it's more speaking to the fact that she was abused. The sexual consent, I didn't see it really come into Morgan's testimony. Another thing that you raised earlier in our conversation that I thought was interesting is the fact that, you know, we've heard about Sean Combs abusing Cassie, but the fact that Sean Combs actually

Starting point is 00:21:26 placed his hands on Carrie Morgan and then threw a hanger at her and she says it caused a concussion, that to me was pretty shocking. I mean, maybe I shouldn't be shocked, but this is somebody who's just a friend of your girlfriend and you're wanting to know allegedly who she's cheating on you with and you place your hands on her. I was shocked when I saw that testimony. Did you find that surprising at all? Surprising, shocking, disturbing. Yes. Does it speak to any of the charges that the prosecution are trying to convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt? I do not think it does. I think it just shows the kind of person he is. It's make, you know, I don't, Iict someone because, you know, based on their character or based on their sexual proclivities, right?

Starting point is 00:22:30 And so at the end of the day, again, I'm not sure I see the relevance. You know, could there be additional charges on the state level? You know, depending on the statute of limitations, you know, I'm not quite sure that they can do anything with that. But yeah, it's possible that, you know, some of this testimony will be used in other ways in the future. Well, we will have to wait and see. I mean, Sean Combs has pleaded not guilty to all of these charges. He has said, you know, I'm not a racketeer. I'm not a sex trafficker. Obviously, he's hired sex workers. We know that.

Starting point is 00:23:05 So we'll see what the jury does with this when they finally get the case weeks and weeks from now. Dr. Amy Schlossberg, thank you so much. Thank you. Sean Combs has pleaded not guilty to all of these federal charges. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me.

Starting point is 00:23:23 I'll see you back here next time.

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - P. Diddy Choked Me and Paid Me Off: Cassie's Ex-BFF

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