TMZ Hip Hop - Page 15

Diddy's federal sex trafficking trial is chugging along and Cassie took the stand last week for four days of intense testimony ... where she told the jury Diddy physically abused her during their relationship.

Photos of the injuries Cassie says she sustained at Diddy's hand have now been entered as exhibits in the case ... and we've collected some of the most compelling photos for you to see.

In one image, it looks like Cassie snapped a selfie of her swollen and busted lip ... and she's wearing a hoodie and hiding her eyes behind a big pair of sunglasses.

Another photo shows a deep gash over Cassie's left eyebrow ... there's a good amount of blood and open flesh ... and it appears there's some swelling and bruising too.

Diddy's federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial is undeniably weighing heavily on his family ... but his children's caretaker is assuring everyone the entire Combs clan are nothing but troopers!!!

Lawanda 'Lala' Lane joined "TMZ Live" on Monday to discuss the day-to-day operations since Diddy was hauled off to jail last year to wait for his trial, which got started two weeks ago.

The embattled music mogul's twins, Jessie and D'Lila, just stepped out for their senior prom,  and Lala says they're straight-A students and says faith in God is the dominant theme in the household.

Lisa Bloom says testimony from Cassie Ventura and Dawn Richard is essential to the prosecution's criminal case against Diddy ... but she says the feds are far from finished, and they've got plenty of time to close any loops the defense finds.

The famed attorney, who is also representing Dawn in a civil suit against Diddy, joined us on "TMZ Live" Monday and explained how Dawn's testimony is geared towards the RICO charges against Diddy.

Lisa says the fact Dawn told the jury she saw Diddy with guns and drugs is super important ... even though Diddy defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland got Dawn to admit she never saw Diddy use a gun or pay for drugs.

1:39 PM PT -- A spokesperson for Universal Music Group tells TMZ ... "Salt-N-Pepa’s own legal filings demonstrate the repeated attempts we have made to resolve this matter amicably (including offers to enter into a mediation) ever since the artists served an invalid termination notice. Although we had no legal obligation to do so, we still sought to find a way to improve the artists’ compensation and pay them directly – even after they had sold their royalty streams to a third party.

The spokesperson continues ... "Clearly, the artists’ legal counsel thinks they can use the threat of negative media coverage from the lawsuit to achieve their unreasonable demands.  Despite this, and consistent with our longstanding practice, we remain committed to working towards an amicable resolution."

Much of Salt-N-Pepa's music was pulled from streaming services last week, and it turns out the legendary hip hop trio has a serious bone to pick with Universal Music Group!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained legal docs filed by Cheryl "Salt" James and Sandra "Pepa" Denton demanding UMG comply with the termination of their contract, per Section 203 of the American Copyright Act, which returns SNP the rights to song recordings after time.

According to the complaint, UMG has refused to cooperate with the "Push It" rappers since 2002 ... not resulting in revenue loss, but preventing them from entering a new agreement with a new party to license the recordings.

Xzibit's been putting down platinum raps for so long, his son is now old enough to be featured on his albums!!!

On Friday, Xzibit released his comeback album "Kingmaker" and celebrated with a party inside West Hollywood's Peppermint Club with fellow Cali artists King Tee, Big Tray Dee, Demrick, Symba, Focus..., Guapdad 4000, and several others.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video of X's son Tre Capital giving a heartwarming speech in front of the group about how fame and celebrity strained their relationship as he was growing up.

Cassie's former friend Kerry Morgan says Diddy came looking for Cassie after he beat her in a Los Angeles hotel ... showing up to Cassie's apartment armed with a hammer.

Kerry recalled her involvement in the infamous InterContinental hotel assault of Cassie ... telling the jury she was staying at Cassie's apartment in March 2016 ahead of a movie premiere, when Cassie came home with a black eye.

Morgan said about 30 minutes after Cassie came home, Diddy showed up at the front door... banging on the door with a hammer.

Kerry Morgan, a former friend of Cassie Ventura's, just testified for the prosecution in the Diddy trial ... and she says she saw Diddy assault Cassie twice ... and claims both times he was sober.

Kerry took the stand Monday in Diddy's federal sex trafficking trial in NYC, and she told the jury one of the occasions she saw Diddy assault Cassie was at Diddy's house in Los Angeles. She said Diddy kicked Cassie, and when she told one of Diddy's security guards to do something about it, he refused. She says she left the house with Cassie and they hid outside a neighbor's house.

Morgan testified another time she saw Diddy assault Cassie was on a trip to Jamaica in 2013 ... when she says she saw Diddy drag Cassie by her hair. She also said she saw Diddy push Cassie to the ground. She said Cassie hit her head on a brick and she thought Cassie was KO'd.

Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard testified for the prosecution in the Diddy trial, if he didn't get his way, "People could go missing."

Prosecutors were clearly homing in on the racketeering charge against Diddy, as Richard was asked what she thought Diddy meant by that. Richard's reply ... "That people could die."

Richard was also called to buttress Cassie's testimony last week. Richard testified how she personally observed Diddy "drag her, and kick her, and punch her in the mouth."

Drake is attempting to change the narrative following the Toronto Maple Leafs' bad Game 7 loss on Sunday ... claiming he's not the real curse to all his favorite sports teams -- it's actually Justin Bieber.

The Canadian singer and his wife, Hailey, made their way to Scotiabank Arena to catch his beloved squad's clash with the Florida Panthers in person ... electing to rock a fun 'fit instead of Leafs merch.

Unfortunately for Bieber, the Maple Leafs lost the Round 2 game in a 6-1 defeat ... and after the rough outing, his fellow Canadian jokingly pointed the finger at him.

Zül-Qarnaįn Nantambu says he's the guy on video scuffling with Antonio Brown outside the Adin Ross boxing event in Miami ... and he claims Antonio went to grab a gun and shot at him.

Zül-Qarnaįn tells TMZ Sports ... AB squeezed off a couple shots during Friday night's incident, and there were kids around when the former NFL player pulled the trigger.

Video appears to show Antonio running through a crowd with a gun in his left hand, and you see him turn a corner and raise his arm before multiple gun shots ring out.

Diddy's twin daughters are taking a load off after attending his criminal trial ... because they got swept off their feet at their high school prom ... literally.

The rap mogul's twins, Jessie and D'Lila, were carried in and out of their prom by their dates Saturday night at Harbour House in downtown Los Angeles ... and their extravagant exit is all on video.

You see Jessie and D'Lila in glittering red dresses being carried down a flight of stairs ... and then the foursome climbs into the back of a black SUV to presumably carry on the party somewhere else.

Kanye West and Bianca Censori haven't shied away from showing off their romance in public ... laying it as bare as Bianca's body in one of her mesh outfits.

The attention-grabbing couple first drew eyes back in January 2023 ... and, news that they'd actually married in a small ceremony came out shortly after.

While at first she was merely Kanye's wife, Bianca quickly became a household name in her own right ... rising to fame for her fashion sense as she and Ye traipsed across Europe together that summer.

At the beginning of 2025, Kanye and Bianca's relationship went off the rails ... with sources telling us Kanye's offensive social media posts proved too much for his better half.

Diddy's trial has many thinking about his alleged crimes ... but, he rose to fame for his musical acumen -- and, TMZ has a clip of him in his professional element from back in the day.

We've obtained exclusive video from a December 2018 studio session where French Montana's showing his album to Diddy and singer-songwriter Nelly.

Check out the clip ... the crew's having a good time -- with Diddy whispering to French at times and providing other advice while listening to songs for the 2019 entry "Montana."

Drake's hoping to garner some support for his pal Tory Lanez's release ... sharing a petition calling on California Governor Gavin Newsom to pardon him.

The rapper took to Instagram Friday night to share a change.org link with the caption "@torylanez come home soon" ... and, the link led to a petition calling on the governor to "Correct a Deep Injustice" and pardon Tory.

According to the petition, Tory's conviction wasn't supported by enough physical evidence ... and, they feel the justice system straight up railroaded the guy and landed him a 10-year sentence.

Diddy's federal trial kicked off earlier this week ... and, Cassie took the stand for several days of testimony -- reading dozens of text messages during proceedings.

Those texts -- which appeared across 162 pages of legal documents -- have now been entered as public evidence exhibits ... and, we've compiled some of the most shocking for you to peruse.

While many of the texts appear innocuous -- the two checking in on each other, saying they love or miss the other person, etc. -- some are more sordid ... with Cassie admitting there were "a lot of d***s, a lot of partying" at one particular gathering.

Diddy wants Dawn Richard's civil suit against him thrown out ... calling the allegations she's made against him totally false -- on the same day she took the witness stand against him in his criminal trial.

The rap mogul's legal team filed the documents Friday ... pointing out a series of reasons why Dawn's lawsuit shouldn't go any further -- statute of limitations, improper group pleads, and on and on.

It's mostly lawyer speak ... though Diddy's attorneys do say early on in the docs that she's essentially trying to ride the wave of negative press around Diddy to a payout -- writing Dawn "seeks to transform narratives of alleged injuries against others into a headline-grabbing sex trafficking conspiracy as to her."