Brian Buckmeyer
Appearances
20/20
Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
They certainly feel they have what they need. And you well know an office like the Southern District of New York does not bring a case that they don't think they can win. They only shoot for the moon if they can get the moon.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
And they think the video evidence and some of the other evidence that they've amassed from the home, through the searches of his electronic devices, through eyewitness interviews, is going to be enough to convict. Their presentation, the defense is always more theatrical. I mean, look at you in this suit. And I mean, look at you, maroon with the skinny tie.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
No federal prosecutor would be caught in this. They'd look what I'm wearing. Yes.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
And federal prosecutors are much more buttoned up, not only in appearance, but in presentation. And so they may say the most damning thing in the most mundane way. And that's how they get these defendants.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
I don't know that there is, Brian. I think... Look, first, the defense has said a plea deal is off the table. He intends to fight this. He intends to win. He denies ever sexually assaulting anyone, man, woman, child, adult, anybody, his representatives have said. And he believes that the prosecution is in large part underpinned by race and
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
and that he got a raw deal when the magistrate approved the search warrants of his house and his electronics and the like, and that he can beat this. So a plea deal seems to be off the table from the defense point of view, but there are loads of allegations of... who may have known what, when, and where. Once you have Sean Combs, who else is there really? That was the case with Jeffrey Epstein.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
They only went after Ghislaine Maxwell after Epstein died by suicide in jail.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
I was there in the courtroom today, David, as Sean Combs entered in a black T-shirt, gray sweatpants and sneakers. Several of his children and his sister were there watching as he pleaded not guilty. And then they saw him led out by the marshals. Then I remember a different hearing. He walked in. He looked like he had lost weight.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
Prosecutors were clear in their paperwork that there was this network of individuals that supplied the baby oil and the drugs and got all the hotel rooms ready for the freak-offs and arranged travel for the male prostitutes, which the defense says are legal escorts. Now... Is stacking up boxes of baby oil in a hotel room a charge-worthy crime? I don't know.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
Whether their actions are criminal in and of themselves is an open question. And who's to say who's not talking to the feds behind closed doors?
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
He looked like he was in a jovial mood, smiling at people in the courtroom. He clearly enjoys when his family comes to court. It is noticeable. For a while, his attorneys were pointing out who was who in the courtroom, so the judge had a sense of who was in the room, and the judge actually welcomed his family to court, which I had never really heard before.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
I mean, everyone always asks me, and I know it's reading tea leaves, but... Defense attorneys always tell his client, no, right? Do not testify. I don't see Sean Combs taking the witness stand. Do you?
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
Well, the cross-examination would be brutal because isn't the first question. So when you were hitting Cassie after dragging her through the hallway, were you really mad about something else? And that is you, right? Smacking her. Let's play that again, jurors. Let's see that a third time. That is you, right? Let's just make sure.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
How he's going to be when he's on trial, there's no telling, because what's coming is going to be fairly graphic and potentially damning.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
Sure. We haven't seen his attorneys try to do that yet. So far, they've gone for bigger swings. That does not involve him conceding any aspect of bad behavior. other than maybe at the outset they conceded he had some problems with drugs and alcohol that they didn't specify, but that's what they made it sound like. But they've gone for the bigger swing of this is a racist prosecution.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
There is one other optic and that's who's at the other table. The prosecutor's table is all women who are bringing a case against an accused sexual abuser. And I think that's another powerful image that the jury may well notice too.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
Cassie was a willing participant. This is a loving relationship. This video isn't what it seems. They haven't done a more nuanced defense, at least yet. And I would look for prosecutors, as much as they included, to also put some blinders on the jury to say, this isn't about Biggie Smalls.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
This isn't about a gun case in Manhattan and all the other things that Combs has been associated with, true or not. This is about whether his life operated as a criminal enterprise for the purpose of coercing women into these sexual acts. I think this is a case from the perspective of prosecutors solely about the victims and how Combs allegedly committed crimes
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
using them, but it is going to be interesting and it's going to be dramatic and it's going to be painful and it's going to be graphic. It will not lack for interesting discourse.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
Criminal cases could put him in jail. Civil cases could cost him money. But there's one that may be more important than any other, and that's the civil case since settled brought by Cassie Ventura, his former girlfriend, because that's the one that caught the eye of federal prosecutors.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
Federal prosecutors do what you and I do, right? They read stuff. They read the papers. They watch TV. And if they look at something and they say, man, what's alleged here? This could be criminal. So the prosecutors are reading these things and it does give them at least at the outset, a place to start.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
And that's when they start to figure out with, in this case, federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations, where they need to search, what they need to look for, and where it all might be.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
The first time I saw Sean Combs enter court after he was charged, I remember doing a little bit of a double take. Sean Combs sitting right there. I mean, he looked right at me.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
And yet it does do an injustice because the freak-offs, which the defense and prosecutors characterize certainly in different ways, are either these orgies that women are forced to participate in or it's a prudish government snooping into somebody's private bedroom activities.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
yep and the case in some ways turns on how our sensibilities about sexual assault have evolved right because we now have a a more discerning sense of of what it means to consent or not or to be put in situations where consent is possible or not and and i think we as a society may look differently upon that type of argument than we would have 20 years ago.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
According to prosecutors, there was no consent. These women had no choice. They were drugged. They were held against their will. There's a kidnapping that's part of this. There's an awful lot of deviant behavior that's described in the indictment.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
And just the idea that he's charged with racketeering conspiracy means federal prosecutors are treating him like a mob family. He is an entity, a criminal entity in the eyes of prosecutors unto himself. And the whole purpose of this criminal enterprise that they allege Sean Combs to be is to gather up women and use them, coerce them for Combs' own sexual pleasures.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
And it's a pretty powerful example, not only of the control that Diddy could allegedly exert, but also the power that he had to give orders.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
We have some access in some of the hearings of sitting in the jury box. So you're really just a railing away from the defendant in some cases. And right after his arrest, I didn't think he looked great.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
You have to believe Cassie Ventura is the star witness, right? Because there she is on video being punched and kicked and dragged in the hallway of a hotel in Los Angeles by Sean Combs. And that, to prosecutors, is almost where the case starts and ends. But the defense is saying that that video does not depict what we think it does. It depicts the end of an otherwise loving relationship.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
And they're saying that Cassie Ventura, despite what you see in the video, was actually enjoying herself in the company of Sean Combs and male prostitutes and these sex performances called freak-offs. And that's going to be at least part of their argument.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
Well, it seems as if you're to take some of the allegations and civil complaints at their word that Combs recorded a lot of things that went on at his private parties. And it's possible that prosecutors may have some access to videotapes or audiotapes that could be potentially damning evidence.
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Bad Rap: USA v. Sean Combs
Undoubtedly, they would try to use phone records to make sure that Combs was in the place they say he was in at the time they say whatever occurred, occurred. There'll be some of that, but they have all of that electronic devices, iCloud accounts. So whatever photos, videos and documents exist, the government has them.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
In Diddy's old life, he could choose which of his many homes he wanted to spend time in. A three-story mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean and downtown LA, a compound in Miami including a nine-bedroom mansion, a New York City apartment with views of Central Park, homes in New Jersey and Atlanta, and a waterfront mansion in the Hamptons.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Now, Diddy's in the Metropolitan Detention Center, or MDC, in Brooklyn. This bland behemoth is where he'll stay as he awaits trial. So we're pulling up to MDC now. It's got like this... uncapped, unwashed, grunginess of it. There's a tall metal fence around the MDC complex, so the parking lot's as far as most reporters get.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
By the summer of 2009, Diddy had won three Grammys. He had five songs hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and three of his albums had gone platinum. He was successful and rich. Four months from turning 40, Forbes magazine put Diddy's net worth at $30 million. He'd presented himself for a long time as a champion and model of Black excellence. and he was feeling patriotic after the U.S.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
But as a defense attorney, I'm here almost every week, and I can get further than most. I walk through the gate, up the steps, and through the doors to security. I get escorted into the visitor's area, and I meet my client for about an hour or two. For the parts of the jail I can't see, my clients fill me in about how boiling hot it is in the summer, how cold it is in the winter.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
An inmate told me that at one point, when there was no heat or hot water, he couldn't go to the showers and instead was dumping hot water onto his body from the sink, washing himself and catching the water in the toilet. I had to come to MDC on that cold, gray day in January to meet with a client who was awaiting sentencing.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Getting out of my Uber, I looked up at this complex of tall, concrete buildings. And the gate before you come in, you can actually hear people. It almost sounds like they're, like, rec hour. Yeah, it sounds like they're playing a sport.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Each of MDC's buildings are 10 or more stories tall, and where the windows in a typical apartment would be, you have red brick slabs with narrow slats and big sections of metal grating that give you the impression of a locked jail cell, even from the outside.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
MDC is right on the Brooklyn waterfront, just a few blocks from a bougie converted warehouse space full of artisanal shops and upscale restaurants. But if you're part of the legal system in New York, you know that MDC is not a nice place to be. In fact, it's been described as hell on earth, known for its violence, corruption, and miserable conditions.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
It's a federal building, so you can see Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons. You see the American flag. And the building has watermarks and rust on the metal parts and things of that way. Over the years, it's housed some people you've probably heard of, like R. Kelly, Michael Cohen, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman Freed, Luigi Mangione, and Sean Diddy Combs.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Combs has been at MDC since he was arrested last September. According to his attorney, Mark Agnifilo, Diddy had flown to New York to cooperate with authorities.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Paparazzi and onlookers caught snippets of Diddy's visit to New York last September, and from those photos and videos, it looked like he was enjoying his time, talking and smiling with fans, playing hacky sack in Central Park, strolling through the city with his family. If Diddy had plans to turn himself in, he didn't do it for the first 12 days he was in New York.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
But on the night of September 16th at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, Homeland Security Investigations agents caught Diddy by surprise. You could see on the hotel security footage that Diddy walked into the front door and the agents approached him. They separated him from the group he was with, put handcuffs on him, and took him away.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
The day after Combs' arrest, the prosecutor at the time held a news conference to announce the charges.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Because of how serious and violent the alleged crimes are, Combs was ordered held without bail. ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Aaron Katursky was in the courtroom.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
It didn't surprise me that things didn't go Diddy's way with bail. The allegations and trafficking charges are very serious. And if Diddy were out on bail, the fear was he'd have the ability to reach witnesses and possibly intimidate them. I didn't think there was a chance he was getting out. But that didn't stop Diddy or his attorneys from trying.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Diddy's attorney told reporters before the start of the bail hearings, MDC was no place for his client.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
elected its first Black president. So he decided this year's white party would be held on Independence Day. He gave Marie Claire magazine a sneak peek before the party started. The pool draped in gauzy white curtains and chandeliers. Platters of shrimp, crab cakes, and barbecue were served.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Over and over again, Diddy tried to get released. He tried offering a $50 million bond. He tried offering home confinement. He tried to prove he wasn't a flight risk, attempting to sell his private plane and saying he'd surrender his passport to his attorney. He was trying to be a cooperative defendant. But no, Sean Combs was denied bail four times.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
In one of his first bail hearings, prosecutors presented calls Diddy made and texts he sent before his arrest. They said Diddy reached out to potential witnesses, telling them that he'd be taken care of financially if they stuck by his side.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
And then in November, after he'd been at MDC for about two months and was up for a third chance at bail, prosecutors alleged Combs had been paying other inmates to access their phone accounts and, according to the government, avoid law enforcement monitoring.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
And prosecutors said they caught Combs on recorded calls from jail, asking family members to reach out to potential victims and witnesses and urged them to come up with narratives to sway the jury in his favor.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Prosecutors wrote in their court filing, "...the defendant has shown repeatedly, even while in custody, that he will flagrantly and repeatedly flout rules in order to improperly impact the outcome of his case." The defendant has shown, in other words, that he cannot be trusted to abide by rules or conditions.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Diddy's attorneys responded to prosecutors' arguments by saying the nonstop drumbeat of negative publicity has destroyed Combs' reputation and will make it virtually impossible for him to receive a fair trial. So Combs isn't back in his $48 million mansion on an island in Miami Beach, where at one point he'd asked to await trial.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Instead, he's being detained far from the pools, hot tubs, cabanas, and ocean views he's used to. So what's it like being an inmate at MDC? What's it like being a celebrity and a lead sex offender in MDC, a notoriously dangerous and neglected jail? After the break, we meet someone who gives us an inside view of MDC most people don't get to see, and a window into Comza's life behind bars.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
A sommelier explained that all the wine served would be, of course, white.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Just a few weeks ago, I talked to someone who's been past the visitation area at MDC, who's really been on the inside. And I will try my best to make this not feel like a cross-examination, even though that is my typical practice. Oh, that's okay. You can ask me anything. That's Cameron Lindsay. He's worked in corrections for 25 years.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
He was a warden of five different correctional facilities, including MDC Brooklyn. And since retiring in 2014, he's continued to work in jails and prisons around the country as a consultant and also serves as an expert witness, often testifying on behalf of a plaintiff who was hurt or even killed while incarcerated. So he's seen some stuff in this country's correction system.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
And he says for anyone, going into detention is a shock to the system, but especially for someone like Sean Combs.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
It's small things, like having to wear the same beige prison-issued jumpsuit as everyone else. And it's big things, too, like where and how he's housed. Diddy's lawyer has said he's in what's called the special housing unit, which means he's separated from the general population. If it were up to retired Warden Lindsey, he'd go even further, putting Diddy in almost complete isolation.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
But that doesn't seem to be MDC's approach. Diddy reportedly has access to at least some other inmates. Convicted crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried said in an interview with Tucker Carlson that Diddy has been kind to people in the unit, and he's been, quote, kind to me. We also know Diddy's cell is small, not what he's used to.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Two of the biggest songs of 2009 were Lady Gaga's Poker Face and I Got a Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas. None of Diddy's music was at the top of the charts, but this was the year he rapped Making the Band, the show that made him a reality star. And reality shows were hot.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
They keep Diddy separated from the jail's general population to keep him safe. His wealth and notoriety could make him a target.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
It's right for MDC officials to take Diddy's safety seriously. The facility is infamously dangerous. The Associated Press reported that just in the last three years, there has been a stabbing death, a death after a brawl, and at least four deaths by suicide. And in the time Diddy's been at MDC, an inmate was charged with orchestrating a murder for hire plot from inside.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
A Southern District of New York judge said in a 2024 opinion that defendants at MDC Brooklyn complain of, quote, near perpetual lockdowns, dreadful conditions and lengthy delays in getting medical care. He and other federal judges have refused to send defendants to MDC on the grounds that conditions are so bad.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Conditions at MDC sank to their lowest in 2019 with what Lindsay calls the freeze-out, when nearly 1,700 inmates had to live in below-freezing temperatures for a week.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
There was a heat and power outage at the same time. Cells were dark. Toilets wouldn't flush. And access to food, medical care, and phone calls were cut off. Inmates sued, the Department of Justice investigated, and a settlement was reached for about $10 million. When you're incarcerated, sometimes getting the bare necessities can be a struggle.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
But what happens when your clientele includes people with means, people who are used to buying whatever they want? Lindsay doesn't know anything about Diddy specifically, but I asked him about corruption in general. So if I tell you that I've heard stories like,
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
well, people are buying cell phones inside of MDC and people are having sometimes lobster dinners or dinners brought to them that you're wondering, how are you eating like this in MDC? Are those shocking to you at all that I'm talking to you about lobster dinners and cell phones in MDC?
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Diddy's hit show was the perfect blend of American Idol, the number one TV show in America that year, and another popular show at the time, The Celebrity Apprentice. On making the ban, Diddy presented himself as a kind of Trump-like figure of the music industry, who would crown the next big pop group. Diddy had been throwing these Gatsby-esque white parties for almost a decade.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
It's hard to know the precise impact Diddy's presence has had on MDC, but retired warden Cameron Lindsay says it's reasonable to think there's been increased scrutiny on the facility from higher-ups. We do know since he's been in, there have been lockdowns and contraband sweeps involving other inmates, in which investigators have seized drugs, homemade weapons, and electronic devices.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
So we started with Diddy at his peak, the host of the party that everyone wanted to go to, the center of an industry that so many wanted to be part of, the key that could unlock success and fame for those around him. But now he's locked up and can't even control the most basic things, like when he eats or bathes. How did Diddy go from mogul to inmate?
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
How did he build not just a career, but an empire? And if the allegations against him are true, how did he get away with the violence, abuse, and manipulation for so long? Coming up on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Diddy's success comes at a price. But time and time again, he doesn't seem to be the one paying.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
In our next episode, we'll trace the path of Diddy's rising star from college dropout to the cover of Rolling Stone. And later in our series, the early signs of Diddy's alleged dark side start to emerge.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Stay with us as new episodes drop every week in the lead-up to Diddy's trial. Once it starts, we'll keep you posted with updates throughout. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love if you'd share it and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
This podcast was written and produced by Vika Aronson, Camille Peterson, and Nancy Rosenbaum. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor. Associate producer, Amira Williams. Production help from Shane McKeon. Fact checker, Audrey Mostek. Story consultant, Sweeney St. Phil. Supervising producer, Sasha Aslanian. Original music by Eben Viola. Mixing by Rick Kwan.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Arielle Chester is our social media producer. This podcast was powered by the journalists at Impact by Nightline, 2020, GMA, and the ABC News investigative unit. Thanks to those teams. And special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Liz Alessi, and Katie Dendas. Josh Cohan is ABC Audio's director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
The first was on Labor Day in 1998, when he had just bought a home in the Hamptons. He hosted a bunch of them there and then in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. One year, he took a helicopter to the party and landed holding an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. The famous writer Norman Lear loaned it to him. All of the big celebrities appeared at Diddy's white parties.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Beyonce, Jay-Z, Jonah Hill, Martha Stewart, Paris Hilton, Aretha Franklin, Al Sharpton, and Donald Trump. They all orbited the Diddy white party sphere. As a record exec, Diddy helped launch the careers of artists who would become legends. The Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Usher, and many others. So it's no surprise people wanted the invite to Diddy's parties.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
In the summer of 2009, everyone was paying attention to Sean Diddy Combs. He wasn't on the top of the Billboard charts anymore, but he had become a fixture of American pop culture. The flashiest example was his annual star-studded white party. It was an exclusive event, and everything had to be white, from the decor to the dress code. This was the early days of smartphones.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
If they had got one, then they belonged in the list of celebrities, politicians, and cultural icons who had proximity to a mogul, who knew everyone and could make things happen. You could hang out in the backyard with hundreds of guests who made it through the gates to the main party, but it still had a VIP section, an inner circle.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Reality TV personality and podcaster Jason Lee was at the 2009 Independence Day white party. He remembers it as a good time and says it helped his career. Lee claims he never saw any darkness or any hints of the crimes Diddy would be accused of years later.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Lots of people who attended Diddy's parties never saw his alleged dark side. For decades, A-listers were eager to pose next to the mogul at a Hamptons bash. Today, many of those celebrities are actively distancing themselves from Diddy, not wanting to share that toxic spotlight. At the height of his power and influence, Diddy had complete control over his world.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
He decided who got to be an insider, controlled what happened when the lights went out, and he'd tell his guests as much.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
The curfew announcement, when kids had to disappear and lots of adults left too. It hints at a turn. Diddy foreshadows an adult world, a late-night world of secrets. And some of those secrets, they've come pouring out. Diddy's rise and fall. It's the story we'll tell you in the first six episodes of this podcast.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
How a man who was on top of the music industry and on top of the world is now confined to a cell that couldn't be less luxurious, awaiting trial. And once the trial begins, we'll take you there with twice weekly updates as the case unfolds. Two very different versions of Diddy have emerged over the years.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
The charmer that he showed the world and the predator that onlookers and alleged victims are now claiming he was all along. Which version of Diddy will win out in court? I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an attorney and an ABC News legal contributor. From ABC Audio, this is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. Episode one, party's over. Diddy's white parties were glittering displays of wealth and social capital.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
But to some, they were clues, even early on, that Diddy's world had shadows. Justin Tinsley is a culture reporter for ESPN's Anscape, which focuses on Black culture. He says there'd always been rumors about what Diddy was like behind the scenes, at parties, and in his personal and professional life.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
In November of 2023, someone did come forward. Diddy's ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, filed a civil lawsuit against him, alleging that for over a decade he trapped her in a cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking. The lawsuit was a bombshell. It alleged Cassie was forced to participate in orchestrated, elaborate sex parties Diddy called freak-offs that he would film and keep recordings of.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Imagine every celebrity worth an Us Weekly headline with a bedazzled smartphone in their hand. It was before TikTok and Instagram, when tabloid coverage claimed to break juicy celebrity stories. Compared to the prominence of video and social media today, private celebrity parties were much more private. But one bit of Diddy's 2009 white party was captured on video.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
A day after the lawsuit was filed, Diddy settled with Cassie for an undisclosed amount and no admission of guilt. But Cassie opened the floodgates. Over the next 12 months, others who had spent time with Diddy, from a music producer to a former model to a yacht stewardess, filed lawsuits too. These lawsuits alleged rape, sexual assault, and human trafficking.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Many also alleged Diddy would spike drinks and lace marijuana with narcotics to knock people out or make it harder for them to resist assault. Some mentioned Diddy videotaping assaults to further control and humiliate his victims. Those lawsuits went from a steady drip to a rapid current. There are now dozens of them.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
In December of 2023, Diddy said in a statement that he did not do any of the, quote, awful things being alleged. He called them sickening allegations by people looking for a quick payday.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
His attorney told ABC News Combs couldn't comment on settled litigation, wouldn't comment on pending litigation, and, quote, cannot address every allegation picked up by the press from any source, no matter how unreliable, end quote. But in the fall of 2024, criminal charges were filed against Diddy by the feds.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Mansions where he'd once hosted lavish parties were raided by federal agents. In L.A., more than a dozen officers pulled up in armored vehicles, wearing fatigues, guns drawn, pointing them at Diddy's sons, who happened to be at home. In Miami, it was police officers in T-shirts driving up to Diddy's compound in vans.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Combs is now facing federal criminal charges that read a lot like those earlier civil lawsuits. Sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy. The charges accuse Diddy of decades of criminal behavior. And unlike the civil lawsuits that he faced from Cassie and now from others, these criminal charges could land him in prison for the rest of his life.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Combs has pled not guilty to all charges. His attorney, Mark Ignifilo, called it an unjust prosecution. He said Combs was a, quote, music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the black community. He called Combs an imperfect person, but not a criminal.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Once these lawsuits and charges were filed, reporters and fans started looking at Diddy's past with more scrutiny. And up close, knowing the allegations against him, even his famed summer parties started to look very different. Like this clip from an appearance on Conan O'Brien's show in 2002.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Conan compliments Diddy on being a legendary party host and asks him for tips on throwing a quote, killer party.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
A joke about locking doors so women can't leave lands a little differently now. I've been captivated by Diddy's rise and fall for two reasons. The first one is pretty straightforward. When I was growing up in the 90s and 2000s, Diddy was everywhere. It's hard to be a millennial and not know his music or his impact on the music industry.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
One of his most popular songs I remember playing on the radio in elementary school was his All About the Benjamins.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Rapper and record producer Jay Blaze caught it on camera and posted it to YouTube for the world to see. Actor Ashton Kutcher grabs onto a swing strung over the pool and tarzans across it. Diddy is emceeing in a sea of white suits, dresses, linen, and sunglasses.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
And can't nobody hold me down. he marketed himself as a kingmaker in the world of hip-hop, and everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. He turned hip-hop from being a thing my mom probably didn't want me to listen to, to something that could make him into a billionaire businessman, something my mom wouldn't approve of.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Back then, before the lawsuits, before the allegations and scrutiny, Diddy was someone you could look up to. But I'm not a culture reporter or a music journalist. I'm an attorney. I spent almost 10 years as a public defender in New York City, the last few of those in the homicide unit. Now, I litigate federal civil and criminal cases.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
And to be clear, I am not an attorney on Diddy's case, but I have represented people who have been accused of the kind of crimes he's being accused of, and people who were victims of those types of crimes. And even with all of my experience, when I read through some of the lawsuits from the people who had sued Diddy, I had to stop myself sometimes. The photos and details were jaw-dropping.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
They were a shock to my system. And the federal indictment is sweeping and disturbing. Diddy is accused of running a vast criminal enterprise that abused, threatened, and coerced his alleged victims and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and cover up his conduct for decades. Diddy maintains his innocence. His trial is set to start in May.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Until then, he's locked up, stuck in a place that couldn't be more different from the luxury he's used to. A place he doesn't want to be. A place that no amount of money can get him out of. A place I know well. More after the break.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The story included allegations of physical abuse going back to the late 1980s, when Diddy was a college student at Howard. This was years before he started Bad Boy Records. Soon, Diddy faced crushing blowback. He was like a distressed asset. Organizations and brands that once celebrated him and wanted to be associated with him were now publicly distancing themselves.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
This reporting is from local TV outlet DC News Now. Nearly two weeks later, Howard University announced it was revoking his honorary degree, returning his million-dollar donation, and canceling a scholarship that had been set up in his name. Then, the mayor of New York asked Diddy to return his key to the city.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Even the Miami Beach Commission joined the pilot by canceling its annual Sean Diddy Combs Day, as reported by NBC6 South Florida.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
This all happened in less than a month. And those forces that were turning against Diddy? Well, that pileup was growing bigger and more powerful, because now the feds were getting closer to an arrest. That's after the break.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The feds, they weren't looking to arrest Diddy. Not yet. First, they were looking for evidence.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
In September of 2024, Diddy returned to the place where his life and career began, New York City. He was spotted around town, posing for photos with his children in Harlem. Diddy looked casual in Tim's in a black t-shirt. The T-shirt looked simple enough, but it appeared to be a designer vintage item that can retail for over $1,000.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
While Diddy may have appeared relaxed, this wasn't a family getaway or even a business trip. Here's ABC chief investigative correspondent Aaron Katursky.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
His lawyer said he planned to turn himself in, but the feds didn't wait for that to happen. Instead, on September 16th of 2024, they made a surprise move in a hotel lobby in Midtown Manhattan. Here's Aaron Katursky on ABC News again.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Remember, Diddy wasn't home at the time of the raids. TMZ caught him on video pacing outside a Miami airport in blue sweatpants and a white T-shirt. Back in L.A., agents swarmed past a white Range Rover in the driveway, guns drawn. One agent turned a security camera away as he passed, blocking its view of the raid.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Standing at a podium, flanked by two American flags, then-U.S. Attorney Damian Williams looked serious, formal. He wore tortoiseshell glasses, a dark suit, and a navy maroon tie with gold stripes.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Williams has the cred the SDNY is known for. He's an alum of Harvard, also Yale Law School. He was the first Black person to leave the SDNY. If Diddy went around pronouncing how he represented Black excellence, Damian Williams' presence and accomplishments were the embodiment of that excellence.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
There were three counts against Diddy laid out in order of severity. The first count is racketeering conspiracy, or RICO. That's the most serious count, because it carries a maximum sentence of up to life in prison. This count alleges that Diddy ran a criminal enterprise that exploited and abused women. The freak-offs were allegedly a manifestation of that abuse.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The indictment says Diddy's criminal enterprise engaged in crimes like arson, bribery, forced labor, and obstruction of justice, just to name a few.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The other charges? Two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. They also come with stiff prison sentences. Sex trafficking might catch some people off guard. We'll get more into this in a later episode. But for now, here's what the SDNY is alleging.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Diddy used force, fraud, or coercion to compel his victims to participate in sexual acts against their will. It's a federal crime because Diddy's alleged victims were moved across state lines for those freak-offs.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
If the sex trafficking had only happened in, say, California, with people who were already in the state and weren't compelled to travel, well, then it'd likely be a state issue, not a federal one. As former U.S.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Attorney Damian Williams explained the finer points of the indictment, he mentioned some of the corroborating evidence law enforcement allegedly found during those home raids six months earlier.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
After the initial intensity, the raid seemed to downshift to a calmer, slower search. In media footage, you can see agents strolling through French doors, past low manicured bushes, and a sculpture of a headless woman. Two agents in blue rubber gloves carried a white cooler through the Miami yard. Others loaded a big cardboard box into a van.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Industrial quantities of baby oil aside, we're going to learn a lot more about all of the alleged evidence once Diddy's trial starts. That's scheduled to happen in May. Again, Didi has been unwavering in denying all of these allegations, and he's entered a plea of not guilty. Here's his lawyer, Mark Ignifilo, speaking to reporters.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
After the federal indictment, the number of civil lawsuits really picked up. You might ask what one has to do with the other, criminal indictment versus civil lawsuits. Well, in my experience, when the feds get involved, victims are more willing to come forward. Think about it. When you know the feds are going after someone, then you might say, OK, this person could get locked up.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
You might be able to get witness protection or even volunteer yourself to the feds as a witness. There's also strength and safety in numbers.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
In early October 2024, a trial lawyer out of Houston named Tony Busby held his own press conference. Busby stood in front of a podium in a dark suit and pink tie. His brown hair was slicked back. Behind him, a sign read SEXUAL ASSAULT HOTLINE in all caps. Below it, a 1-800 number in bright red font. Apparently, a lot of people have called this number.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
ABC reached out to the company tracking the calls. In April 2025, they told us they'd been contacted about 26,000 times.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Busby reportedly filed nearly 40 civil lawsuits against Combs before he had to remove himself from the federal cases last month. That's because he's not admitted to practice in the Southern District of New York. But more than a dozen of his lawsuits are still moving forward without him, and Busby is still active on a couple lawsuits filed in New York State Court.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Busby told reporters these lawsuits have some common denominators. For example, a lot of the alleged incidents happened at parties.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Third, some victims allege they were threatened, including threats of physical violence or threats of financial consequences for speaking out. Busby promised the day would come when he would name names of other powerful people who were allegedly involved. A couple months after his press conference, Busby did name a name, a big one, Jay-Z.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
By watching the footage, we can't see much of what they're up to inside the homes. But I can tell you, a raid by the feds is never a pleasant experience. As a criminal defense attorney, I've represented clients who have been targets of these kinds of raids. We're talking beds flipped over, mattresses cut open. Law enforcement isn't handling people's stuff gently.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
He was listed as Diddy's co-defendant in an alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl in 2000 after the MTV Video Music Awards. Jay-Z fired back on Instagram, where he described the allegations against him as frivolous, fictitious, and appalling.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
ABC obtained a recording of the Jane Doe who made those allegations, telling private investigators for Jay-Z that the rapper had been present, but not involved in the sexual assault. And she said that Tony Busby had pressured her to name Jay-Z in the suit, an allegation Busby has called a blatant lie.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Despite the recording, the Jane Doe said in a sworn declaration she stands by her initial claims and dropped her lawsuit because of fear of intimidation and retaliation from Jay-Z and his fans. But her lawsuit against both men has been withdrawn with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. Now, Jay-Z is countersuing Busby and the Jane Doe for defamation.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Still, as Diddy prepares for his federal criminal trial, he faces over 60 pending civil lawsuits.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Adriana Alcalde is a victim's rights attorney who specializes in sex abuse cases. She represents a client who recently filed a civil lawsuit against Sean Combs. Her client is a John Doe, a former sex worker Diddy allegedly hired over a decade ago. This was back in 2012. He's decided to remain anonymous publicly, but Alcalde says Diddy's legal team knows his identity.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The John Doe victim Alcalde represents alleges he traveled from Florida to a hotel in New York City, where Diddy instructed him to have sex with a woman. He described the sex acts as, quote, degrading. But the allegations in this John Doe's complaint mostly focus on what happened after the prearranged hotel sex. That's when Diddy allegedly cornered him in the bathroom and raped him.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Diddy also allegedly threatened the John Doe with violence if he told anyone what happened. According to the complaint, John Doe alleges that Diddy told him, I'm not effing playing with you.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in 1996. Diddy has always denied any involvement in his death. And in fact, someone else is currently facing charges in connection to Tupac's murder. But according to John Doe's lawsuit, Diddy used Tupac's death to intimidate him. ABC reached out to Diddy's legal team for their response to these John Doe allegations.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
And they said, quote, these are just more examples of false claims being filed against Mr. Combs. No matter how many lawsuits are filed, especially by individuals who refuse to put their own names behind their claims, it won't change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone, man or woman, adult or minor. Mr. Combs remains confident he will prevail in court.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Alcalde said her client is still somewhat fearful of what could happen to him, and that's one of the reasons why he decided to file his lawsuit anonymously.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
This episode contains descriptions of violence and sexual assault. Please take care when listening. Toward the end of March 2024, Sean Diddy Combs was at an airport in Miami, Florida. He was getting ready to board his Love Air private jet for a spring break trip to the Caribbean with his 17-year-old twin girls.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Alcalde points out there's this other layer of stigma for her client because he's a former sex worker. Sex workers, she says, are more vulnerable to these kinds of alleged crimes, and they're less likely to be believed when they do come forward. In Alcalde's experience, there's a fundamental motivation driving the kinds of sex crimes her client allegedly experienced.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
If you connect the dots across all the allegations swirling around Diddy, unchecked power is a common thread.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Lisa Bloom is an attorney representing another alleged victim, a singer named Don Rashard. In the 2000s, Rashard was in a group called Danity Kane, as well as Diddy Dirty Money. She first came into Diddy's orbit through the MTV reality show Making the Band. In the fall of 2024, Richard filed a civil lawsuit against Diddy, which was amended in March of 2025.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
She alleges sexual assault and intimidation. She describes him in her lawsuit as having a, quote, vicious temper, and alleges she witnessed him beating his then-girlfriend, Cassie, including striking, choking, and strangling her.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Attorneys for Combs said Richard had, quote, manufactured a series of false claims, all in the hopes of trying to get a payday, and they're expected to file a motion to dismiss her suit by mid-May. Attorney Lisa Bloom wouldn't comment on the specific allegations in Richard's suit, but she did tell ABC News about some of the larger forces she sees at play in this case.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The whole point of a coordinated surprise search like this is to find corroborating evidence of alleged crimes and to make sure evidence isn't moved, tampered with, or destroyed before law enforcement can get to it.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
ABC Entertainment contributor Kelly Carter agrees. She says the allegations against Diddy amount to something much bigger than the actions of one powerful mogul.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
After the break, we tackle complicated questions about Diddy's legacy and how one woman who helped promote him early on now feels about her role in his rise.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Why couldn't you just act right? In the mid-1990s, LaJoyce Brookshire oversaw PR for Arista Records, which was then Bad Boy's parent label. These days, she teaches at City College, and she's the author of the book Women Behind the Mic, Curators of Pop Culture. Back in the day, she and Diddy worked hand-in-hand to promote Bad Boy artists, including Diddy, or Puffy, as he was known then.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
If I was to ask you to finish this sentence, how would you finish it? Sean Puffycombe's legacy is... Sean Puffycombe's legacy is... Finished. Combs' legacy might not be the really important thing here, especially compared to the harm his alleged victim suffered. But the fallout from the allegations against him have had ripple effects.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
LaJoyce Brookshire says she used to think of Puffy as a creative genius. She used to be proud of the work she did with him, whenever she caught a glimpse of him performing or getting an award. Wow, we did that.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
She reminded me of how back in the day, people thought hip-hop was just a passing fad, nothing bankable or worthy. Decades later, the music, the culture, it's still a phenomenon. She was part of building that foundation, along with so many other people. She says this is the legacy that's been tarnished.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
When I heard law enforcement seized electronic devices from Diddy's homes, I immediately thought back to the lawsuits. How Cassie, Rodney Jones, and others alleged Diddy had recorded their sexual encounters. And when I heard they'd seized guns, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, I thought about how Rodney Jones alleged Diddy kept and displayed guns in his bedroom closet.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
We started this series with a portrait of Sean Combs as the ultimate host. He staged elaborate, over-the-top parties everyone wanted to go to. He was the hitmaker, the kingmaker that everyone wanted to be near. Back in early November, Diddy celebrated his 55th birthday with a very different kind of party. This was not a lavish, star-studded affair. Diddy was on a speakerphone from jail.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
His kids gathered to sing him happy birthday, including his youngest, a two-year-old named Love.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
This moment has been memorialized on Diddy's Instagram. It's just one of a handful of posts you can still find in his feed. His kids reposted it too. The comments are a mix of free Diddy and send him to jail for life. The Bare Bones Party has all the trappings of a staged moment, at least according to prosecutors.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
In court documents arguing against bail, they allege this video is actually part of a campaign Diddy planned around his birthday to influence potential jurors, and that Diddy monitored how this post was performing on social media from jail. However you interpret this video,
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Whether you see it as simply a small family gathering or a carefully curated PR stunt, there's no denying how different Diddy's reality is today from the freedom, luxury, and power that defined him for so long. This is how it will be until his trial, until a jury decides to send him to prison or set him free. Next time on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
We'll game out strategies the prosecution and defense might use at Diddy's upcoming trial with a reporter who's been covering this case from the beginning.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
That's next time on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-HOPE. Or go to rainn.org. If you like this podcast, please share it and give it a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thanks for listening. Bad Route, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
This podcast was written and produced by Nancy Rosenbaum, Vika Aronson, and Camille Peterson. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor. Associate producer, Amira Williams. Production help from Shane McKeon and Meg Fierro. Fact checker, Audrey Mostek. Story consultant, Sweeney St. Phil. Supervising producer, Sasha Aslanian. Original music by Evan Viola. Mixing by Rick Kwan.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Again, I wondered whether these lawsuits had given law enforcement a roadmap to find what they were looking for. And I wasn't the only one glued to the coverage of the raids of Diddy's homes. People couldn't look away. Here's DJ and ABC News contributor Megan Wright.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Ariel Chester is our social media producer. This podcast was powered by the journalists at Impact by Nightline, 2020, GMA, and the ABC News Investigative Unit. Thanks to those teams. And special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Liz Alessi, and Katie Dendas. Josh Cohan is ABC Audio's Director of Podcast Programming. Laura Mayer is the executive producer.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
For decades, Diddy had brushes with the law. But this didn't stop him from living large and flying around the world in his private jet. The way he dressed, the way he traveled, the way he partied, few could compare. But this day, back in March of 2024, was a turning point. The walls were closing in.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The raid by federal agents spilled Diddy's criminal investigation into public view for the first time. And soon, what started as a trickle of allegations swelled into a tsunami no one could ignore. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an attorney and ABC News legal contributor. From ABC Audio, this is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. Episode five, Downfall.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Diddy's attorney released a statement saying Diddy was innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name. But Diddy and his team are up against one of the toughest U.S. attorney's offices in the country, the Southern District of New York, or SDNY. This office has a ridiculously high conviction rate, like around 90 to 95%. Chances are you've heard about the SDNY in the news.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
They prosecute some of the country's highest profile cases. Think cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried. And let's not forget Ghislaine Maxwell. She was convicted of conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse minors. And now the SDNY is after Diddy. Two months after the SDNY executed the raids on Diddy's homes, Diddy's world was rocked again.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
What he likely didn't know was that federal law enforcement agents were getting ready to execute parallel searches on his homes in Miami Beach and Los Angeles. In Miami, news footage shows a big police van tucked under a row of palm trees. In L.A., Homeland Security officers rolled in with armored vehicles, military rifles, bulletproof vests, and drones.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The surveillance footage is from eight years earlier, back when Diddy and Cassie were still together. They were staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles. The video CNN published includes a handful of short clips. There's no sound. Here's what you see. Cassie Ventura walks down a hotel hallway barefoot. She wears an oversized hoodie and carries a large purse.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
In another shot, you see Diddy running down the hallway, shirtless, a towel wrapped around his waist. He runs up to Cassie as she bends to put her shoes on by the elevator. Diddy grabs her by the back of the head and throws her to the ground. He kicks her in the back and she just lies there, doesn't try to get up. He kicks her again, then starts to drag her back down the hall by her sleeve.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Elizabeth Wagmeister is an entertainment reporter for CNN. She's the one who broke the story about this video. Cassie's 2023 lawsuit includes a pretty detailed account of this very incident. She claims Diddy punched her in the eye during one of those freak-offs, and that after he fell asleep, she tried to escape.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The suit mentions how Diddy woke up and followed her into the hall of this very hotel. She alleged he dragged her and threw glass vases that crashed around her. Cassie also alleged Diddy paid the hotel $50,000 for the surveillance video.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
When Cassie's lawsuit came out in 2023, Diddy's attorney issued a statement saying Cassie's allegations were baseless and that her suit was, quote, riddled with outrageous lies aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs' reputation and seeking a payday. And Diddy's attorneys have since alleged that CNN altered the video.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
They called it a misleading piece of evidence, alleging the footage was sped up and reordered and that CNN destroyed the original recording. A spokesperson for CNN denied these allegations, saying the network never altered the video and that their source kept the original footage. When Cassie and Diddy reached a settlement, Diddy's lawyer was quick to point out Diddy's innocence.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Just so we're clear, his lawyer said in a statement, a decision to settle a lawsuit is in no way an omission of wrongdoing. And Diddy's lawyers didn't just deny Cassie's claims. They also refuted other allegations that started rolling in after Cassie came forward.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
By the time CNN published their story in May of 2024, there were a handful of active civil lawsuits on the books against Diddy, several alleging sex trafficking and sexual abuse.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
In the video, Diddy looks a little haggard, dressed down in a plain beige t-shirt, no logos, no flashy jewelry. He appears to be somewhere tropical on a balcony with a tidy thatched roof.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
He follows the typical apology video script. He says that he's been to therapy and to rehab and that he's been asking God for mercy.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
But then, it ends. What's missing from this apology video? An actual apology? Or any mention of Cassie? People definitely took notice. Here's how the hosts of ABC's The View reacted. Does his confession change anything?
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Bad Rap: Downfall
a federal investigation into human trafficking. In the months leading up to this raid, Diddy had been hit with a bunch of bombshell civil lawsuits, including ones alleging rape and sex trafficking, all of which he's denied. But this was the day the public found out that the feds were looking into Diddy. Civil lawsuits can lead to financial penalties, but criminal charges can lead to prison time.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
It's one thing to read a lawsuit like Cassie's that alleges abuse. It's another to see video footage that appears to corroborate those allegations. I'd argue the surveillance video was actually far more damning to Diddy than Cassie's lawsuit was, or any lawsuit for that matter. The video tarnished Diddy's image, an image he had kept such a tight hold on for decades.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
When I saw Diddy's video on Instagram, I had a lot of questions. As an attorney, I generally advise my clients to let their lawyer do the talking for them. So Diddy putting out this video, it made me wonder, had this been part of an improved strategy or was it something more spontaneous? Here's CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
So according to Wagmeister, Diddy couldn't deliver a full apology for legal reasons, which leaves him with a few options. stay silent, deliver what some considered a weak apology, or break the terms of the settlement agreement and risk the consequences.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Author Justin Tinsley writes about Black culture on ESPN's Anscape. And by that video, he's referring to the surveillance footage of Diddy attacking Cassie, the one that CNN published.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
After the fallout from the CNN story and his Instagram apology, Diddy appeared to shrink away from public life. In May, he was reportedly MIA from his eldest daughter's high school graduation. In June, Revolt, the media company Diddy had started in 2013, announced he'd sold his majority stake and was no longer involved with the company. Then, he deleted all of his Instagram posts.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
For someone who had spent years posting videos of himself living his best life on social media, Diddy's digital silence was noticeable. Even though Diddy was laying low, he was still very much on other people's radars, including the media's. In May of 2024, Rolling Stone published an investigation into Diddy and his alleged history of violence.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Diddy also seemed to be turning over a new leaf in terms of philanthropy and better treatment of his artists. He showed up to Howard University's 2023 homecoming with one of those goofy oversized checks for a million dollars. He spoke to ABC News 7 in D.C. after the event.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
He donated another million to the football program at another historically black college, Jackson State University. And at a time when artists like Taylor Swift were speaking out against music executives for profiting big on their music and controlling the rights to their creative work, Diddy announced that he was giving some bad boy artists and songwriters their publishing rights back.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Sean Diddy Combs was in his 50s. His greatest hits as a musical artist were behind him. but he was being honored with BET's Lifetime Achievement Award. Like an elder statesman of the music industry, he was being recognized for his years of service. Before the show, he joked that the honor was five years overdue. But standing on the stage that night, he had a long list of people he wanted to thank.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Revolt reported that Combs wanted to, quote, see more creators flourish and profit as much as possible from their work. He hoped the move would inspire the rest of the music industry to change the status quo and spark a new way to compensate artists. Diddy's critics say that in the past, he'd been known for taking a hard line with bad boy artists.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
pressuring them into taking less than fair deals and reportedly feuding with them over ownership and fair compensation. So this move in 2023, it seemed like a reversal for him. He gave Biggie's estate, Faith Evans, Mace, and 112 their rights back, among others. The terms of the deals weren't disclosed, but the assets were reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Even though not all of his artists got their rights back, it still seemed like maybe Diddy was trying to make up for past mistakes, like he was trying to be a stand-up guy.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
The R&B album featured a bunch of other popular artists, past and present. The Weeknd, Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes, John Legend, and Justin Bieber, to name a few. The album got nominated for a Grammy, but it didn't perform as well as his earlier music. Where his previous studio album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, this one debuted at 19. And its first week of sales were much lower.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
But the very same day the Love album dropped, Diddy got the key to New York City.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
But just barely two months after the release of the Love album and the Key to the City ceremony, Cassie files her lawsuit.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Cassie filed her lawsuit just eight days before an important deadline for the New York State's Adult Survivors Act. If you were a survivor of sexual assault and the statute of limitations had expired, this law opened a one-year window to file a civil suit.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Diddy's attorney responded to Cassie's complaint on his client's behalf, saying, Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations, describing them as riddled with baseless and outrageous lies aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs' reputation.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
But then, as we said in the last episode, Cassie and Diddy settled, just a day after she filed, for an undisclosed amount with no admission of guilt. Both parties said it had been resolved amicably.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Culture reporter Justin Tinsley looks back on all the accolades Diddy collected and goodwill he garnered right before news of Cassie's lawsuit broke, and wonders if there were signs maybe Diddy knew the suit was coming. Justin suspects there was a PR move at play.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
As an attorney, I can tell you that often the person getting sued knows ahead of time that the suit is coming. The plaintiff might reach out to the other party before even filing to see if they can agree to something without having to go to court. And there are some suggestions Diddy might have known something was coming.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
This is just... He thanked Andre Harrell, who famously hired and then fired Diddy from Uptown Records, and his ex, Kim Porter, who had died from pneumonia several years earlier. He thanked artists he worked with early in his career, like Heavy D and the Notorious B.I.G., also Howard University, his lawyer, the fans. And then he said...
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Bad Rap: Before and After
For one, a producer who worked with Diddy during this period, Rodney Jones, claims in a lawsuit to have irrefutable evidence that Diddy was taking steps to soften his image ahead of Cassie's lawsuit. Second, Diddy's lawyer alleges that prior to the suit, Cassie was demanding $30 million under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Which, if true, would suggest Diddy might have known Cassie was considering coming forward with her allegations in some way. Though again, we don't know for sure he was aware ahead of time about her lawsuit. So looking back, all that good press for Diddy preceding Cassie's filing, Was that coincidence or preparation?
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Bad Rap: Before and After
After the break, Cassie's lawsuit inspires others to come forward with their own allegations against Diddy.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Oscar Wilde is credited with saying, quote, everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power. I've thought about this quote a lot as I've read the allegations against Diddy. The idea that power may have been at the heart of it all. Once news of Cassie's lawsuit broke, the floodgates opened and more alleged survivors of Sean Diddy Combs came forward.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
There was a woman who claimed she was raped by Combs in the early 90s when she was a college student. She claims Combs drugged her before the attack and distributed a recording of it as what she calls revenge porn. There was a second woman who alleges when she was 16, she and a friend were raped by Combs and a singer-songwriter, also in the early 90s.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
She alleges that Combs came back the next day and choked her until she passed out, concerned the girls would tell others about the alleged rape. There was a third woman who alleges that in 2003, when she was 17 years old, she was given drugs and alcohol, gang raped and sex trafficked by Combs and two other men.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Combs said in a statement following these suits that he did not do any of the awful things being alleged. He called them sickening allegations by people looking for a quick payday. And Combs' legal team says he's, quote, never sexually assaulted anyone, adult or minor, man or woman. But then came a lawsuit from Rodney Jones, just three months after Cassie had filed and settled hers.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Rodney Jones, or Little Rod as he's known professionally, had been a producer on Diddy's Love album, and he alleges that between 2022 and 2023, while working on the album and living with Combs, the mogul grabbed Jones' genitals and anus without consent.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
According to the lawsuit, Combs tried to groom the producer, attempting to make him comfortable with having sex with men, promising Jones he'd win Producer of the Year at the Grammys if he'd engage in homosexual acts. The lawsuit claims Combs attempted to pass Jones off to male friends. In his lawsuit, Jones talks about freak-offs, just like Cassie did.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
He alleges that Combs forced Jones to hire sex workers and to participate in sex acts with them, and that there were underage girls at Combs' parties too. The lawsuit described a web of people beyond Combs who were involved in supplying these parties with sex and drugs, sometimes drugging guests without their knowledge or consent.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
The court has already weighed in on parts of Jones' lawsuit, dismissing some of his claims and narrowing the list of defendants. Diddy is still on the list, but one of the biggest wins for the mogul was getting the criminal enterprise claim dismissed. The judge said Jones hadn't made a good enough argument that Diddy had conspired with others to harm the producer.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
But another big claim was allowed to move forward. Sex trafficking. Combs' legal team says Jones' lawsuit is, quote, pure fiction. They say there is no criminal conspiracy, and that Jones was not threatened, groomed, assaulted, or trafficked. They say they look forward to proving Jones' claims are made up and must be dismissed.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Jones' lawsuit is still pending, and Combs hasn't settled with any of the alleged victims except for Cassie. Jones' complaint is over 70 pages long, and the thing that most stood out to me is that he says he's got receipts. His lawsuit contains images he claims are taken from videos he has. They allegedly show people named in the suit around the time of the alleged crimes.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Images of Jones with Diddy. People who Jones says are sex workers at parties. Diddy kissing a person Jones says is an underage girl. Jones with a male celebrity, his hand on the inside of Jones' thigh. Many of the stills are bathed in pink or red light, reportedly something that was characteristic of Diddy's freak-offs.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Jones' lawsuit also alleges Diddy had hidden cameras in every room of his homes, suggesting the possibility there could be more video footage out there. Again, I'm not involved in Jones' suit or the criminal case against Diddy, so I don't know the prosecutor's strategy. But here's what I can tell you based on my professional experience.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
When I saw Rodney Jones' complaint and the level of detail it went into on what the supporting evidence allegedly is and where it could be found, I immediately thought, which detective and which prosecutor is reading this and thinking, let's go investigate. Sometimes lawsuits can be written in a way that tips off law enforcement and gives them a roadmap.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
I see it in my own civil litigation practice all the time. This suit by Little Rod felt like an invitation to build a criminal case against Diddy, served up on a silver platter. The initial burst of lawsuits, Cassie to Rodney Jones, were only the first of many lawsuits against Diddy. There'd be dozens more to come in the following months.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
But eventually, the attention surrounding the allegations began to fade. For about six months, much of the public seemed to move on from Diddy's legal troubles. The news cycle moved on, too, until something surfaced that made everyone pay attention again, something that appeared to confirm at least some of Cassie's allegations.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
That's next time on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-HOPE, or go to rainn.org. If you like this podcast, please share it and give it a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thanks for listening. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Why was this shout-out to Cassie such a surprise? Well, it had been four years since Diddy and Cassie had broken up. She was married to someone else, and they had two children. She hadn't yet gone public with her allegations of abuse against Diddy. But that was about to change.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
This podcast was written and produced by Vika Aronson, Camille Peterson, and Nancy Rosenbaum. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor. Associate producer, Amira Williams. We had production help from Shane McKeon and Kiara Powell. Fact checker, Audrey Mostek. Story consultant, Sweeney St. Ville. Supervising producer, Sasha Aslanian. Original music by Evan Viola. Mixing by Rick Kwan.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Ariel Chester is our social media producer. This podcast was powered by the journalists at Impact by Nightline, 2020, GMA, and the ABC News Investigative Unit. Thanks to those teams. And special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Liz Alessi, and Katie Dendas. Josh Cohan is ABC Audio's Director of Podcast Programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Because according to Rolling Stone, Cassie didn't see that public thanks from Diddy as the sweet gesture it may have seemed to fans and viewers. To her, it was distressing, part of a pattern of behavior by a person who allegedly tormented her for years. And it was reportedly this BET moment that compelled her to file her bombshell lawsuit.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Cassie even referenced this BET speech in her complaint, using some of the language Diddy had used to thank her, saying that she was the one who was held down by Combs and that the dark times were the years she allegedly spent trapped in his cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking, made to participate in freak-offs against her will.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
In the years since their relationship ended, the trophies and accolades kept coming for Diddy. He built massive wealth too. And according to other lawsuits, Diddy's abusive behavior didn't stop. It continued with other alleged victims. It would take Cassie coming forward with her lawsuit in November of 2023 for things to start to change, for more people to break their silence.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
In this episode, we'll look back on Diddy's life right before and after the allegations against him went public. He was flying pretty close to the sun with a daring rebrand, a new album, and some big time awards. But those last few years can be seen in a very different light now. I'm Brian Buckmeyer. From ABC Audio, this is Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. Episode 4, Before and After.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Sean Combs may have been born with that name, but he's rarely used it professionally. First, he was Buffy, Puff, and Puff Daddy in the 90s.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Then P. Diddy in the early 2000s. Then in 2005, he became just Diddy. He explained why to MTV.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
There was also a Sean John period. And believe it or not, a swag era. That only lasted a week, though. And in 2017, Diddy announced a new name for himself on social media.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
He declared he'd entered his love era, even legally changing his middle name to Love. He told the New York Times he was remaking himself with the help of therapy and psychedelics. And this name change, this rebrand, it was something he'd been trying to make happen for years. He talked about it in interviews like Vogue's 73 Questions.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
And on talk shows, like the BBC's Graham Norton Show, even using the marriage equality slogan, love wins. This is the ultimate goal. I have become love, and love wins. Love wins!
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Culture reporter Justin Tinsley says just like all of his other name changes, this new one was a way to get attention and stay relevant.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
In 2018, Diddy went on The Breakfast Club, a popular radio show out of New York that for a while was simulcast on his television network, Revolt. The host said they noticed he was in fact different from the Diddy they used to know.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
He said that he was no longer the antagonistic, hot-tempered Diddy that people might have seen in the past. The Diddy that came from a certain environment that he says made him act out.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
this episode contains descriptions of violence and sexual assault please take care when listening In 2022, Diddy was on BET jumping up and down on a stage, stomping his feet and pumping his arms. He wore a matching black top and pants, maybe silk, not a wrinkle in sight, with dark sunglasses and a handful of diamond necklaces. He looked classy, chic. The crowd gave him a standing ovation.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
The Breakfast Club hosts brought up the 2015 UCLA incident, the one where Diddy had allegedly assaulted his son's college football coach with a kettlebell. Diddy said, quote, I put all of that in my past. He continued to push the idea of spreading love, being love, bringing people together, getting closer to God.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
And culture critic Jamila Lemieux says he really embraced the family man persona, too.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
After the unexpected death of Kim Porter, Diddy's ex-girlfriend, he really began promoting his image as a single dad. He took custody of their 12-year-old twin girls, posting on social media, "'New day, new life, new responsibilities. Kim, I got this, just like you taught me.'" People Magazine referred to Diddy as a proud papa and highlighted quality time he spent with his kids.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
If the late 2010s were Diddy's soft launch of the Love rebrand, then the early 2020s were the hard launch. He started a new R&B record label called Love Records. He named his seventh child Love Sean Combs, and he was projecting love in the media too. A 2021 Vanity Fair cover shows a 50-year-old Diddy, shirtless and fit. He's got the word love tattooed down his side vertically.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
He's in profile against a pink and orange backdrop with his fist in a black power salute and his mouth wide in what looks like a scream. He told Vanity Fair reporters in that cover story, quote, the Me Too movement, the truth is that it inspired me. It showed me that you can get maximum change. But despite his best efforts, Diddy's love persona didn't stick. Here's Jameela Lemieux again.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Maybe it's because he was in his 50s by the early 2020s, a seasoned artist that the public had gotten used to rather than a fresh, new voice. And his music wasn't hitting the way it had back in the 90s and early 2000s either. Jamila says his biggest artists were behind him too.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
So maybe that was the reason Love didn't catch on. People just weren't interested enough in his music. He couldn't pull fans along for yet another name change. Or maybe it's because Love is so grandiose and kind of egocentric, right?
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Like when I heard about the name change, I thought, Diddy's about to show up on some podcast and announce a new religion, or try to sell us on a new spiritual practice or something. Could anyone get away with naming themselves Love? Or maybe it was because Love felt tone deaf to people who had been following Diddy's career for decades.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Maybe it didn't match the reputation he'd made for himself all these years. The self-proclaimed bad boy with an allegedly bad temper. A guy who generated rumors about the way he treated women in his life.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Kim Porter had once been asked about the rumors of abuse by OK! magazine, and she denied that Diddy had been abusive towards her. She said, quote, he has a little temper. Sometimes he talks to people in ways they don't like, but he's never been physically abusive to me. There had been rumors about Cassie too. Rumors on gossip sites that he beat her.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
In fact, people honed in on an incident that Cassie later alleged in her lawsuit, how in 2009, Diddy allegedly pulled her out of a club in LA. They got into a fight in the car, and when they got to his house, she tried to run away. Diddy followed her and allegedly kicked her in the face. She bled badly from the injuries.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Looking at the gossip site side by side with the lawsuit now, the echoes are uncanny. But the rumors, the rebrand flop, they didn't seem to slow Diddy down, at least not for a while. Coming up, a series of career highs for Diddy, then a crushing blow.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Chance the Rapper, Janelle Monáe, and tons of other celebs were cheering for Diddy. And then, instead of launching into a song, Diddy started a 10-minute speech.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
By 2022, Diddy was doing very well for himself financially. He'd picked up waterfront property in Miami Beach for reportedly almost $50 million and an L.A. mansion worth $39 million. He was seen cruising the seas on superyachts chartered for upwards of almost $1 million a week.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
Ciroc's partnership with alcohol manufacturer Diageo was a huge source of wealth for Diddy, reportedly making him around $60 million a year. De Leon Tequila and his TV network Revolt were also big earners for him, as well as his music catalog. He was on the road to becoming a billionaire, hip-hop's third billionaire after Jay-Z and Kanye West.
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Bad Rap: Before and After
And by most accounts, in the early 2020s, the entertainment world still loved Diddy. This was when he won that BET Lifetime Achievement Award. He also won MTV's Global Icon Award at the VMAs.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Steve had a lot of money, but it was protected. It was in a trust.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
One of the first mornings Celeste was there, she had the girls bring donuts and they were handing them out to the patients.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
She was a gay woman. She was the manager of the Book People, the largest independent bookstore in Austin.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Tracy, she was in St. David because she had had a really tough time.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
People began to see Celeste showing up at book people, going upstairs to Tracy's office.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Steve had initiated Hamburger Night on Wednesdays when he would barbecue hamburgers for twins and their friends. He loved to cook. He loved to entertain. And one Wednesday, Celeste invited Tracy over for it. Steve was out cooking. The women were out on the patio. And when he walked back, he saw Tracy kissing Celeste.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
It was a really strange call. The caller in the 911 couldn't say what had happened to him, but he was in an extreme emergency.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
The streets were quiet that night. He was in a hurry. He had to get there fast.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Austin Country Club is Old Guard, Texas. It was founded in the late 1800s, and it's considered to be quite prestigious to belong there.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
The same day after Steve was shot, police went to Tracy's house. They knocked on the door and Tracy let them in. At the house, they asked her if she had a shotgun. And she walks him over to the closet, she shows it to him, and they could smell the cleaning fluid. So they took the shotgun with them to be tested.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Days later, when the shotgun was linked to the shotgun shell found in the room, Tracy was charged with attempted murder, with shooting Steve.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Celeste claimed that her odd behavior was because she was grieving, that it didn't strike most of the people around her as being that type of grief.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Celeste was beautiful and smart and you never knew quite what Celeste was going to do and there's something rather alluring about that.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
On the tapes, she was histrionic. It was difficult to think that any mother would talk to a child that way. Bitch!
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
The story she tells the prosecutor is that Celeste was the one who planned Steve's murder.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Celeste tells people that the girls have turned on her. She seems concerned about what they're doing and who they're talking to.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Celeste considered all of the money that Steve had to be hers. And she wanted it all.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Suddenly, Tracy starts to think that maybe she's been played. Tracy says nothing until shortly before she's supposed to go on trial for murder. And at that point, she says to her lawyer, you know, I want to talk to the district attorney. I want to tell them everything.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
The story she tells the prosecutor is that Celeste was the one who planned Steve's murder.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Celeste is facing a murder charge and injury to the elderly. Both are possible life sentences.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
DeGaran kept painting Tracy as this delusional woman, asking about things she had written in her diary.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
But Tracy held up. She hung in there. She didn't become argumentative.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
When they played the audio of the telephone call in the courtroom, it was so intense. I'm listening to Celeste just shrieking on the phone.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
One of the linchpins of the defense is that they have to convince the jurors that the girls are lying.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
At 28, Celeste was married for the third time. She was crazy about Jimmy.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
We were friends. It became kind of a proxy testimony from her, but she couldn't be cross-examined.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
It had been a long trial, and by the time closing arguments were over and the jury left to deliberate, there was a real sense that the case could really go either way.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
The first day ended and we didn't have a verdict. The second day ended and we didn't have a verdict.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
And it was on the third day that we finally got a verdict in the case.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
The whole courtroom was really tense, and then they read the verdict.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Everybody was hushed in the courtroom, and I looked over and I saw that the girls were both crying.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
You don't deserve us. You never deserved us. The girls had really gone through a nightmare with Celeste, and it seemed to just all come together in that courtroom.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
She was rubbing shoulders with people who had millions of dollars, and she saw how they lived.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
When they met, Steve was 69 years old and Celeste was 30 years old.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Steve told people that he really wanted a younger woman that wanted him for his money so that he could show her the world.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
He cared about people, but he also had spent quite a bit of his time amassing his fortune.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Elise came down with cancer, and it broke Steve's heart. And he took such good care of her. He put her lipstick on in the morning. After Elise died, Steve began frequenting the club most evenings. He was living alone, and he was incredibly lonely, so he liked talking to people. And he always sat at a table near the window by himself. Celeste was one of the waitresses.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Steve had been a businessman all of his life, and he believed that he could size a person up. Of course, he had never quite met anybody like Celeste before.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
Steve was at wit's end with Celeste. She was going through money like crazy.
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True Crime Vault: Tainted Love
In early 1999, Steve was at wit's end with Celeste. She was going through money like crazy. He gave her the $500,000 that she was entitled to in the prenup, wanted to show her how to build a fortune for herself, and she had spent all of it and couldn't tell him where it had gone.
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Bad Romance: Barefoot Witness
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power.
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Bad Romance: Barefoot Witness
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
And as we get closer and closer to this trial, I thought it'd be smart to take a step back and look at some of the issues that are likely to be argued in this case. This is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. I'm your host, Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and practicing attorney. If you missed our first six episodes charting Diddy's rise and fall, please go back and listen to those.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
As we wait for jury selection, I want to catch up on a few things I'll be watching in the lead up to the trial. Things that the government and the defense are arguing should be in bounds or should be out of bounds in terms of what the jury will or will not hear. I'm going to talk to you about three issues that the judge, Judge Arun Subramanian, is deciding on or has decided on.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
Anonymous witnesses, video of Diddy attacking Cassie at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles, and the admissibility of Cassie's memoir. First, witness anonymity. When it comes to witness anonymity, what you're talking about is two competing issues. Because Sean Combs...
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Bad Rap: Countdown
love him or hate him, believe him to be guilty or not, does have the constitutional right, as we all do, to face his accuser. But the accuser also has some protections as well. And we've seen a lot of this in more recent cases, especially high profile cases involving sexual assault and rape, where an individual or an alleged victim having their name or their likeness out there in the public
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Bad Rap: Countdown
can be very damaging to them, their health, their mental health, or their finances. And so in these competing interests of the right to face your accuser and the privacy rights of an alleged victim, the judge will carve out some sort of compromise to afford both their rights as much as possible. It's probably best to understand that there are a number of alleged victims here.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
And the government has articulated them by saying there is victim one, two, three, all the way up until seven. And there could be more. We know that according to them, there are victims that are alleging issues with forced labor. There are victims alleging sex trafficking and sexual assault and rape. But then the question becomes, who are these victims?
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Bad Rap: Countdown
Are we gonna know who they are, what their names are? And from our understanding of both this federal indictment, as well as Cassie Ventura's lawsuit, there's a very strong assumption that victim one is Cassie Ventura. Cassie Ventura is Diddy's ex-girlfriend of over 10 years. She's expected, as I said, to testify using her own name, and both sides appear to be in agreeance with that.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
Victim two is extremely different from victim one in terms of the agreements that they've made. the government and the defense seem to agree that victim two will testify under an anonymous name or a pseudonym.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
As it applies to victim three and four, the government's motion has been granted, meaning victims three and four, as they are designated by the government, will be allowed to use a pseudonym when they testify. There's some information that we do know about the alleged victims, though. Some have been in romantic relationship with Combs in the past.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
And as they are set to testify and ultimately do testify, we might learn more about them outside of their actual names. The probably bigger issue when it comes to anonymity is not the what, but the how do you protect someone's anonymity? while also providing the person the opportunity to face their accuser. I've seen a number of things happen.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
I've seen large black sheets put in front of the witness box and they testify behind those sheets where the public in the courtroom or the jurors cannot see who they are, even the defense, but they know who these people are, just that it's not made public.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
I've also seen a situation where everyone in the courtroom, or at least the people who are there as the public, are kicked out as that witness testifies so that only the government or prosecution, the defense, and the jury are aware of their identity. What the judge will decide is yet to be known.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
Victim anonymity, as much as it is protected by the court or it is attempted to be protected by the court, doesn't always work. The courts are made of human beings who do good things, do bad things, and also make mistakes. So is it possible that we might learn the name of some of these alleged victims throughout the course of the trial?
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Bad Rap: Countdown
May they choose to actually release their name when they're done testifying or if Sean Combs is found guilty? Sure. Only time can tell. Up next, the defense tried to keep out that explosive video of Diddy beating Cassie, tried to keep it out of the court, but the judge said it's fair game. More after the break.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
Another big ruling from the judge was about the admissibility of that hotel surveillance video. It shows Combs kicking, dragging, and shoving Cassie while they were still together. The government wants the footage in. Diddy's legal team obviously once that kept out at trial.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
They made some allegations that CNN's version had been altered, sped up, was kind of chopped up and put out of order, and ultimately was deceptive to any jury. CNN adamantly denied these allegations.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
The judge, in reviewing the arguments by both the defense and the prosecution, made the decision that the evidence in that video is more probative, meaning having the ability to prove a fact, than it is prejudicial against Sean Combs. And in making that decision, the judge said, let the jury see the video. And so in some way, shape or form, that video will be played at trial.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
This was a massive blow to Sean Combs' defense. The reason why this is such a big hit is because of the same way that people reacted after they saw that video. And if the jury sees that, along with the arguments supplied by the Southern District of New York,
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Bad Rap: Countdown
a prosecutor's office that has a conviction rate of 90 to 95%, you better believe that's a tool that they're going to use to try to show that Sean Combs is guilty of the crimes he's being accused of. Another big ruling from the judge was whether or not Cassie's unpublished memoir would be used against him.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
Diddy's legal team subpoenaed saying, we legally believe we have a right to this information. They did that for a memoir that was never published. Not only that, but journals, diaries, and documents of her plans to publish it.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
Remember, when Cassie's lawsuit came out, there was talk about a negotiation before that civil lawsuit came out, that Sean Combs' team said that Cassie reached out, seeing if he would be open to settle before a lawsuit came forward. There's a belief or at least some talk about whether or not Cassie was going to publish a memoir or a book to that effect.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
This could be the same thing they're looking for. Now, Cassie's attorneys fought the subpoena, meaning push to have this information not provided to them, them being Diddy's defensive team. And they didn't want to turn over the drafts. The judge ultimately ruled in the favor of Diddy's team and all of those drafts, according to the judge, must be disclosed to them.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
It's getting close. The start of this trial against Sean Combs, a.k.a. Puff Daddy, a.k.a. P. Diddy, a.k.a. Diddy. Jury selection is right around the corner. May 5th. That will be a crucial time for both sides to select people who will ultimately decide Sean Combs' fate. Diddy has been unwavering in denying all of these allegations, and he's entered a plea of not guilty.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
Now you might ask, why does Diddy's team care about these drafts? What will they prove? Diddy's team thinks that in some way, shape, or form, these memoirs will, or at the very least can, discredit Cassie. They're looking to show any kind of distinction or differences in the way that Cassie may talk about the alleged abuse on the stand or in the memoir.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
Because any difference between the two might show an inconsistency that they would say Cassie's lying. And that's a big point for them. What does it all mean when you put it together? These different rulings by the judge, some in favor of the defense, like Cassie's memoir being admissible, or at least the drafts.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
Some, like the video of Sean Combs at the Intercontinental Hotel, showing Combs beating, hitting, dragging Cassie. Does it mean that one side is winning over the other? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how you view that.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
But what it does mean is we start to see how the evidence and the arguments are going to play out in this case, how both sides will have to overcome and utilize these pieces of evidence to try to prove or disprove a case.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
As we head into jury selection, what I want to see is how, especially the defense is going to use this opportunity to try to weave in the narrative of what they're trying to argue. Who is it that we're going to see that comes up as a potential archetype for who they want to be on the jury? What do I mean by that?
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Bad Rap: Countdown
When it comes to cases of sexual assaults of a man against a woman, there are theories that, for example, and I'm not saying this is always true, but this is a theory out there, that boy moms may be the best type of prospective juror if you're the defense. Why is that? People within a group feel more comfortable criticizing other people within their group. So a woman criticizing a woman.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
A man criticizing a man, a black man criticizing another black man, or a white woman criticizing another white woman. People feel less comfortable, at least to some degree, criticizing people outside of their group. But boy moms operate in a very unique space.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
They could feel comfortable criticizing another woman, but they would still think about how a man might be in that situation because they're raising one. And so are we gonna see questions and answers and maneuvers by the defense where they try to go after a specific archetype of a person because they believe that's more beneficial to them? That's what I'm looking for.
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Bad Rap: Countdown
Because sometimes, if not all the time, It's not necessarily the facts that you're arguing. Sometimes it's about the person who's willing to receive those facts and how they interpret it. That's it for this episode of Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. I'm Brian Buckmeyer. Thanks for listening.
20/20
Unholy Matrimony
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
20/20
Gabby Petito: Her Parents Speak Out
I ended her life. I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made.
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Gabby Petito: Her Parents Speak Out
Gabby, I wish I was right at your side. I loved you more than anything.
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Gabby Petito: Her Parents Speak Out
rushing back to our car, trying to cross the streams of Spread Creek before it got too dark to see, too cold. I hear a splash and a scream.
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Gabby Petito: Her Parents Speak Out
She said little, lapsing between violent shakes, gasping in pain, begging for an end to her pain.
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Gabby Petito: Her Parents Speak Out
I ended her life. I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made.
20/20
The After Show: Family Lies?
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power.
20/20
The After Show: Family Lies?
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
20/20
The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
In the video released by CNN, and just a little shameful plug here, we talk about this in the podcast. We actually have Elizabeth Wagmeister who comes on and describes the process by which they obtained the video and the releasing of it. In the video, you have Sean Combs in LA, chasing down Cassie, beating her, kicking her. She's on the ground, curled up.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
It appears that she had left a room and went towards the elevators from the positioning of the cameras. Sean Combs seems to assault her, go back, come back, assault her again, throw a vase at her, kick her. You can see like running down the hall, him wearing a towel around his waist, half naked, her kind of like running out.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So something happened in the room, but you can't see what happened in the room. You can only see what's happening in the hallway. and just outside the elevator, because as people who go to hotels can tell, there's a lot of cameras where the elevators are, and there's often cameras kind of pointing down the hallways and things of that nature. And this video got to me for a number of reasons.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Now, full context, I'm a former public defender here in Brooklyn. I think my last two or three years at the Brooklyn Legal Aid Society, I was in their homicide defense task force. I've represented 55 to about 6,000 cases. I've had to walk to the DA's office because they can't send certain video across email because they're so bad.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
I've seen bad videos of rapes, assaults, homicides, but this one took me back because this was truly, as it appeared to me, an individual who saw another individual as not being human. It reeked of vileness when you watched it.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yes, there was an absolute public reaction. I think the conversations before this video got released were... Maybe she's lying. Maybe this didn't happen. Maybe all these lawsuits are people just trying to get money. Sean Combs is not that person. I mean, he made Biggie. Like he made Mace. He made all that. Like he's not that person. And then that video came out and everyone's like, I was wrong.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah. So first, thanks for having me here. And I think you got to go back to when he started with Uptown Records with Mr. Harrell and then left to start Bad Boy Records. And he was the producer for Notorious B.I.G. And then he had his own kind of music that influenced as well and started with other rappers and creating careers.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
I think people publicly came out and apologized to Cassie because not only did we see this video, but this video was directly referenced in Cassie's lawsuit. She mentioned this assault. And so now you get the situation of, all right, Sean Combs, you settled the civil lawsuit. You said all of this was a lie.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You said there was no admission of guilt, but a thing in this civil lawsuit is now seen by us all. And it's not like a small thing like, Oh, you had an argument. Like, no, this was a beating. How did Combs respond to that? So Sean Combs comes out talking about how he was in a dark place, how he has gone to therapy, how he has changed, how he was disgusted by what he did at the time.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And that's pretty much it. And you can go back and you can see people's public responses. It's not too different from mine. I know the women at The View had their response as to this is a non-apology apology. He's not mentioning who he's sorry to. He's not mentioning what he's sorry for. Social media, everyone blasted him about this response, we'll call it, rather than an apology.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
The reason why this response was like this is because in large part, and I would have told, well, I would have told Sean Combs something very different to do here, but any lawyer would have told him, abide by the rules of that civil lawsuit when you settled it. Part of that civil lawsuit, I believe, are that both parties cannot reference or speak of each other.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And so he's abiding by that lawsuit in a sense by doing that, but And if he didn't, he could have faced civil litigation. He could have been sued for violating that. That could have opened up the case in a way that he didn't want. So smart. Don't mention her name. Legally. Legally. But probably smarter is don't apologize. Because if you're going to do something halfway, it's not enough.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So September comes around and we all see that Sean Combs is in New York, his native home, because he's born in Harlem. He's at Central Park hanging out. I think he's like playing hacky sack, doing things that people do in Central Park. A couple hours later, he gets arrested in the lobby of his hotel.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And we find out that there's an indictment and the indictment gets released when he is in the Southern District of New York. and he's pleading not guilty. Within the indictment, the original first indictment, we see there are three charges.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Racketeering conspiracy, which most people would hear about as RICO, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, as well as transportation for the purpose of prostitution. Three counts. The most serious of the counts has a possible sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And so these are serious, these are wide-ranging allegations because within that racketeering charge, and you'll hear it as there being a criminal enterprise, there are underlying crimes within that criminal enterprise. Sex trafficking, forced labor, arson.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
When you talk about a RICO case, what you're really saying is that this person has a criminal enterprise, and that criminal enterprise is moving towards a singular goal. In Diddy's case, the allegations are the freak-offs, right? The thousand bottles of baby oil, the elaborate recording of sex acts that allegedly lasted for days, where people had to get IVs, where...
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Sex workers were flown in to have sex with individuals who were drugged. There was allegedly GHB in the baby oil. But in order to maintain that criminal enterprise, certain things need to allegedly have been done.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
The arson is a big one for me, and I think also is a connective thread throughout a lot of the allegations, because if you go to Cassie's lawsuit, she says that at one point in time, her and Sean Combs were on a break. And during that break, she was talking to, dating, whatever vernacular you want to use, Kid Cudi, another rapper in the industry.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And her allegations is that Sean Combs threatened Cassie to make him go away. And he, according to Cassie's allegations, said, I will make sure that his car blows up and that his friends or people around him are there to see it, to show the extent of power that he has in order, as the allegations in the indictment would be, to control Cassie.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Because in order to keep her doing the freak-offs, which is what the criminal enterprise does, he needs to control her through means of threats and force. That's how the arson plays into the racketeering conspiracy.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
To make sure that that criminal enterprise still works. That's why when you read the racketeering charge and you see or hear all these little allegations underneath it, it's not that he's being charged with all those little allegations. It's that he did these crimes to make the enterprise work. That's the allegation behind it.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So now, again, you're hearing the feds almost are pretty much corroborate an allegation from Cassie's civil lawsuit that was settled. You now know that Cassie must be a part of this federal indictment, even though the name wasn't released when the indictment happened. And now, at least for me, we travel into a different territory because there are people who sexually assault people.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
There are people who rape people. There are people who have criminal enterprises that feed into that. If you wanna think of the allegations or now the conviction against Harvey Weinstein or R. Kelly. But there's a very unique type of person who blows up cars in order to keep the rape going. To me, it ratcheted up another level.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah, that's within the indictment. The sex trafficking, that's, I think, pretty self-explanatory. Because it's a federal crime, it's an allegation that the person compelled an individual to participate in sexual acts through force, so like blowing up someone's car, fraud, or coercion. You have to stay a bad boy or keep doing this.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And then transportation for purpose of prostitution, that's self-explanatory.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah. So the very definition of a RICO is where two or more people conspire. You can't have a RICO by yourself. And that has had some pushback as well as to why is Sean Combs the only defendant? There has to be, by definition of a RICO, someone else who participated in it. The person who...
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
traveled to go get the sex workers at the airport and brought them to the freak-offs, the person who set up the bed and the room knowing that the freak-offs was going to happen, the person who cleaned up afterwards to hide the allegations that a freak-off was happening, the person who supplied the drugs. All of this is, in essence, a criminal enterprise, so there has to be more people.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And I agree with people when they criticize us and say, well, why aren't there more defendants? And I said, well, the more accurate thing to say is, Why are there not more charged defendants? Because you can be a cooperating suspect or defendant who's not charged. You can be a person who got a deal.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah, because at the end of the day, and again, I always give this as a disclaimer because TV often gets it wrong, but this is one where they get it right. If you can go after the big fish, why are you looking at tadpoles?
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So what happens next is jury selection. It's the process by which both the defense and the government or prosecutor have the opportunity to question prospective jurors about whether or not they're right for this case. And I know oftentimes with cases like this, people say, well, how can you find a juror? Like everyone's heard about Diddy. Everyone's heard about this case.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Everyone's heard about this allegations. Everyone's going to be biased to some degree. Well, the standard actually is, regardless of whether or not you've heard this information, can you put that information aside and listen and only judge based on the information that you have? Now, is it still a difficult thing to do, finding those people in the Southern District of New York?
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
That's going to be difficult. So you find 12 and potentially, I would imagine you've got to find at least four or five alternates because this is scheduled to be an eight-week-long trial. And if the trial does begin, because there's always 11th hour stuff that happens that could push it back.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
If the trial does begin with jury selection on May 5th and then starts on May 12th, which I think is very ambitious to find a jury in five days, don't forget, like... There's Memorial Day. There's the 4th of July. You've got to ask people to miss out a lot of these potential dates and sit for this trial makes it that much more difficult.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And it wasn't just about the music. Bad Boys artists had an era-defining style, a look, baggy, bold, flashy clothes.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah, so the governor or the prosecutor is going to position this as the facts speak for themselves. They're going to put up witnesses who say, I was told to go pick up this person. I was told to bring this person here. Did you know that this person was a sex worker? Yes, I did. It was very clear from where I went.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
I mean, even looking at Rodney Jones's lawsuit where he alleges that he was told to go to strip clubs with a specific hat, that people knew that it was like a bad boy hat.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah, he's here. I know I'm going to go to this party. I'm going to get paid. Like, I need to go. Ronnie Jones tells us about this recruiting process through his allegations. Whether or not they're true, that's going to be up for the government to prove. But that's how the government's going to work this out.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Then they're going to say, well, these people could not have consented because, again, as the headlines were, look at the baby oil. Look at the GHB within the baby oil. You cannot consent when you are intoxicated. Look at how this... traversed over state lines, making it a federal case because it affected interstate commerce. Look at people being forced into this through fraud or coercion.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
All of that is the government's position. For the defense, they're taking the standard of Well, everyone was asking for it. Everyone was in on it. The government are just very much prudes. They like to have sex like a very prudish way.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
If everyone shows up to a sex party and we all say, hey, everyone's of age, we all want to do drugs before this. Is everyone OK with that? We're good. Then, yeah, whatever you do in the privacy of your home is not a crime. And that's what the defense is arguing. And that's not an argument that works when you have dozens of people saying otherwise.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah, so since the original indictment, there have been what we call superseding indictments. And what superseding means is just like this one replaces or takes over the other one, right? And so as those indictments have come up, it's evolved the case in the sense of
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
First indictment, or the indictment, sorry, only three charges, and we only believe to be one alleged victim, and who we believe to be Cassie, from the way you can kind of like... It's like she's not named, but all the details would match with her. Yeah, like going in, going back to the arson, like arson in the indictment, arson in her civil lawsuit, it seems like allegations.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And then as the superseding indictments came out, there were... More allegations within the RICO or the racketeering conspiracy. There is forced labor in there. We went from one alleged victim to four alleged victims. We went from a three-count indictment to a five-count indictment because now we have two sex trafficking charges and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And so I would say... the highway in the mind of the government, the highway towards a conviction is moving in the same direction at the same pace, but there are more lanes now. It's kind of expanded. Is it still moving forward with the same type of charges, racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, Transportation. Yeah. Is it still women and potentially men going to talk about freak ops? Yeah.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
But now instead of one, there are four. And instead of three counts, there are five.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Step one, ask my wife if I can be at ABC like 24-7 to cover this. Step two is for the podcast. So we have an episode, and I think an episode just dropped now. I believe it would be the fifth episode called Downfall. And so we've had one episode come out every week on Tuesday, kind of following the case. But when the trial starts, we're going to do two episodes a week to give you the updates.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
What I love about ABC Audio, aside from the people and everything that they do, is that they facilitate my craziness. And what we're doing is not only reporting about the case, but we're giving about like, oh, this person testified and this is what happened. But we're also going to give you that analysis of...
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Remember when so this person said this statement, this is how it connects to the indictment This is how it connects to the the civil lawsuit that came from here.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
This is how it's gonna come together This is how the defense is gonna potentially cross-examine on this This is how it's gonna like play into the I want that and an ABC is doing a great job of this as well And I think they want it as well. We want that after you listen to one of our episodes that You get to go to the water cooler at work and be like the greatest expert of this case.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You're going to know this as best, if not better than most, because you know better than anyone else. We can't put cameras everywhere. And so unfortunately, we just have to sometimes use our voice to tell a story to reach the most amount of people possible.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
My pleasure. I know I've made it because I'm here with you now. So thank you for having me.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
I mean, not to be the lawyer here, but I would argue he wasn't at the forefront. He was the forefront, right? And I have a brother and sister who were in their early twenties. And so when I talked to them about hip hop and rap, they're like, no, it was always a thing. That genre of music has always been popular. And I'm like, no, there was a time where you weren't supposed to listen to this music.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
It was underground. There was a time that it wasn't mainstream, that it wasn't cool. It was considered a fad that it would come and go and be gone in the next day. And then all of a sudden, you have this guy named Puffy, and I'm still getting used to calling him Diddy. But you have this guy named Puffy who's making it not only cool, but making it into an industry.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Not just through his music and his catalog of music and his artists, but also through getting into the liquor industry and getting into MTV. I mean, MTV was huge, making the band, 106 and Park, his artists, like they shaped our culture and our music in a massive way.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So you can go through the small stuff like the allegations of Sean Combs hitting his son's UCLA football coach with a kettle belt, right? That kind of popped up and we touched more about it in the podcast and then just kind of went away. You can talk about the City College stampede where he is accused of civilly, not criminally, of overpacking this area.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You heard whispers about keeping people's catalog of music and not giving it to them. And that's maybe more so in the business and criminal and civil side. But you also heard about Puffy. And I always find this astounding when people hear, why is his name Puffy? His name is Puffy because he supposedly had a temper, and supposedly still does, and he would puff out his chest and get angry.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So even that, like the name that we've been calling him literally talks about his potential anger issues. And then now we're all like, oh, okay, that dot's been connected. It makes sense now. But it's always been there and glaring. But I think we look past it in light of... He was, in many ways, a representation of Black excellence.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
He was, in many ways, a person who could take something that was very much of the culture of Black and African American people and bring it to the forefront of being rich in culture, but also rich in the sense of how to take yourself from rags to riches to achieve that American dream. And I think everyone, regardless of social status, race, ethnicity, religion, looked at it and admired it.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So I think the first major thing that changed those whispers would be the lawsuit from Cassie Ventura. Cassie Ventura, she's often referred to as Cassie just by the single name as an artist and also a model. And a long time, as we understood it, but are learning a little bit more, I think, through these lawsuits and these criminal cases,
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
A girlfriend of Sean Combs, but now we are hearing allegations that she was, in fact, a victim of Sean Combs. This was, I think, like a 35-page complaint where Cassie did two things that I think were very interesting from a legal and also storytelling standpoint. Mm-hmm.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
She looked at her relationship with Sean Combs and was able to highlight things that we saw in the public eye, things that we saw her at the VMAs. And she said, you might not have seen it, but I was covering up bruises because I was assaulted two days before that. Right.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You may have seen me where I had this record deal for, for 10 albums, which was massive because when she came out with me and you, we were all over that. And that was a song that was not produced by Sean Cohen, but in fact, draw his attention to Cassie. And we thought she was going to blow up. But there was never that blow up. There were no further albums that came out.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And she alleged in that complaint that it was almost as if that deal was held over her head. That she had to commit to these sexual acts. She had to have sex with male sex workers in order to please Sean Combs. That she would be assaulted and transported to different states at his whim. And there was always this... You have to prove yourself.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And again, the juxtaposition of us seeing it in interviews where she had talked to radio stations of saying, my album's coming out. I just have to prove myself to bad boy. And at the time you thought about it as like, yeah, you got to prove yourself to like show how great you are as an artist. And that's how you really make it in this industry. But now we're like, your boyfriend was Sean Combs.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Like, what do you have to prove to him? You had an absolute banger in me and you. We know that you kind of flopped to some degree in the 106 and Park live performance. But what's the missing piece? And I think for many people, Cassie's lawsuit provided that missing piece in the context of this is why this all happened. And here are the allegations she put forward.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Like really quickly by any standards, literally here today, gone tomorrow, because it was filed, I think on a Thursday or Friday. And this is in 2023. In 2023, I think in November of 2023. And then the very next day it was settled. And for people who don't follow a lot of civil lawsuits, we often as a community or a public don't hear the details of the lawsuits.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
who had admitted to what, what the dollar amount was, what was negotiated, what was argued, what agreements go on going forward. And so all we heard was from Sean Combs' legal team, we have settled this amicably and there's no admission of guilt. And that was it.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
the answer is we don't know no one's ever going to know in large part because likely a part of that negotiated settlement is that the parties do not discuss but as a defense attorney and someone who also does a little bit of civil work i can speculate and this is absolute speculation you don't want to go through the process of litigating this type of case
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You don't want to have to sit down for depositions and potential evidence where Cassie is... Because it's one thing to read a 34-page complaint. It's another thing for Cassie to sit down for hours on end and be deposed. It's a very other thing for Sean Combs to be compelled to sit down and be deposed.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You do not want... any of that and when your brand is so attached to your livelihood allegations like that against Sean Combs would destroy him and so I think there's a different calculus for someone like him that says I pay the money I make it go away and I try to just move on and cover this up
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah. Just to give the full breadth and the full context. New York, along with California, has created these laws that allow for a look-back window, is the best non-legal way to describe it. Because for sexual assault and other sexual cases, from a civil standpoint, there's what's called a statute of limitations.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You cannot bring, typically, allegations of sexual assault, harassment, things of that nature, civilly, if it's more than 10, 15, 20 years. But because of these lawsuits that have a window that closes—I think the window is open only for a year—
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah, so we saw, as that window closed, both Cassie's lawsuit and about three or four other lawsuits just before that deadline. And so to some degree, we anticipated it, I think, in the legal community and a little bit for those at ABC who follow this type of stuff. But for the most part, it was like, okay, they're going to get settled. They're going to figure something out.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
I don't think this is going to be a thing where Brad and I are sitting down and talking about this at a podcast because they'll just get resolved and the next big thing will catch people's eyes.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
But that didn't happen, because in those lawsuits, we saw similar allegations of sex trafficking, forced labor, allegations that they observed what happened to Cassian, and even corroborations of some of her allegations as well. And going to the phrase of where there's smoke, there's fire, I wouldn't say at this point we saw any fire, but we started seeing a lot more smoke.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Rodney Jones, he was one of the people in this litany of civil lawsuits who files a lawsuit. And I think like Cassie's lawsuit, if Cassie's lawsuit is considered the spark to create this all, Rodney Jones's lawsuit is the roadmap because in his lawsuit, he says, I saw this, I saw that, this happened to other people. I was forced to recruit these people. This happened to me. Here are still shots.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yes. So I am by trade a defense attorney. I do criminal work. Do I do civil work? Yeah, but that's not my bread and butter. Although it does be a lot of bread and butter. When I read Cassie's lawsuit, I'm like, oh, this is your standard civil lawsuit. This is about damages to me, allegations about what this person did to me. Rodney Jones's lawsuit read like a criminal indictment. It read like...
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And I'm like backing up a little from the microphone so you don't hear me yelling, hey, SDNY, over here, look at these places because you can't start a criminal case. Like I read that and I think that's when I pitched the podcast to ABC and I said, something's gonna happen.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
DHS and the federal government end up raiding Sean Combs' Miami home and his LA home. They went exactly where Rodney Jones said the alleged material would be, and they did it simultaneously. Why does any law enforcement do raids simultaneously? Why do they do raids without people knowing? And from my understanding, Sean Combs is standing on a tarmac in Miami, about to fly off somewhere.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
He's not at these homes, because they know he's not at the homes, and they say, go, go, go,
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And the reason why they do this, number one, safety, right? Law enforcement's going in and they don't want to come across someone who allegedly has guns in their homes and they fire at law enforcement. So safety is a big thing. The other major issues are the preservation of evidence.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
They want to make sure that as they're bursting through the homes, and this is one of the few times that I say TV sometimes gets it right when it comes to these legal cases, they don't want people flushing things down the toilet, swallowing things, bleaching them, throwing them, destroying them, whatever. They want to catch people off guard so they can collect as much evidence as possible.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So if you have someone who's accusing someone of rape and it happens in the same day, same week, the person goes, gets a rape kit. There are certain tangible evidence that you can say, hey, look, look, there's a rape kit. We can tell that this happened. But when you say it happened years ago, there's not that tangible evidence to prove it. It becomes a he said, she said.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
But then the video comes out. And any kind of reasonable doubt that people were willing to give Sean Combs of, I know Sean Combs. I've worked with him. He's not that type of guy. You know what? Maybe she really is just after his money. You know what? She was dating him. So maybe this is buyer's remorse.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
All those kind of explanations and excuses that people give when you have these he said, she said situations, that video silenced them.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Hi, I'm Brian Bachmeier, an ABC News legal contributor and host of Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. You're about to hear our latest episode following everything going on in Sean Combs' trial from the prosecution and the defense. Remember, to hear all of our updates on this case, follow Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
It's interesting that you bring up granting an individual immunity because George Kaplan, one of Sean Combs' personal assistants, we saw him on Wednesday take the fifth and be granted immunity and then testify. So what goes into an AUSA's mindset as to we need to give this person immunity in order to testify and how do you get to that conclusion and what do you do with them?
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
A cross earring dangling from his right ear. He testified about a break-in at his home in December of 2011. While he was with Cassie, he says he got a call from an assistant to Sean Combs, who allegedly told him Combs was in his house. Kid Cudi told the jury he returned home to find his gifts that he had bought for his family had been opened and its dog locked in the bathroom.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
So sometimes people ask me in just a layperson's term, and so I'm going to ask you in this term. Sure. Is it sometimes that you're just going after the big fish and you let the little fish go?
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Just ahead, former prosecutor Moira Penza has faced some of Combs' defense team in court before. And she says they're making some new moves in the Combs trial.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
And I'm back with Moira Penza, a former federal prosecutor who's brought charges similar to what Sean Combs is facing. Perhaps her most high-profile case was the prosecution of Keith Raniere, the former NXIVM leader who was convicted of crimes including racketeering and sex trafficking in 2019. I asked Moira if she sees any parallels between the two cases.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
After the New Year, he testified he got a call that his Porsche was on fire in his driveway. Jurors saw photos of the blackened interior and the charred, melted driver's seat. Kid Cudi said a Molotov cocktail was dropped into the car through a hole cut in the roof. Arson is one of the underlying acts included in the racketeering conspiracy count Combs is facing.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
You've got a little bit of inside baseball here because you've gone up against Mark Ignifilo and Tenny Garagos. And now the SDNY is going up against who I would describe as the lead defense attorneys at Sean Combs. So what can we expect of their style? What can we expect of the way they're going to cross-examine?
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
What can we expect of the closing arguments that the defense is likely going to bring up since you know their style of defense?
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
And Cassie Ventura previously testified that Combs had threatened to have Kid Cudi's car blown up. Kid Cudi testified that he reached out to Sean Combs to kind of squash the beef.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
He met Combs at the Soho House of Los Angeles, where he walked into a room with just Combs standing there, staring out of a window with his arms behind his back, looking like, as Kid Cudi testified, some kind of a Marvel supervillain. That line got a laugh from the jury.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
In your case against Keith Raniere, you had an expert forensic psychologist by the name of Don Hughes, who also testified in Sean Combs' case. How did you use her expertise to help in that case, and how do you see her expertise being used to further the government's case against Sean Combs?
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
So the interesting thing that I found with this case, which also happened in Keith Raniere's case, was that the defense had the argument of some of this was consensual or all of this was consensual as a way of defending their case.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
What kind of difficulties does that create for the government in terms of trying to prove their case that either consent didn't happen or it doesn't matter in the context of these allegations?
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Although Cassie testified she started seeing Kid Cudi when she and Combs' relationship was in a rough patch, Kid Cudi testified that Cassie told him they had been split up. On cross-examination, the defense said both Kid Cudi and Combs were played by the same woman. The person who played you, the person who played Sean, was Miss Ventura, true? One of the lawyers asked. Yeah, Kid Cudi replied.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
How do you prepare alleged victims to testify in court, considering all of what's going to happen in the direct examination, showing up to court, and especially the cross-examination?
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Court's taking somewhat of a longer break for Memorial Day weekend. They're off today on Friday and resume on Tuesday, May 27th. We'll be back in your feed later that day with the latest from ABC News Live's Burden of Proof. If you have any questions about the case you'd like me to answer, call and leave a voicemail at 929-388-1249. Thanks to everyone who's called.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
We love hearing your questions and we'll answer as many as we can on future episodes. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer. Our podcast production team includes Vika Aronson, Nancy Rosenbaum, Audrey Mostek, Amira Williams, Tracy Samuelson, and Sasha Aslanian.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Caitlin Morris, Liz Alessi, Katie Dendas, and the team at ABC News Live. Michelle Margulis is our operations manager. Josh Cohan is ABC Audio's director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
We're dropping two new episodes every week, including one that's not available anywhere else. Now here's our episode.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
And this week, the jury saw other photos too, including pictures of baby oil, lingerie, platform heels, and sex toys. You'll recall Diddy's Los Angeles and Miami homes were raided by federal agents back in 2024.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Special Agent Gerard Gannon testified that the feds recovered the parts of two AR-15 assault-style rifles with defaced serial numbers only feet from where Combs allegedly stored supplies for freak-offs. Prosecutors have argued that the threat of violence allowed Combs to coerce his alleged victims to participate in freak-offs.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Jurors also saw baggies of colorful pills and other drugs allegedly found in Combs' home, including marijuana, powders, and other drugs that prosecutors have alleged were used to make participants compliant during freak-offs and would allow them to perform well past the point of exhaustion.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Thursday afternoon, a makeup artist who worked with Diddy and Cassie testified that she saw Cassie with a swollen eye and busted lip and knots on her head after the Grammys in 2010. Altogether, this week, it felt like the prosecution was really beginning to build support for its racketeering conspiracy charges. This is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and practicing attorney. This episode, prosecutors go for the big fish. As we wrap up the second week of USA v. Sean Combs, I wanted to sit down with someone who could take listeners inside what goes into prosecuting a high-profile case like this one. a federal criminal case that combines RICO charges along with sex trafficking.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
My guest, Moira Penza, is a trial attorney working in private practice. She's not involved in the Diddy prosecution, but she's got a lot of interesting insight because back in 2019, she was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Moira was the lead prosecutor on a RICO and sex trafficking case the government brought against a man named Keith Raniere.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
He was the leader of a company called Nexium that sold self-improvement classes and workshops. Moira and her colleagues proved that Raniere was in charge of a criminal enterprise that engaged in sex trafficking and forced labor, among other crimes. Raniere is currently serving a 120-year sentence. and two members of his defense team are now representing Combs, Mark Ignifilo and Tenny Garagos.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
So Moira has faced off against some of Combs' attorneys in open court, which is another reason I was curious to talk with her. Now, in this conversation, we're going to lean on Moira's expertise and experience as a prosecutor. You'll hear that in how she talks about these cases. She often assumes the government's point of view.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
But we want to remind you that Sean Combs has pled not guilty to all of the federal charges he's now facing. I started by asking Moira what stood out to her so far about the prosecution and defense strategies in the Combs case.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Let's talk about the part of the case you think is the most clear-cut, the charges of sex trafficking. Why do you think that?
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
We saw a lot happen in court this week, so let's catch up. The last few days featured testimony from a really wide range of witnesses.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
We heard from two special agents from Homeland Security Investigations, two former assistants who worked for Sean Combs, a makeup artist, and perhaps the most anticipated witness this week, Scott Muscadie, better known as rapper Kid Cudi, who once dated Cassie Ventura.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Now, we've been getting a lot of questions from listeners about the RICO charges Sean Combs is facing. When people hear RICO, they might think of a criminal organization, like a mob or a gang. I've also heard people talk about that the RICO statute being applied here is overly broad. So can you help our listeners understand why the government is using RICO laws to prosecute Sean Combs?
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
So I'm actually curious about this because I've tried to have this conversation with my friends and they're always saying Sean Combs made music. He produced music. He had a whole fashion line, alcohol, everything. His organization isn't criminal. He's a business person, but then he did freak off. So like only a percentage or a small part of it could be considered criminal.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
So how are you calling what he's doing a criminal enterprise? Can you make sense of that?
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
In her civil lawsuit, Cassie alleged that Combs threatened to blow up Kid Cudi's car after finding out that she and Kid Cudi were dating. Well, Thursday, we finally heard Kid Cudi's version of that story. Kid Cudi walked towards the witness stand, wearing a black leather jacket opened with a white t-shirt underneath, blue jeans, and crisp white sneakers.
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Bad Rap: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Last thing on this whole RICO allegation and charge, two-part question. What does the government need to prove in order to make out their case against Combs that he's guilty of RICO charges? And from what you've seen so far, are they doing that?
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The Crime Scene: Tupac Murder Suspect Speaks Out
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power.
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The Crime Scene: Tupac Murder Suspect Speaks Out
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio coming March 25th, wherever you get your podcasts.
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The Crime Scene: Tupac Murder Suspect Speaks Out
We're interviewing the new housekeeper. It's been a minute since we've been out in the wild. It might take some time. We have all weekend to find... See you back at the house.
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The Crime Scene: Tupac Murder Suspect Speaks Out
All episodes streaming March 28th. And for a limited time, get Disney Plus and Hulu for just $2.99 a month.
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The Crime Scene: Wife of Green Beret Charged with His Murder
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power.
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The Crime Scene: Wife of Green Beret Charged with His Murder
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
Hi, I'm Brian Bachmeier, an ABC News legal contributor and host of Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. You're about to hear our latest episode following everything going on in Sean Combs' trial from the prosecution and the defense. Remember, to hear all of our updates on this case, follow Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
I have heard these elements before. And that's when I started to piece together, I think they're getting closer to the trafficking allegations. Now I say closer because they still need to have individuals come forward and testify to say, I was part of this criminal enterprise. Sean Combe did this intentionally for the purpose of trafficking. This wasn't just a violent relationship.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
I think they still need a lot of pieces, but I'm starting to see the pieces align with what the government is accusing in the second day of testimony.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
So I always hate to look over a defense attorney's shoulder and be like, this argument doesn't really make sense. But when the defense made the argument that this is not transportation for the sake of prostitution, because Sean Combs was paying for the time of escorts and dancers because he was just believing he was paying for their time, wasn't paying for sex.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
And the defense that they were making, I just didn't think really worked out. And it just seems like an easy layup for the government and the way they're presenting this case. So I don't see an argument to combat what you're articulating. And I agree, the easily laid out facts that make out that charge. When it comes to the racketeering, I think that's more difficult for the government.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
There are a lot more moving pieces that you have to fit into place. And if one moving piece doesn't fit correctly, the whole structure can fall.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
And I see the defense having much more opportunities to poke holes in that case or to make that structure fall when it comes to the sex trafficking charge, when you're arguing this is simply just domestic violence, and the racketeering when you're saying there is no criminal enterprise here.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
So the pro of having your star witness testify so early, and I don't even think they really had a choice with this. Cassie Ventura is very much pregnant to the point that I think her due date must be very soon.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
Yeah. And so I think for her health, the health of her child, the health of her family, I think the government's doing the right thing by getting her in and out of here as quickly as possible. So it's not really a choice in terms of strategy here. But if it was a choice and it was strategy, I think it's good in the sense of you set the tone and the tenor of the case very quickly.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
You understand what happened to your star witness or the alleged victim, however you want to describe them or what perspective you're looking at it. And you hopefully that carries on throughout the trial.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
How she started off participating in orchestrated sex performances called freak-offs because she wanted to please Combs. How she says leaving a freak-off early led to Combs beating her in the hallway of the Intercontinental Hotel back in 2016. The jury saw videos of that incident captured by the hotel's surveillance cameras.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
The difficulty or the downside of that is when you get to a point where you're doing your closing argument some eight weeks later, the end of June, beginning of July, you've got to keep telling people, remember what I said two months ago? Remember this? Remember that? And... jogging their memory and trying to piece it all together can be difficult.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
And I think it might also amount to a little bit of a longer deliberation time because then the jury's got to get in there. They got to request testimony from two months ago.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
I mean, with your handwriting, we should just photocopy it and send it to the jurors at this point. I think it would work out much better. But that's kind of the downside there. Thanks to ABC coordinating producer Tanya Simpson for joining me for this episode. Tanya, I'll be seeing you back in the courtroom.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
Before we go, if you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE or go to rainn.org. That's it for this episode of Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. Make sure to check out a new special from ABC News called Diddy on Trial. That's now streaming on Hulu.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
Nightline co-anchor Byron Pitts sits down with Charlucci Finney, a music producer and longtime friend of Combs, in his first network interview. Here's a clip from the special. I never received a dollar from him as a payroll. That's my brother. Blood make you related, but loyalty make you family. You can find Diddy on Trial from Impact by Nightline only on Hulu.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
If you have something you're curious about in the Diddy trial, leave a voicemail for me at 646-504-3221. You might even hear me answer it next week on the podcast. The number again is 646-504-3221. You can also find it on our show notes. Thanks to everyone who's called in to ask your questions so far. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
Our podcast production team includes Vika Aronson, Nancy Rosenbaum, Audrey Maztek, Amira Williams, Tracy Samuelson, and Sasha Aslanian. Special thanks to Stephanie Morris, Caitlin Morris, Liz Alessi, Katie Dendos, and the team at ABC News Live. Michelle Margulis is our operations manager. Josh Cohan is ABC's director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
Combs denies the federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and interstate transportation for prostitution he's facing, and he's pled not guilty. Under cross-examination, the defense asked Cassie to read texts she'd sent to Combs. Texts they say show her willingness, eagerness, and agency in the relationship.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
The defense also questioned whether her reluctance to participate in Combs' freak-offs was because she wanted their relationship to develop more, and to be more than their sexual encounters. In other words, was the story more about jealousy and infidelity than the serious charges Combs is facing?
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
One of the people keeping an extremely close eye on everything happening in the courtroom is my colleague, Tanya Simpson. She's a coordinating producer for ABC's investigative unit. We're going to talk about what she heard and observed while sitting in the courtroom when Cassie was on the stand. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and practicing attorney.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
You're listening to Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. This episode, Star Witness. Tanya, you and I have both been in court every day. I think we've been like line buddies as well for a while. We've heard some really incredible testimony. And I say incredible, not because it's like amazing, but just... almost beyond belief, most notably from Cassie Ventura, Diddy's ex.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
We're dropping two new episodes every week, including one that's not available anywhere else. Now here's our episode.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
We'll get into that in a minute. But listeners might be surprised to learn we can't take any electronic devices into the court with us, so we have to take notes the old-fashioned way, pen and paper. How's your wrist holding up, by the way?
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
And I know you guys can't see this, but Tanya's flipping through his book. One, some of the nicest writing I've seen. Two, very small writing. And so you're like squeezing things into the margins just to make it fit, but it's still just covering the page.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
Okay. So Tanya, let's dive into these notes of yours and see what you think about this case. What have been some of the more compelling points each side has made this week, or things that stood out to you, maybe more so in Cassie's testimony?
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
You mentioned Cassie Ventura's husband, Alex Fine. And I know that you and I are very close. I think you're just a little off to my side and maybe one row behind. I'm curious if you saw what I saw. I saw him staring at Sean Combs as well. But did you see the side of his face and his ear turn red as if he was getting heated? He turned red.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
I understood why the judge came to the conclusion that they did. There are competing constitutional rights in the courtroom at any given time. Privacy rights of the alleged victim, constitutional rights of the defendant, but also constitutional rights of the public and the media. And I think when all of these butt heads, the court errs on the side of
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
A warning that this episode includes discussion of violence, sexual assault, and suicide. So please take care when listening. This week, USA v. Sean Combs has been mostly about one witness, singer Cassie Ventura, who was in a romantic relationship with Sean Combs for over a decade. Cassie brought the first civil lawsuit against Combs in 2023.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
let's protect the person who has gone through these alleged acts. While they are allegations, there are documentations and photos of them as well. And I think the belief is that we as journalists can have the ability to articulate what we saw and heard in court sufficiently enough to inform the public without, as the court suggested, re-traumatizing Cassie or anyone else who takes the stand.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
We do have the opportunity, because we're in court, to see how the jury and people in the courtroom react. So how did they react when they saw some of these very graphic pieces of evidence and also hear the testimony?
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
Tanya, in the morning, Cassie came across as very stoic and matter-of-fact. In a way, to me, that was a little jarring. I think if anyone is describing the sexual abuse and the trafficking or the allegations thereof, you would be trepidatious. You would be shocked. You would say it as like a shocking thing. But she talked about it as plainly as I'm talking about.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
Yeah, you're wearing a green sweater. Yeah, you have headphones on. And she was just matter of fact. But in the afternoon when the testimony got very dark, things changed, right?
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
When we come back, what are the stakes for the prosecution in having their star witness testify at the very beginning of what's expected to be a long trial?
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
It included allegations of sex trafficking and was settled quickly with no admission of guilt. This week, we learn through her testimony the amount of that settlement, $20 million. For a long time, that lawsuit was the only look we had into her experience with Sean Combs.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
I'm back with Tanya Simpson. She's the coordinating producer for ABC's investigative unit and someone who's been in the courtroom paying very close attention to what's unfolding and where debriefing on what we observed.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
So I think when I watch trials, I watch them a little differently than the average person, which I also think is somewhat at a bit of a disadvantage because at the end of the day, it's not an attorney who decides guilt or innocence. It's everyday citizens who sign up and choose to be jurors. But when I listened to the testimony yesterday, And I watched the jurors.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
I'm thinking, here is the square hole. This is the peg that the government is trying to fit into it. And is it fitting? Is a square peg too big? Is it a circular peg? Is a triangular peg? Whatever it is. And I would say in the first day of Cassie's testimony, it didn't feel like this peg was fitting correctly into the hole.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
And the reason for that is, is as a former public defender at the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, I've represented people who have been victims of domestic violence, victims of sex trafficking, people who have sex trafficked others. And I say, listen to it. I was like, does this sound like domestic violence or does it sound like trafficking?
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
And then the first day I was like, these sound like the elements of a crime that would be more in line with domestic violence from the facts that we were hearing. But on the second day of testimony, that's when I started to hear testimony and evidence. And also the way that Cassie was talking about Sean Combs, I was like, I've heard this tone before. I have heard this type of conversation before.
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Bad Rap: Star Witness
I remember when we were researching earlier episodes of this podcast, the lawsuit was one of the very few sources of information we had to draw from to try to understand her side of things. And now, here's Cassie Ventura, sitting in court, very pregnant, answering question after question, testifying to how she believes Sean Combs held her career back.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Hi, I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and host of Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. Sean Combs is currently on trial, and on my podcast, we're covering everything that goes on in the courtroom, from the prosecution and the defense.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
They included a massage therapist, a freelance writer, an investment analyst, and a high school wrestling coach, a real cross-section of New Yorkers. One by one, they answered questions from the judge. Questions like, have you listened to podcasts about this case? What social media do you use?
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Could a jury consultant be part of potentially preparing Sean Combs if he decides to testify?
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
I'm curious how that looks because, again, as a defense attorney, my clients often can't afford a jury consultant. So my prep of a defendant to potentially testify may differ from you. For me, I get in one of my buddies or a friend and I say, grill this client as if you're a prosecutor and see if you can make them sweat, see if you can make them lash out.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
And then we gauge how they did on that cross-examination. I might get a few interns, a few first year associates or attorneys as prospective jurors. And that's how I would prep a defendant or a client to potentially take the stand. Am I that far off from you or are you doing something similar, something different? Like how would Sean Collins be prepped to potentially testify?
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
What is some of the wildest thing you maybe have seen during this quote unquote cyber stalking that you're like, red flag, we've got to bring this up?
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Yeah. And I'll share one example as well. I've had jury selection where one prospective juror got up on the witness stand, said that he couldn't trust those people. We went into a private chamber with the judge who was Hispanic, two prosecutors who were white. My co-counsel was white and I'm the only black person. And the prospective juror who was not black kept saying, I can't trust those people.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
I kept telling everyone we could just move on guys. Like, you know what he's saying? And ultimately the prospective juror turned and looked at me and he says, I don't trust them. And I'm like, I'm not even on trial. So I don't know what we're doing here. But the person was excused. So yeah, we see crazy things like that.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Also, questions about whether they think they'll be able to listen to testimony that's sexual in nature, about things the government says are a crime. What's the purpose of these questions? It's to figure out whether the juror can give Sean Combs a fair and impartial trial. Legal minds like me refer to this whole jury selection process as voir dire. It means to speak the truth.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
And I'll follow up on that because there's a difference between what a person says and how they say it. And I think with the defense attorney and even the government, they'll look at how it's said and say, all right, I might not be able to get them out for a cause, but I will definitely take them out for peremptory challenges. If I say, I really like Eric. I want to go out for a beer with him.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
You're like, I think Brian wants to hang out with Eric. But I would say, I really like Eric. I may want to get a beer with him. Same words, but the way in which it was said, it's clear whether or not Erickson used one of his peremptory challenges to go get a beer with me.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Got it. Thank you very much, Dr. Eric Rudish, for your time here. Really appreciate the conversation. Thank you. I appreciate it. By the way, you're going to see peremptory strikes in action in Diddy's trial today. For cause is when a judge or attorney strikes a prospective juror for bias or because they won't be able to be impartial.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
A peremptory challenge is when attorneys strike a juror for any reason at all. But importantly, they have a limited amount of strikes. In this case, the prosecution will get six and the defense has 10. The number of parameter challenges depends on how much potential jail time a defendant is facing. Before we go, we want to catch you up on one other highlight from the courtroom this week.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Mark Garagos, a lawyer who has represented Diddy in the past, got scolded by the judge for the way he's talked about the prosecutors in the case. Now, Garagos isn't officially one of Diddy's attorneys for the trial. His daughter is, but he's someone they've been consulting in court. Garagos has a podcast, and on it, he referred to the team of prosecutors as, quote, a six-pack of white women.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Judge Subramanian did not like that. Neither did the prosecutors. They told the judge that the podcast has several million subscribers, and his statements could infect the jury pool. The judge spoke to Garagos in chambers. We have a transcript of the exchange. He called the language outrageous and said it wouldn't be tolerated in any court from any lawyer in the country.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
He warned Garagos that he'll be listening to the podcast from now on. So Garagos made a joke about being all for it as long as the judge subscribes. Last thing, we have a listener call-in line so we can answer your burning questions about Sean Diddy Combs' case. The number is 646-504-3221. That number again is 646-504-3221. You can also find it in our show notes. Please, leave us a message.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
You might hear your question and my answer in an upcoming episode of this podcast. That's it for this episode of Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. I'm Brian Buckmeyer. We'll be back next week to catch you up on opening statements and where the trial could go from there. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
The production team includes Vika Aronson, Nancy Rosenbaum, Audrey Maztek, Amira Williams, Tracy Samuelson, and Sasha Aslanian. Special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Caitlin Morris, Liz Alessi, Katie Dendas, and the team at ABC News Live. You can check out their daily show, Burden of Proof, The Case Against Diddy, streams weekdays at 5.30 p.m. Eastern on ABC News Live.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Find it on Disney+, Hulu, or on most of your favorite streaming apps. Michelle Margulis is our operations manager. Josh Kohan is ABC Audio's director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
While the courtroom theater has already begun, the government and the defense have been preparing behind the scenes for months. And gaming out jury selection is a crucial step in that preparation. Think about it. The 12 jurors and six alternates who will be seated for this trial are going to hear all of the arguments, listen to all of the witnesses, and see all of the evidence.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
For the last four years, it's been this rollercoaster of magic. The Emmy Award-winning series returns.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
We'll bring you one update every week right here on Fridays, but you can get extra content, including a whole extra weekly episode that's not available anywhere else if you follow Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, wherever you listen to podcasts. Now, here's our latest episode.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
This assortment of people will ultimately decide whether Sean Combs is guilty or not. He continues to deny all of the charges against him. So in this episode, we're going to hear from someone who knows a lot about the strategizing that goes into jury selection and how that could play into this case.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
This is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and practicing attorney. This episode, a good juror. My guest today is Eric Rutich. He's a senior litigation consultant with Blueprint Trial Consulting. His job is to help legal teams prepare for trial, including jury selection. And to be clear, he is not working on Diddy's case.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Now, before we hear my conversation with Eric, I just want to mention that as a former public defender, I've never worked with a jury consultant. This process we're going to describe, it doesn't happen on every case. Actually, far from it. That's because jury consultants are expensive. They typically work on really big cases with really deep pocketed clients.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
We know from court records that Combs' lawyers are using a jury consultant. And even more rare, so is the prosecution. So I started off by asking Eric about what his job entails. I think a lot of people haven't heard of a jury consultant or at most, maybe they've seen a fictionalized version on TV.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Let's have a little fun, right? You and I just met a few minutes ago. You know that Brian Buckmeyer is going to walk in as a prospective juror. What are some of the things you're going to try to look into? Where are the avenues where you might look into them, where you would have the ability to tell a client Brian's good for your jury or maybe Brian's not good for your jury?
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Now, do you or jury consultants take like a one size fits all? You say, OK, this is an assault case, so we're going to do it this way. This is a rape case. We're going to do it this way. This is a murder case. Is that kind of how that works?
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Now you use the word test the case and for whatever reason that kind of brought me back to law school the fun parts I remember where we did mock trials where we did like an exhibition of what a trial would look like with fake jurors and a fake defendant and a fake case are you doing mock trials with some of your clients to show them how to do this?
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Well, if you ever need an ABC legal contributor and like you put me up at a hotel and just I'm happy to be part of this focus group for a couple of days. I'll let you know our daily rate and you can see if it works for you. Exactly. Now, there's been a lot of talk about questionnaires.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
And in this case, there is a 31 question questionnaire that went out to the prospective jurors before they even got into the court. What stood out to you? Also, what would you give in the questionnaire, like an A plus, or what would you say this could have been worked on a little bit better? And then ultimately, how do you think it does in terms of picking a good juror?
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
This week, jury selection kicked off in the trial of Sean Diddy Combs.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Now, just to be clear to our listeners, you are not working on the Diddy case. And based on my understanding and being in the court, there is a jury consultant there. And so let's kind of put you into that role there. Sean Combs has now hired you or the SCNY has now hired you.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
If you were working on this case on either side, what would be the sort of profile that you're looking for for the type of juror in the Sean Combs case?
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Within the questionnaire, and even when asking a prospective juror, there are going to be individuals, as you know, who are going to say that they were victims of sexual assault or abuse in the past. When that issue comes out, how do you parse through which one of those individuals can be fair to a defendant like Sean Combs and who can't be fair?
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
In the public defender's offices and some of the conversations that I just have with attorneys, we seem to think, and please tell me if I'm crazy or if this makes sense, that there are certain archetypes of people.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
That if you have a certain case that you want someone who is a woman with a certain education and a certain background or a certain part of Brooklyn, because we may know the different communities. Or we have another case, you might want a blue collar male worker who looks at protecting their three daughters in a way that's different than someone else.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
We're never really sure how long this jury selection process could take, but the judge has been running a very tight ship, and so we seem to be on track for the trial to start next week. We could hear opening statements as early as Monday, May 12th. This week, we saw dozens of prospective jurors cycle in and out of the courtroom.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
So Eric's explained what jury consultants do before and during voir dire. But is there a role for them to play later on in the trial? And what are some of the more surprising things Eric's found doing background research on potential jurors? That's after the break.
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Bad Rap: A "Good Juror"
Once the jury is selected, is it kind of, I'm done, I walk away from the case, on to the next one? Or is there still more that you carry on with the case?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
I will say this, for whatever it's worth though, we heard this event from Kid Cudi, we heard it from Cassie, and now we heard it from Capricorn Clark, and all three of those stories have different versions of what happened. Was there a car chase or was there not a car chase?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Yeah, but it's not just minor things. There was a whole car chase that was added into it. There were whole arguments that were added to it from different people. So I agree with you. Yes, was the person wearing a green dress or a brown dress? Yeah, that's minor. But it wasn't just minor differences in the stories.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Hey, it's Brian Buckmeyer. Court was back in session today after the holiday break with explosive testimony from a former assistant to Sean Combs. The former assistant told the jury that Diddy threatened to kill rapper Kid Cudi after learning about Cassie Ventura's relationship with him. More on that and other big moments from the Diddy trial from our colleagues over at ABC News Live.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Well, I mean, I think the obvious answer has got to be Cassie Ventura. Cassie Ventura, for a number of reasons. One, according to the government, she is victim number one. And she does describe a lot of the allegations that the government is putting forward against Sean Combs, whether it be the racketeering conspiracy as to how this criminal enterprise operated, the different players.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
She's named a few of the security guards, for example, D-Rock. Ruben, also the sex workers and dancers who participated in these freak-offs. She's named them all because she participated in hiring them, according to her, because Sean Combs made her do so. And then, of course, just hearing the other details, like Kid Cudi's car being hit with a Molotov cocktail.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
That's really giving us direction as the case continues.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
All right, so it matters for two reasons. One would be corroboration. So corroboration is when one witness takes a stand and says, this is what happened, this is how it happened, this is where it happened. And then you have another witness who is also privy to those events and saying, yes, Cassie Ventura was abused, she was harmed in this way.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
But another reason it also plays into this, and you're looking at this quote here as well, is Capricorn Clark is a part of this case in her own right because of that kidnapping allegation that feeds into the racketeering conspiracy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
She's telling us about individuals who participated in kidnapping her and attempting to go after Kid Cudi and threatening his life, according to her allegations, and that feeds into that criminal enterprise that the government is saying Sean Combs is at the head of.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Here's today's episode of Burden of Proof, the case against Diddy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Yeah, so in court it took them a little bit of time to land this plane, but it did come out pretty well. They had it up there as a piece of evidence. I think the idea here is, is that people keep going back to Sean Combs. There were allegations that he had pushed her at one point in time and then she quit.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Then she went to another job where she was making over $30,000 more than she was at Sean Combs' job. and then she decided to come back again and then quit or got fired and then came back.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
The back and forth, back and forth, but underlying it all is showing these text messages that she was very enamored by him, very much in love with him, showing that at one point in time she had the biggest crush on him as well, and trying to show that it's not the violence that people are running away from, but actually that Combs, they're running back to him for the reasons of trying to be close to him, trying to be close to power, trying to get something out of him.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
And I think they're gonna try to use those allegations and that kind of thought process for Capricorn as they will with Cassie.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
So on one hand, it could be that they believe they've done all what's on their checklist, that they've established a criminal enterprise, they've shown the freak ops were elaborate and organized, that they've demonstrated there wasn't consent in this. But it could also be the fact that we heard that victim number three, who we believe to be Gina Huang, isn't showing up.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
And maybe without this other alleged victim in the case, they have a much shorter case to prove or put on at least. And so maybe that's why they're stopping short of what we believe that would have been their case.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
So we already heard the evidence that Kid Cudi put out there saying that his car was hit with a Molotov cocktail. There was an investigation that went into it. So we're going to hear from the LA Fire Department as well as the LAPD. And I think one point that did come out that didn't really land as hard, but it might do so, In that investigation, there was female DNA on this car.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
We know that Kid Cudi was at his ex-girlfriend's sister's house at the time this happened. Maybe there's something else for the defense to dig in there, or maybe it's nothing.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Yes, I'm going to do exactly what the defense did today and not talk about anything that was bad, and then just switch over to something else. Because that's exactly what the defense did here, and I think that's all you can really do. And instead, they used this witness to try to get information out like, why was Cassie's career on hold? Was she really that talented?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
And you had Capricorn Clark say, well, she had talent, but she wasn't talented. I think they're trying to go after the argument of saying that Sean Combs wasn't controlling her career to a point that she couldn't get music out. She said she wasn't that good.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
And I think that's another argument that they try to focus on and really just sidestep that issue because they didn't touch that a lot, if at all, on cross-examination.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
I mean, she brought that up on her own. It was a discussion about, so the context was, was she talented or was she not? And then she brought in that Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey comparison and said that Cassie Ventura is what she called a studio artist.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
That she was someone who had to be in the studio and have the different technologies alter her voice in a way that made it a product that can be sold. And I have the idea there for the defense is, the reason why her career didn't go so well, that she wasn't good when it came to live performances, which
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Many people saw when Cassie did a performance for 106 and Park that she could only be product in a certain way and not in other ways. And that's why her career failed. It wasn't because of the freak ops. It wasn't because of Sean Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Yeah, I mean, all I can think about. I know you want to avoid this. Oh yeah, I want to avoid it all. But all I can think about were Kid Cudi's words and be like, this guy's a Marvel super villain. Like this goes beyond the trafficking. This goes beyond like sexual assault and abuse. This is someone that the government's going to say, look at the amount of force.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Look at the people that he could bring together to exert this force, to break into someone's home.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
to hold an employee at gunpoint, because that's what she accused Sean Combs of, of having a gun there, telling her, you're getting dressed, I don't care what you're doing, we're going out here and we're doing this, and I'm going to kill him, we're going to kill him, were the allegations that were put forward today.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
and you wanted to be with him. You understood this relationship, but it was a violent relationship. Why did you go off and do these freak-offs? Why did you go across state lines? Because it was a part of the relationship and it wasn't part of control.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
But when you got there, the part of the relationship when you went out for dinner, when you went to freak-offs, when you went to award ceremonies, he beat you because he's a domestic abuser, but he's not a sex trafficker. It's about making a very logical distinction between the two to try to say he's guilty of something, but not what he's being charged of. I saw you moving.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
But real quick, and Bernardo I think is saying it better, far better than the government is doing, nothing that Bernardo said was about trafficking. Everything that Bernardo just talked about was about domestic abuse. And I think the defense can say, yes, all of that is true, and that's what we call domestic violence, but that's not trafficking.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
Hi, it's Brian Buckmeyer. For a second day, Cassie Ventura was on the stand in the trial of Sean Diddy Combs. For analysis of her testimony, we're going to bring you a show from ABC News Live called Burden of Proof, The Case Against Diddy. The show streams weekdays at 5.30 p.m. Eastern on ABC News Live. You can find it on Disney+, Hulu, or on most of your favorite streaming apps.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
Absolutely. And they're beginning to do so. We're going to start off with that top charge of racketeering. And just give you a legal definition. I'll break it down in simpler terms. Racketeering is basically when two or more people conspire to commit criminal acts in furtherance of that criminal enterprise. And so when I'm talking about the links,
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
We hear about the criminal act that's funneled by the freak-offs, the rape, the sexual assault, the videotaping, the threats of violence is also threats of humiliations of putting out those videos if Cassie was to say anything. And then we kind of think about the criminal enterprise, right?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
Today we heard about 13 different escorts and dancers that were hired from different states all across the country. Those are the people who are participating in the freak-offs. And then we heard about some of the damage that comes from them and the harm that follows.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
As well as Cassie, when she took the stand, she pointed to a photo, not this one exactly, but one of that night where they're wearing the same dress and said, after one of these brutal nights, she had a bruising on her right leg. And she was able to point out in court where she believed those bruises were.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
So the defense has definitely have their work cut out for them because the prosecution is making some strong arguments.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
So again, going back to those escorts and dancers, they were from Las Vegas, LA, Miami, New York. One of the major reasons why this is a federal case is because they're talking about
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
Today, you'll hear me on there with host Eva Pilgrim. Take a listen.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
crossing over state lines, that they themselves went to these different locations or hire these individuals to come to various locations, both domestically and internationally, to participate in these alleged freak-offs. And that's where we get a lot of the racketeering and the sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
And of course, that last charge, the transportation to engage in prostitution.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
So an interesting thing that the defense is doing is they're trying to make a distinction between sex trafficking and domestic violence. They're saying that it is domestic violence. Sean Combs has done, what Tenny Garagos said in our opening statements, some indefensible things. But it's not this. It's not sex trafficking.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
And one of the things that they point at is that infamous video that we all saw, but they're looking at some of the raw footage. And they're saying that when Sean Combs did this violent assault of Cassie, and they're not denying it, not denying the injuries, that instead, He was doing it to get his cell phone.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
Now, Cassie testified on the stand that she believes that this is her cell phone, but the way the defense is articulating this is there was violence, there was domestic abuse, there might even been rape, but it was about jealousy, infidelity, and money. It wasn't about a criminal enterprise. It wasn't about trafficking.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
That's the argument that they're gonna make when cross-examination starts tomorrow of Cassie and going forward in this case.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
So I'm looking to see how she describes events, how she describes her participation in this relationship, describes her participation in the freak-offs. And I'm trying to find the avenues where I can say, yes, you were absolutely abused. No one's disputing that. But the decision to go across state lines, the decision to participate in these freak-offs, you did that because you loved him.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
The first time I saw Sean Combs enter court after he was charged, I remember doing a little bit of a double take. Sean Combs sitting right there. I mean, he looked right at me.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
They certainly feel they have what they need. And you well know an office like the Southern District of New York does not bring a case that they don't think they can win. They only shoot for the moon if they can get the moon.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
And they think the video evidence and some of the other evidence that they've amassed from the home, through the searches of his electronic devices, through eyewitness interviews, is going to be enough to convict. Their presentation, the defense is always more theatrical. I mean, look at you in this suit. And I mean, look at you, maroon with the skinny tie.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
No federal prosecutor would be caught in this. They'd look what I'm wearing.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
And federal prosecutors are much more buttoned up, not only in appearance, but in presentation. And so they may say the most damning thing in the most mundane way. And that's how they get these defendants.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
I don't know that there is, Brian. I think... Look, first, the defense has said a plea deal is off the table. He intends to fight this. He intends to win. He denies ever sexually assaulting anyone, man, woman, child, adult, anybody, his representatives have said. And he believes that the prosecution is in large part underpinned by race and
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
How he's going to be when he's on trial, there's no telling, because what's coming is going to be fairly graphic and potentially damning.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
and that he got a raw deal when the magistrate approved the search warrants of his house and his electronics and the like, and that he can beat this. So a plea deal seems to be off the table from the defense point of view, but there are loads of allegations of... who may have known what, when, and where. Once you have Sean Combs, who else is there really? That was the case with Jeffrey Epstein.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
They only went after Ghislaine Maxwell after Epstein died by suicide in jail.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
Prosecutors were clear in their paperwork that there was this network of individuals that supplied the baby oil and the drugs and got all the hotel rooms ready for the freak-offs and arranged travel for the male prostitutes, which the defense says are legal escorts. Now... Is stacking up boxes of baby oil in a hotel room a charge-worthy crime? I don't know.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
Whether their actions are criminal in and of themselves is an open question. And who's to say who's not talking to the feds behind closed doors?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
There is one other optic and that's who's at the other table. The prosecutor's table is all women who are bringing a case against an accused sexual abuser. And I think that's another powerful image that the jury may well notice too.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
I mean, everyone always asks me, and I know it's reading tea leaves, but... Defense attorneys always tell his client, no, right? Do not testify. I don't see Sean Combs taking the witness stand, do you?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
Well, the cross-examination would be brutal because it's in the first question. So when you were hitting Cassie after dragging her through the hallway, were you really mad about something else? And that is you, right? Smacking her. Let's play that again, jurors. Let's see that a third time. That is you, right? Let's just make sure.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
Sure. We haven't seen his attorneys try to do that yet. So far, they've gone for bigger swings. That does not involve him conceding any aspect of bad behavior. other than maybe at the outset they conceded he had some problems with drugs and alcohol that they didn't specify, but that's what they made it sound like. But they've gone for the bigger swing of this is a racist prosecution.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
Cassie was a willing participant. This is a loving relationship. This video isn't what it seems. They haven't done a more nuanced defense, at least yet. And I would look for prosecutors, as much as they included, to also put some blinders on the jury to say, this isn't about Biggie Smalls.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
This isn't about a gun case in Manhattan and all the other things that Combs has been associated with, true or not. This is about whether his life operated as a criminal enterprise for the purpose of coercing women into these sexual acts. I think this is a case from the perspective of prosecutors solely about the victims and how Combs allegedly committed crimes.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
using them, but it is going to be interesting and it's going to be dramatic and it's going to be painful and it's going to be graphic. It will not lack for interesting discourse.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
Criminal cases could put him in jail. Civil cases could cost him money. But there's one that may be more important than any other, and that's the civil case since settled brought by Cassie Ventura, his former girlfriend, because that's the one that caught the eye of federal prosecutors.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
Federal prosecutors do what you and I do, right? They read stuff. They read the papers. They watch TV. And if they look at something and they say, man, what's alleged here? This could be criminal. So the prosecutors are reading these things and it does give them at least at the outset, a place to start.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
We have some access in some of the hearings of sitting in the jury box. So you're really just a railing away from the defendant in some cases. And right after his arrest, I didn't think he looked great.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
And that's when they start to figure out with, in this case, federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations, where they need to search, what they need to look for, and where it all might be.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
And yet it does do an injustice because the freak-offs, which the defense and prosecutors characterize certainly in different ways, are either these orgies that women are forced to participate in, or it's a prudish government snooping into somebody's private bedroom activities.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
Yep. And the case in some ways turns on how our sensibilities about sexual assault have evolved, right? Because we now have a more discerning sense of what it means to consent or not, or to be put in situations where consent is possible or not. And I think we as a society may look differently upon that type of argument than we would have 20 years ago.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
According to prosecutors, there was no consent. These women had no choice. They were drugged. They were held against their will. There's a kidnapping that's part of this. There's an awful lot of deviant behavior that's described in the indictment.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
And just the idea that he's charged with racketeering conspiracy means federal prosecutors are treating him like a mob family. He is an entity, a criminal entity in the eyes of prosecutors unto himself. And the whole purpose of this criminal enterprise that they allege Sean Combs to be is to gather up women and use them, coerce them for Combs' own sexual pleasures.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
And it's a pretty powerful example, not only of the control that Diddy could allegedly exert, but also the power that he had to give orders.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
I was there in the courtroom today, David, as Sean Combs entered in a black T-shirt, gray sweatpants and sneakers. Several of his children and his sister were there watching as he pleaded not guilty. And then they saw him led out by the marshals. Then I remember a different hearing. He walked in. He looked like he had lost weight.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
You have to believe Cassie Ventura is the star witness, right? Because there she is on video being punched and kicked and dragged in the hallway of a hotel in Los Angeles by Sean Combs. And that, to prosecutors, is almost where the case starts and ends. But the defense is saying that that video does not depict what we think it does. It depicts the end of an otherwise loving relationship.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
And they're saying that Cassie Ventura, despite what you see in the video, was actually enjoying herself in the company of Sean Combs and male prostitutes and these sex performances called freak-offs. And that's going to be at least part of their argument.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
He looked like he was in a jovial mood, smiling at people in the courtroom. He clearly enjoys when his family comes to court. It is noticeable. For a while, his attorneys were pointing out who was who in the courtroom, so the judge had a sense of who was in the room, and the judge actually welcomed his family to court, which I had never really heard before.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
Well, it seems as if you're to take some of the allegations and civil complaints at their word that Combs recorded a lot of things that went on at his private parties. And it's possible that prosecutors may have some access to videotapes or audiotapes that could be potentially damning evidence.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
USA v. Sean Combs
Undoubtedly, they would try to use phone records to make sure that Combs was in the place they say he was in at the time they say whatever occurred, occurred. There'll be some of that, but they have all of that electronic devices, iCloud accounts. So whatever photos, videos and documents exist, the government has them.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Now, Diddy's in the Metropolitan Detention Center, or MDC, in Brooklyn. This bland behemoth is where he'll stay as he awaits trial. So we're pulling up to MDC now. It's got like this... uncapped, unwashed, grungy-ness of it. There's a tall metal fence around the MDC complex, so the parking lot's as far as most reporters get.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
But as a defense attorney, I'm here almost every week, and I can get further than most. I walk through the gate, up the steps, and through the doors to security. I get escorted into the visitor's area, and I meet my client for about an hour or two. For the parts of the jail I can't see, my clients fill me in about how boiling hot it is in the summer, how cold it is in the winter.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
An inmate told me that at one point, when there was no heat or hot water, he couldn't go to the showers and instead was dumping hot water onto his body from the sink, washing himself and catching the water in the toilet. I had to come to MDC on that cold, gray day in January to meet with a client who was awaiting sentencing.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Getting out of my Uber, I looked up at this complex of tall, concrete buildings. And the gate before you come in, you can actually hear people. It almost sounds like they're, like, rec hour. Yeah, it sounds like they're playing a sport.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Each of MDC's buildings are 10 or more stories tall, and where the windows in a typical apartment would be, you have red brick slabs with narrow slats and big sections of metal grating that give you the impression of a locked jail cell, even from the outside.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
MDC is right on the Brooklyn waterfront, just a few blocks from a bougie converted warehouse space full of artisanal shops and upscale restaurants. But if you're part of the legal system in New York, you know that MDC is not a nice place to be. In fact, it's been described as hell on earth, known for its violence, corruption, and miserable conditions.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
So he decided this year's white party would be held on Independence Day. He gave Marie Claire magazine a sneak peek before the party started. The pool, draped in gauzy white curtains and chandeliers, platters of shrimp, crab cakes, and barbecue were served.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
It's a federal building, so you can see Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons. You see the American flag. And the building has watermarks and rust on the metal parts and things of that way. Over the years, it's housed some people you've probably heard of, like R. Kelly, Michael Cohen, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman Freed, Luigi Mangione, and Sean Diddy Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Combs has been at MDC since he was arrested last September. According to his attorney, Mark Agnifilo, Diddy had flown to New York to cooperate with authorities.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Paparazzi and onlookers caught snippets of Diddy's visit to New York last September, and from those photos and videos, it looked like he was enjoying his time, talking and smiling with fans, playing hacky sack in Central Park, strolling through the city with his family. If Diddy had plans to turn himself in, he didn't do it for the first 12 days he was in New York.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
But on the night of September 16th at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, Homeland Security Investigations agents caught Diddy by surprise. You could see on the hotel security footage that Diddy walked into the front door and the agents approached him. They separated him from the group he was with, put handcuffs on him, and took him away.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
The day after Combs' arrest, the prosecutor at the time held a news conference to announce the charges.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Because of how serious and violent the alleged crimes are, Combs was ordered held without bail. ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Aaron Katursky was in the courtroom.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
It didn't surprise me that things didn't go Diddy's way with bail. The allegations and trafficking charges are very serious. And if Diddy were out on bail, the fear was he'd have the ability to reach witnesses and possibly intimidate them. I didn't think there was a chance he was getting out. But that didn't stop Diddy or his attorneys from trying.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Diddy's attorney told reporters before the start of the bail hearings, MDC was no place for his client.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Over and over again, Diddy tried to get released. He tried offering a $50 million bond. He tried offering home confinement. He tried to prove he wasn't a flight risk, attempting to sell his private plane and saying he'd surrender his passport to his attorney. He was trying to be a cooperative defendant. But no, Sean Combs was denied bail four times.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
A sommelier explained that all the wine served would be, of course, white.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
That last part, witness intimidation, has become a big issue in Combs' case in recent months. In one of his first bail hearings, prosecutors presented calls Diddy made and texts he sent before his arrest. They said Diddy reached out to potential witnesses, telling them they'd be taken care of financially if they stuck by his side.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
And then in November, after he'd been at MDC for about two months and was up for a third chance at bail, prosecutors alleged Combs had been paying other inmates to access their phone accounts and, according to the government, avoid law enforcement monitoring.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
And prosecutors said they caught Combs on recorded calls from jail, asking family members to reach out to potential victims and witnesses and urged them to come up with narratives to sway the jury in his favor.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Prosecutors wrote in their court filing, the defendant has shown repeatedly, even while in custody, that he will flagrantly and repeatedly flout rules in order to improperly impact the outcome of his case. The defendant has shown, in other words, that he cannot be trusted to abide by rules or conditions.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Diddy's attorneys responded to prosecutors' arguments by saying the nonstop drumbeat of negative publicity has destroyed Combs' reputation and will make it virtually impossible for him to receive a fair trial. So Combs isn't back in his $48 million mansion on an island in Miami Beach, where at one point he'd asked to await trial.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Instead, he's being detained far from the pools, hot tubs, cabanas, and ocean views he's used to. So what's it like being an inmate at MDC? What's it like being a celebrity and a lead sex offender in MDC, a notoriously dangerous and neglected jail? After the break, we meet someone who gives us an inside view of MDC most people don't get to see, and a window into Combs' life behind bars.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Two of the biggest songs of 2009 were Lady Gaga's Poker Face and I Got a Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas. None of Diddy's music was at the top of the charts, but this was the year he rapped Making the Band, the show that made him a reality star. And reality shows were hot.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Just a few weeks ago, I talked to someone who's been past the visitation area at MDC, who's really been on the inside. And I will try my best to make this not feel like a cross-examination, even though that is my typical practice. Oh, that's okay. You can ask me anything. That's Cameron Lindsay. He's worked in corrections for 25 years.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
He was a warden of five different correctional facilities, including MDC Brooklyn. And since retiring in 2014, he's continued to work in jails and prisons around the country as a consultant and also serves as an expert witness, often testifying on behalf of a plaintiff who was hurt or even killed while incarcerated. So he's seen some stuff in this country's correction system.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
And he says for anyone, going into detention is a shock to the system, but especially for someone like Sean Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
It's small things, like having to wear the same beige prison-issued jumpsuit as everyone else. And it's big things, too, like where and how he's housed. Diddy's lawyer has said he's in what's called the special housing unit, which means he's separated from the general population. If it were up to retired Warden Lindsey, he'd go even further, putting Diddy in almost complete isolation.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
But that doesn't seem to be MDC's approach. Diddy reportedly has access to at least some other inmates. Convicted crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried said in an interview with Tucker Carlson that Diddy has been kind to people in the unit, and he's been, quote, kind to me. We also know Diddy's cell is small, not what he's used to.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Diddy's hit show was the perfect blend of American Idol, the number one TV show in America that year, and another popular show at the time, The Celebrity Apprentice. On making the ban, Diddy presented himself as a kind of Trump-like figure of the music industry, who would crown the next big pop group. Diddy had been throwing these Gatsby-esque white parties for almost a decade.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
They keep Diddy separated from the jail's general population to keep him safe. His wealth and notoriety could make him a target.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
It's right for MDC officials to take Diddy's safety seriously. The facility is infamously dangerous. The Associated Press reported that just in the last three years, there has been a stabbing death, a death after a brawl, and at least four deaths by suicide. And in the time Diddy's been at MDC, an inmate was charged with orchestrating a murder for hire plot from inside.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
A Southern District of New York judge said in a 2024 opinion that defendants at MDC Brooklyn complain of, quote, near perpetual lockdowns, dreadful conditions and lengthy delays in getting medical care. He and other federal judges have refused to send defendants to MDC on the grounds that conditions are so bad.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Conditions at MDC sank to their lowest in 2019 with what Lindsay calls the freeze-out, when nearly 1,700 inmates had to live in below-freezing temperatures for a week.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
There was a heat and power outage at the same time. Cells were dark. Toilets wouldn't flush. And access to food, medical care, and phone calls were cut off. Inmates sued, the Department of Justice investigated, and a settlement was reached for about $10 million. When you're incarcerated, sometimes getting the bare necessities can be a struggle.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
But what happens when your clientele includes people with means, people who are used to buying whatever they want? Lindsay doesn't know anything about Diddy specifically, but I asked him about corruption in general. So if I tell you that I've heard stories like,
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
well, people are buying cell phones inside of MDC and people are having sometimes lobster dinners or dinners brought to them that you're wondering, how are you eating like this in MDC? Are those shocking to you at all that I'm talking to you about lobster dinners and cell phones in MDC?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
It's hard to know the precise impact Diddy's presence has had on MDC, but retired warden Cameron Lindsay says it's reasonable to think there's been increased scrutiny on the facility from higher-ups. We do know since he's been in, there have been lockdowns and contraband sweeps involving other inmates, in which investigators have seized drugs, homemade weapons, and electronic devices.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
The first was on Labor Day in 1998, when he had just bought a home in the Hamptons. He hosted a bunch of them there and then in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. One year, he took a helicopter to the party and landed holding an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. The famous writer Norman Lear loaned it to him. All of the big celebrities appeared at Diddy's white parties.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
So we started with Diddy at his peak, the host of the party that everyone wanted to go to, the center of an industry that so many wanted to be part of, the key that could unlock success and fame for those around him. But now he's locked up and can't even control the most basic things, like when he eats or bathes. How did Diddy go from mogul to inmate?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
How did he build not just a career, but an empire? And if the allegations against him are true, how did he get away with the violence, abuse, and manipulation for so long? Coming up on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Diddy's success comes at a price. But time and time again, he doesn't seem to be the one paying.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
In our next episode, we'll trace the path of Diddy's rising star from college dropout to the cover of Rolling Stone. And later in our series, the early signs of Diddy's alleged dark side start to emerge.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Stay with us as new episodes drop every week in the lead-up to Diddy's trial. Once it starts, we'll keep you posted with updates throughout. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love if you'd share it and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
This podcast was written and produced by Vika Aronson, Camille Peterson, and Nancy Rosenbaum. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor. Associate producer, Amira Williams. Production help from Shane McKeon. Fact checker, Audrey Mostek. Story consultant, Sweeney St. Phil. Supervising producer, Sasha Aslanian. Original music by Eben Viola. Mixing by Rick Kwan.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Arielle Chester is our social media producer. This podcast was powered by the journalists at Impact by Nightline, 2020, GMA, and the ABC News investigative unit. Thanks to those teams. And special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Liz Alessi, and Katie Dendas. Josh Cohan is ABC Audio's director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Beyonce, Jay-Z, Jonah Hill, Martha Stewart, Paris Hilton, Aretha Franklin, Al Sharpton, and Donald Trump. They all orbited the Diddy white party sphere. As a record exec, Diddy helped launch the careers of artists who would become legends. The Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Usher, and many others. So it's no surprise people wanted the invite to Diddy's parties.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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If they had got one, then they belonged in the list of celebrities, politicians, and cultural icons who had proximity to a mogul, who knew everyone and could make things happen. You could hang out in the backyard with hundreds of guests who made it through the gates to the main party, but it still had a VIP section, an inner circle.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Imagine every celebrity worth an Us Weekly headline with a bedazzled smartphone in their hand. It was before TikTok and Instagram, when tabloid coverage claimed to break juicy celebrity stories. Compared to the prominence of video and social media today, private celebrity parties were much more private. But one bit of Diddy's 2009 white party was captured on video.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Reality TV personality and podcaster Jason Lee was at the 2009 Independence Day white party. He remembers it as a good time and says it helped his career. Lee claims he never saw any darkness or any hints of the crimes Diddy would be accused of years later.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
In the summer of 2009, everyone was paying attention to Sean Diddy Combs. He wasn't on the top of the Billboard charts anymore, but he had become a fixture of American pop culture. The flashiest example was his annual star-studded white party. It was an exclusive event and everything had to be white, from the decor to the dress code. This was the early days of smartphones.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Lots of people who attended Diddy's parties never saw his alleged dark side. For decades, A-listers were eager to pose next to the mogul at a Hamptons bash. Today, many of those celebrities are actively distancing themselves from Diddy, not wanting to share that toxic spotlight. At the height of his power and influence, Diddy had complete control over his world.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
He decided who got to be an insider, controlled what happened when the lights went out, and he'd tell his guests as much.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
The curfew announcement, when kids had to disappear and lots of adults left too. It hints at a turn. Diddy foreshadows an adult world, a late-night world of secrets. And some of those secrets, they've come pouring out. Diddy's Rise and Fall. It's the story we'll tell you in the first six episodes of this podcast.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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How a man who was on top of the music industry and on top of the world is now confined to a cell that couldn't be less luxurious, awaiting trial. And once the trial begins, we'll take you there with twice weekly updates as the case unfolds. Two very different versions of Diddy have emerged over the years.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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The charmer that he showed the world and the predator that onlookers and alleged victims are now claiming he was all along. Which version of Diddy will win out in court? I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an attorney and an ABC News legal contributor. From ABC Audio, this is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. Episode one, party's over.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Diddy's white parties were glittering displays of wealth and social capital, but to some, they were clues, even early on, that Diddy's world had shadows. Justin Tinsley is a culture reporter for ESPN's Anscape, which focuses on Black culture. He says there'd always been rumors about what Diddy was like behind the scenes, at parties, and in his personal and professional life.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
In November of 2023, someone did come forward. Diddy's ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, filed a civil lawsuit against him, alleging that for over a decade he trapped her in a cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking. The lawsuit was a bombshell. It alleged Cassie was forced to participate in orchestrated, elaborate sex parties Diddy called freak-offs that he would film and keep recordings of.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
A day after the lawsuit was filed, Diddy settled with Cassie for an undisclosed amount and no admission of guilt. But Cassie opened the floodgates. Over the next 12 months, others who had spent time with Diddy, from a music producer to a former model to a yacht stewardess, filed lawsuits too. These lawsuits alleged rape, sexual assault, and human trafficking.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Many also alleged Diddy would spike drinks and lace marijuana with narcotics to knock people out or make it harder for them to resist assault. Some mentioned Diddy videotaping assaults to further control and humiliate his victims. Those lawsuits went from a steady drip to a rapid current. There are now dozens of them.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Rapper and record producer Jay Blaze caught it on camera and posted it to YouTube for the world to see. Actor Ashton Kutcher grabs onto a swing strung over the pool and tarzans across it. Diddy is emceeing in a sea of white suits, dresses, linen, and sunglasses. By the summer of 2009, Diddy had won three Grammys.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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In December of 2023, Diddy said in a statement that he did not do any of the, quote, awful things being alleged. He called them sickening allegations by people looking for a quick payday.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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His attorney told ABC News Combs couldn't comment on settled litigation, wouldn't comment on pending litigation, and, quote, cannot address every allegation picked up by the press from any source, no matter how unreliable, end quote. But in the fall of 2024, criminal charges were filed against Diddy by the feds.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Mansions where he'd once hosted lavish parties were raided by federal agents. In L.A., more than a dozen officers pulled up in armored vehicles, wearing fatigues, guns drawn, pointing them at Diddy's sons, who happened to be at home. In Miami, it was police officers in T-shirts driving up to Diddy's compound in vans.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Combs is now facing federal criminal charges that read a lot like those earlier civil lawsuits. Sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy. The charges accuse Diddy of decades of criminal behavior. And unlike the civil lawsuits that he faced from Cassie and now from others, these criminal charges could land him in prison for the rest of his life.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Combs has pled not guilty to all charges. His attorney, Mark Ignifilo, called it an unjust prosecution. He said Combs was a, quote, music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the black community. He called Combs an imperfect person, but not a criminal.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Once these lawsuits and charges were filed, reporters and fans started looking at Diddy's past with more scrutiny. And up close, knowing the allegations against him, even his famed summer parties started to look very different. Like this clip from an appearance on Conan O'Brien's show in 2002.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Conan compliments Diddy on being a legendary party host and asks him for tips on throwing a quote, killer party.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
A joke about locking doors so women can't leave lands a little differently now. I've been captivated by Diddy's rise and fall for two reasons. The first one is pretty straightforward. When I was growing up in the 90s and 2000s, Diddy was everywhere. It's hard to be a millennial and not know his music or his impact on the music industry.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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One of his most popular songs I remember playing on the radio in elementary school was his All About the Benjamins. And Can't Nobody Hold Me Down. he marketed himself as a kingmaker in the world of hip-hop, and everything he touched seemed to turn to gold.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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He turned hip-hop from being a thing my mom probably didn't want me to listen to, to something that could make him into a billionaire businessman, something my mom wouldn't approve of. Back then, before the lawsuits, before the allegations and scrutiny, Diddy was someone you could look up to. But I'm not a culture reporter or a music journalist. I'm an attorney.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
I spent almost 10 years as a public defender in New York City, the last few of those in the homicide unit. Now, I litigate federal civil and criminal cases, And to be clear, I am not an attorney on Diddy's case, but I have represented people who have been accused of the kind of crimes he's being accused of, and people who were victims of those types of crimes.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
And even with all of my experience, when I read through some of the lawsuits from the people who had sued Diddy, I had to stop myself sometimes. The photos and details were jaw-dropping. They were a shock to my system. And the federal indictment is sweeping and disturbing.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Diddy is accused of running a vast criminal enterprise that abused, threatened, and coerced his alleged victims and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and cover up his conduct for decades. Diddy maintains his innocence. His trial is set to start in May. Until then, he's locked up, stuck in a place that couldn't be more different from the luxury he's used to.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
He had five songs hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and three of his albums had gone platinum. He was successful and rich. Four months from turning 40, Forbes magazine put Diddy's net worth at $30 million. He'd presented himself for a long time as a champion and model of black excellence. and he was feeling patriotic after the U.S. elected its first Black president.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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A place he doesn't want to be. A place that no amount of money can get him out of. A place I know well. More after the break.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
In Diddy's old life, he could choose which of his many homes he wanted to spend time in. A three-story mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean and downtown LA, a compound in Miami including a nine-bedroom mansion, a New York City apartment with views of Central Park, homes in New Jersey and Atlanta, and a waterfront mansion in the Hamptons.
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Downfall
This episode contains descriptions of violence and sexual assault. Please take care when listening. Toward the end of March 2024, Sean Diddy Combs was at an airport in Miami, Florida. He was getting ready to board his Love Air private jet for a spring break trip to the Caribbean with his 17-year-old twin girls.
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The story included allegations of physical abuse going back to the late 1980s, when Diddy was a college student at Howard. This was years before he started Bad Boy Records. Soon, Diddy faced crushing blowback. He was like a distressed asset. Organizations and brands that once celebrated him and wanted to be associated with him were now publicly distancing themselves.
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This reporting is from local TV outlet DC News Now. Nearly two weeks later, Howard University announced it was revoking his honorary degree, returning his million-dollar donation, and canceling a scholarship that had been set up in his name. Then, the mayor of New York asked Diddy to return his key to the city.
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Even the Miami Beach Commission joined the pilot by canceling its annual Sean Diddy Combs Day, as reported by NBC6 South Florida.
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This all happened in less than a month. And those forces that were turning against Diddy? Well, that pileup was growing bigger and more powerful because now the feds were getting closer to an arrest. That's after the break.
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Remember, Diddy wasn't home at the time of the raids. TMZ caught him on video pacing outside a Miami airport in blue sweatpants and a white T-shirt. Back in LA, agents swarmed past a white Range Rover in the driveway, guns drawn. One agent turned a security camera away as he passed, blocking its view of the raid. After the initial intensity, the raid seemed to downshift to a calmer, slower search.
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In September of 2024, Diddy returned to the place where his life and career began, New York City. He was spotted around town, posing for photos with his children in Harlem. Diddy looked casual in Tim's in a black t-shirt. The T-shirt looked simple enough, but it appeared to be a designer vintage item that can retail for over $1,000.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Downfall
While Diddy may have appeared relaxed, this wasn't a family getaway or even a business trip. Here's ABC chief investigative correspondent Aaron Katursky.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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His lawyer said he planned to turn himself in, but the feds didn't wait for that to happen. Instead, on September 16th of 2024, they made a surprise move in a hotel lobby in Midtown Manhattan. Here's Aaron Katursky on ABC News again.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Standing at a podium, flanked by two American flags, then-U.S. Attorney Damian Williams looked serious, formal. He wore tortoiseshell glasses, a dark suit, and a navy maroon tie with gold stripes.
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Williams has the cred the SDNY is known for. He's an alum of Harvard, also Yale Law School. He was the first Black person to leave the SDNY. If Diddy went around pronouncing how he represented Black excellence, Damian Williams' presence and accomplishments were the embodiment of that excellence.
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There were three counts against Diddy laid out in order of severity. The first count is racketeering conspiracy, or RICO. That's the most serious count, because it carries a maximum sentence of up to life in prison. This count alleges that Diddy ran a criminal enterprise that exploited and abused women. The freak-offs were allegedly a manifestation of that abuse.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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The indictment says Diddy's criminal enterprise engaged in crimes like arson, bribery, forced labor, and obstruction of justice, just to name a few.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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In media footage, you can see agents strolling through French doors, past low manicured bushes, and a sculpture of a headless woman. Two agents in blue rubber gloves carried a white cooler through the Miami yard. Others loaded a big cardboard box into a van. By watching the footage, we can't see much of what they're up to inside the homes.
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The other charges? Two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. They also come with stiff prison sentences. Sex trafficking might catch some people off guard. We'll get more into this in a later episode. But for now, here's what the SDNY is alleging.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Diddy used force, fraud, or coercion to compel his victims to participate in sexual acts against their will. It's a federal crime because Diddy's alleged victims were moved across state lines for those freak-offs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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If the sex trafficking had only happened in, say, California, with people who were already in the state and weren't compelled to travel, well, then it'd likely be a state issue, not a federal one. As former U.S.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Attorney Damian Williams explained the finer points of the indictment, he mentioned some of the corroborating evidence law enforcement allegedly found during those home raids six months earlier.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Industrial quantities of baby oil aside, we're going to learn a lot more about all of the alleged evidence once Diddy's trial starts. That's scheduled to happen in May. Again, Didi has been unwavering in denying all of these allegations, and he's entered a plea of not guilty. Here's his lawyer, Mark Agnifilo, speaking to reporters.
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After the federal indictment, the number of civil lawsuits really picked up. You might ask what one has to do with the other, criminal indictment versus civil lawsuits. Well, in my experience, when the feds get involved, victims are more willing to come forward. Think about it. When you know the feds are going after someone, then you might say, OK, this person could get locked up.
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You might be able to get witness protection or even volunteer yourself to the feds as a witness. There's also strength and safety in numbers.
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In early October 2024, a trial lawyer out of Houston named Tony Busby held his own press conference. Busby stood in front of a podium in a dark suit and pink tie. His brown hair was slicked back. Behind him, a sign read SEXUAL ASSAULT HOTLINE in all caps. Below it, a 1-800 number in bright red font. Apparently, a lot of people have called this number.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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But I can tell you, a raid by the feds is never a pleasant experience. As a criminal defense attorney, I've represented clients who have been targets of these kinds of raids. We're talking beds flipped over, mattresses cut open. Law enforcement isn't handling people's stuff gently. It's also standard procedure for people at the scene to be detained.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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ABC reached out to the company tracking the calls. In April 2025, they told us they'd been contacted about 26,000 times.
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Busby reportedly filed nearly 40 civil lawsuits against Combs before he had to remove himself from the federal cases last month. That's because he's not admitted to practice in the Southern District of New York. But more than a dozen of his lawsuits are still moving forward without him, and Busby is still active on a couple lawsuits filed in New York State Court.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Busby told reporters these lawsuits have some common denominators. For example, a lot of the alleged incidents happened at parties.
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Third, some victims allege they were threatened, including threats of physical violence or threats of financial consequences for speaking out. Busby promised the day would come when he would name names of other powerful people who were allegedly involved. A couple months after his press conference, Busby did name a name, a big one, Jay-Z.
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He was listed as Diddy's co-defendant in an alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl in 2000 after the MTV Video Music Awards. Jay-Z fired back on Instagram, where he described the allegations against him as frivolous, fictitious, and appalling.
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ABC obtained a recording of the Jane Doe who made those allegations, telling private investigators for Jay-Z that the rapper had been present, but not involved in the sexual assault. And she said that Tony Busby had pressured her to name Jay-Z in the suit, an allegation Busby has called a blatant lie.
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Despite the recording, the Jane Doe said in a sworn declaration she stands by her initial claims and dropped her lawsuit because of fear of intimidation and retaliation from Jay-Z and his fans. But her lawsuit against both men has been withdrawn with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. Now, Jay-Z is countersuing Busby and the Jane Doe for defamation.
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Still, as Diddy prepares for his federal criminal trial, he faces over 60 pending civil lawsuits.
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Adriana Alcalde is a victim's rights attorney who specializes in sex abuse cases. She represents a client who recently filed a civil lawsuit against Sean Combs. Her client is a John Doe, a former sex worker Diddy allegedly hired over a decade ago. This was back in 2012. He's decided to remain anonymous publicly, but Alcalde says Diddy's legal team knows his identity.
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The John Doe victim Alcalde represents alleges he traveled from Florida to a hotel in New York City, where Diddy instructed him to have sex with a woman. He described the sex acts as, quote, degrading. But the allegations in this John Doe's complaint mostly focus on what happened after the prearranged hotel sex. That's when Diddy allegedly cornered him in the bathroom and raped him.
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Diddy also allegedly threatened the John Doe with violence if he told anyone what happened. According to the complaint, John Doe alleges that Diddy told him, I'm not effing playing with you.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in 1996. Diddy has always denied any involvement in his death. And in fact, someone else is currently facing charges in connection to Tupac's murder. But according to John Doe's lawsuit, Diddy used Tupac's death to intimidate him. ABC reached out to Diddy's legal team for their response to these John Doe allegations.
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The whole point of a coordinated surprise search like this is to find corroborating evidence of alleged crimes and to make sure evidence isn't moved, tampered with, or destroyed before law enforcement can get to it.
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And they said, quote, these are just more examples of false claims being filed against Mr. Combs. No matter how many lawsuits are filed, especially by individuals who refuse to put their own names behind their claims, it won't change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone, man or woman, adult or minor. Mr. Combs remains confident he will prevail in court.
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Alcalde said her client is still somewhat fearful of what could happen to him, and that's one of the reasons why he decided to file his lawsuit anonymously.
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Alcalde points out there's this other layer of stigma for her client because he's a former sex worker. Sex workers, she says, are more vulnerable to these kinds of alleged crimes, and they're less likely to be believed when they do come forward. In Alcalde's experience, there's a fundamental motivation driving the kinds of sex crimes her client allegedly experienced.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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If you connect the dots across all the allegations swirling around Diddy, unchecked power is a common thread.
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Lisa Bloom is an attorney representing another alleged victim, a singer named Don Rashard. In the 2000s, Richard was in a group called Danity Kane, as well as Diddy Dirty Money. She first came into Diddy's orbit through the MTV reality show Making the Band. In the fall of 2024, Richard filed a civil lawsuit against Diddy, which was amended in March of 2025.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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She alleges sexual assault and intimidation. She describes him in her lawsuit as having a, quote, vicious temper and alleges she witnessed him beating his then-girlfriend, Cassie, including striking, choking, and strangling her.
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Attorneys for Combs said Richard had, quote, manufactured a series of false claims, all in the hopes of trying to get a payday, and they're expected to file a motion to dismiss her suit by mid-May. Attorney Lisa Bloom wouldn't comment on the specific allegations in Richard's suit, but she did tell ABC News about some of the larger forces she sees at play in this case.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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ABC Entertainment contributor Kelly Carter agrees. She says the allegations against Diddy amount to something much bigger than the actions of one powerful mogul.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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When I heard law enforcement seized electronic devices from Diddy's homes, I immediately thought back to the lawsuits. How Cassie, Rodney Jones, and others alleged Diddy had recorded their sexual encounters. And when I heard they'd seized guns, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, I thought about how Rodney Jones alleged Diddy kept and displayed guns in his bedroom closet.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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After the break, we tackle complicated questions about Diddy's legacy and how one woman who helped promote him early on now feels about her role in his rise.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Why couldn't you just act right? In the mid-1990s, LaJoyce Brookshire oversaw PR for Arista Records, which was then Bad Boy's parent label. These days, she teaches at City College, and she's the author of the book Women Behind the Mic, Curators of Pop Culture. Back in the day, she and Diddy worked hand-in-hand to promote Bad Boy artists, including Diddy, or Puffy, as he was known then.
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If I was to ask you to finish this sentence, how would you finish it? Sean Puffycombe's legacy is... Sean Puffycombe's legacy is... finished. Combs' legacy might not be the really important thing here, especially compared to the harm his alleged victim suffered. But the fallout from the allegations against him have had ripple effects.
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What he likely didn't know was that federal law enforcement agents were getting ready to execute parallel searches on his homes in Miami Beach and Los Angeles. In Miami, news footage shows a big police van tucked under a row of palm trees. In LA, Homeland Security officers rolled in with armored vehicles, military rifles, bulletproof vests, and drones.
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LaJoyce Brookshire says she used to think of Puffy as a creative genius. She used to be proud of the work she did with him, whenever she caught a glimpse of him performing or getting an award. Wow, we did that.
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She reminded me of how back in the day, people thought hip-hop was just a passing fad, nothing bankable or worthy. Decades later, the music, the culture, it's still a phenomenon. She was part of building that foundation, along with so many other people. She says this is the legacy that's been tarnished.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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We started this series with a portrait of Sean Combs as the ultimate host. He staged elaborate, over-the-top parties everyone wanted to go to. He was the hitmaker, the kingmaker that everyone wanted to be near. Back in early November, Diddy celebrated his 55th birthday with a very different kind of party. This was not a lavish, star-studded affair. Diddy was on a speakerphone from jail.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Again, I wondered whether these lawsuits had given law enforcement a roadmap to find what they were looking for. And I wasn't the only one glued to the coverage of the raids of Diddy's homes. People couldn't look away. Here's DJ and ABC News contributor Megan Wright.
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His kids gathered to sing him happy birthday, including his youngest, a two-year-old named Love.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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This moment has been memorialized on Diddy's Instagram. It's just one of a handful of posts you can still find in his feed. His kids reposted it too. The comments are a mix of free Diddy and send him to jail for life. The Bare Bones Party has all the trappings of a staged moment, at least according to prosecutors.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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In court documents arguing against bail, they allege this video is actually part of a campaign Diddy planned around his birthday to influence potential jurors, and that Diddy monitored how this post was performing on social media from jail. However you interpret this video,
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Whether you see it as simply a small family gathering or a carefully curated PR stunt, there's no denying how different Diddy's reality is today from the freedom, luxury, and power that defined him for so long. This is how it will be until his trial, until a jury decides to send him to prison or set him free. Next time on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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We'll game out strategies the prosecution and defense might use at Diddy's upcoming trial with a reporter who's been covering this case from the beginning.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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That's next time on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-HOPE. Or go to rainn.org. If you like this podcast, please share it and give it a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thanks for listening. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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This podcast was written and produced by Nancy Rosenbaum, Vika Aronson, and Camille Peterson. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor. Associate producer, Amira Williams. Production help from Shane McKeon and Meg Fierro. Fact checker, Audrey Mostek. Story consultant, Sweeney St. Phil. Supervising producer, Sasha Aslanian. Original music by Evan Viola. Mixing by Rick Kwan.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Ariel Chester is our social media producer. This podcast was powered by the journalists at Impact by Nightline, 2020, GMA, and the ABC News Investigative Unit. Thanks to those teams. And special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Liz Alessi, and Katie Dendas. Josh Cohan is ABC Audio's Director of Podcast Programming. Laura Mayer is the executive producer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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For decades, Diddy had brushes with the law. But this didn't stop him from living large and flying around the world in his private jet. The way he dressed, the way he traveled, the way he partied, few could compare. But this day, back in March of 2024, was a turning point. The walls were closing in.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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The raid by federal agents spilled Diddy's criminal investigation into public view for the first time. And soon, what started as a trickle of allegations swelled into a tsunami no one could ignore. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an attorney and ABC News legal contributor. From ABC Audio, this is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. Episode five, Downfall.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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The day after his homes were raided, Diddy and his legal team fired back.
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Diddy's attorney released a statement saying Diddy was innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name. But Diddy and his team are up against one of the toughest U.S. attorney's offices in the country, the Southern District of New York, or SDNY. This office has a ridiculously high conviction rate, like around 90 to 95%. Chances are you've heard about the SDNY in the news.
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They prosecute some of the country's highest profile cases. Think cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried. And let's not forget Ghislaine Maxwell. She was convicted of conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse minors. And now the SDNY is after Diddy. Two months after the SDNY executed the raids on Diddy's homes, Diddy's world was rocked again.
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The surveillance footage is from eight years earlier, back when Diddy and Cassie were still together. They were staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles. The video CNN published includes a handful of short clips. There's no sound. Here's what you see. Cassie Ventura walks down a hotel hallway barefoot. She wears an oversized hoodie and carries a large purse.
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In another shot, you see Diddy running down the hallway, shirtless, a towel wrapped around his waist. He runs up to Cassie as she bends to put her shoes on by the elevator. Diddy grabs her by the back of the head and throws her to the ground. He kicks her in the back and she just lies there, doesn't try to get up. He kicks her again, then starts to drag her back down the hall by her sleeve.
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Elizabeth Wagmeister is an entertainment reporter for CNN. She's the one who broke the story about this video. Cassie's 2023 lawsuit includes a pretty detailed account of this very incident. She claims Diddy punched her in the eye during one of those freak-offs, and that after he fell asleep, she tried to escape.
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The suit mentions how Diddy woke up and followed her into the hall of this very hotel. She alleged he dragged her and threw glass vases that crashed around her. Cassie also alleged Diddy paid the hotel $50,000 for the surveillance video.
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a federal investigation into human trafficking. In the months leading up to this raid, Diddy had been hit with a bunch of bombshell civil lawsuits, including ones alleging rape and sex trafficking, all of which he's denied. But this was the day the public found out that the feds were looking into Diddy. Civil lawsuits can lead to financial penalties, but criminal charges can lead to prison time.
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When Cassie's lawsuit came out in 2023, Diddy's attorney issued a statement saying Cassie's allegations were baseless and that her suit was, quote, riddled with outrageous lies aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs' reputation and seeking a payday. Andini's attorneys have since alleged that CNN altered the video.
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They called it a misleading piece of evidence, alleging the footage was sped up and reordered and that CNN destroyed the original recording. A spokesperson for CNN denied these allegations, saying the network never altered the video and that their source kept the original footage. When Cassie and Diddy reached a settlement, Diddy's lawyer was quick to point out Diddy's innocence.
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Just so we're clear, his lawyer said in a statement, a decision to settle a lawsuit is in no way an omission of wrongdoing. And Diddy's lawyers didn't just deny Cassie's claims. They also refuted other allegations that started rolling in after Cassie came forward.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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By the time CNN published their story in May of 2024, there were a handful of active civil lawsuits on the books against Diddy, several alleging sex trafficking and sexual abuse.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Within a couple of days, Diddy posted his own video to Instagram.
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In the video, Diddy looks a little haggard, dressed down in a plain beige t-shirt, no logos, no flashy jewelry. He appears to be somewhere tropical on a balcony with a tidy thatched roof.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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He follows the typical apology video script. He says that he's been to therapy and to rehab and that he's been asking God for mercy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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But then, it ends. What's missing from this apology video? An actual apology? Or any mention of Cassie? People definitely took notice. Here's how the hosts of ABC's The View reacted. Does his confession change anything?
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It's one thing to read a lawsuit like Cassie's that alleges abuse. It's another to see video footage that appears to corroborate those allegations. I'd argue the surveillance video was actually far more damning to Diddy than Cassie's lawsuit was, or any lawsuit for that matter. The video tarnished Diddy's image, an image he had kept such a tight hold on for decades.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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When I saw Diddy's video on Instagram, I had a lot of questions. As an attorney, I generally advise my clients to let their lawyer do the talking for them. So Diddy putting out this video, it made me wonder, had this been part of an improved strategy or was it something more spontaneous? Here's CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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So according to Wagmeister, Diddy couldn't deliver a full apology for legal reasons, which leaves him with a few options. Stay silent, deliver what some considered a weak apology, or break the terms of the settlement agreement and risk the consequences.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Author Justin Tinsley writes about Black culture on ESPN's Anscape. And by that video, he's referring to the surveillance footage of Diddy attacking Cassie, the one that CNN published.
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After the fallout from the CNN story and his Instagram apology, Diddy appeared to shrink away from public life. In May, he was reportedly MIA from his eldest daughter's high school graduation. In June, Revolt, the media company Diddy had started in 2013, announced he'd sold his majority stake and was no longer involved with the company. Then, he deleted all of his Instagram posts.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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For someone who had spent years posting videos of himself living his best life on social media, Diddy's digital silence was noticeable. Even though Diddy was laying low, he was still very much on other people's radars, including the media's. In May of 2024, Rolling Stone published an investigation into Diddy and his alleged history of violence.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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The feds, they weren't looking to arrest Diddy. Not yet. First, they were looking for evidence.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Aber heute sprechen wir über Diddys Kriminalverfahren, wo Richard ein Beobachter für die Verwaltung ist. Combs trägt federale Schulden für Racketeer-Konspiratoren, Sex-Traffik und Transport für die Bedeutung von Prostitution. Und er hat sich nicht verurteilt.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Auf der Cross-Examination von Richard, Nicole Westmoreland, eine Mitgliedin von Combs' Verteidigungs-Team, hat Richard' Beobachtung von Ereignissen geäußert, um sich darüber zu überdenken. Sie hat sich auf einen Incident im Jahr 2009 befasst, in dem Richard Combs' Angriff auf Ventura mit einem Stapel gesagt hat und Diskrepanzierungen in ihrer Geschichte ausgesprochen hat.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Whether he hit Ventura with his skillet, whether the pan hit the wall, or whether Combs threw its contents at her. It's been hard for you to keep your story the same, Westmoreland asked. I told it to the best of my recollection and as close as I could get it, Rashad responded.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Cassie's former best friend Kerry Morgan also testified about two violent attacks she said she'd witnessed where Combs pushed, struck and dragged Cassie. Sometimes I would tell her she should leave him, Morgan testified. Ventura answered she couldn't because of her job, her car, her apartment. He controlled everything, Morgan recalled Ventura telling her.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Combs' alleged exertion of control, including leveraging financial support, are elements of the alleged racketeering conspiracy with which Combs is charged. This is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC-legal contributor and practicing attorney. Today's episode, Asked and Answered. You have a lot of questions about this Diddy trial.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
We've gotten calls from Florida to Los Angeles, Alabama to South Dakota. You want to know about everything, from domestic violence to consent and even the possibility of a presidential pardon. Today, I'm going to do my best to answer them. And if you have a question you'd like me to weigh in on, you can leave a voicemail at 646-504-3221. Alexandra from Manhattan asked this question.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Great question. So this is, for the defense at least, the heart of this case. Now, domestic violence is a form of violence or aggressive behavior typically between intimate partners, spouses, girlfriend, boyfriend, people who have been or are currently in an intimate relationship with one another. Sex trafficking is a very specific...
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
form of abuse it's the action or practice of transporting people from one area to another or one country to another for the purpose of sexual exploitation to have freak offs as the government is arguing here and so Sind es Elemente von domestischer Gewalt, die in Sextraffik verbreiten? Absolut. Aber Sextraffik ist nicht domestische Gewalt.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Domestische Gewalt ist in manchen Fällen eine breitere Kategorie als Sextraffik. Es ist wie zu sagen, dass domestische Gewalt ein Fahrzeug ist und Sextraffik ein SUV ist. sex trafficking does in many instances, especially if you're dating the person, have the exact components of domestic violence. It's just sex trafficking is a much more exact way of describing what's going on.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Es ist die zweite Woche von USA v. Sean Combs. Die Befragung ruft weiterhin ihre Befragenden an und das Wachstum der Befragung steigt. Letzte Woche hat Cassie Ventura für vier lange Tage über intime Details ihrer Beziehung zu Combs beurteilt.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Alright, next question. Karen from Jacksonville, Florida asks this question about Cassie.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
So Karen, I think that's a very interesting question. I understand why you're saying it's about consent, because the defense said, if it's domestic violence, it's not trafficking, it's only trafficking if X, Y, and Z. And so really the case is predicated on Sean Combs' intent.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
If he intended to harm Cassie simply for the purposes of harming her and not for the purposes of using force, fraud, or coercion to traffic her across state lines... dann ist es kein Traffik. Ich denke, der Konsens-Aspekt kommt darin, ob sie eine willige Teilnehmerin dieser Freak-Offs war, die gelegentlich Formen von Sex-Traffik waren, oder ob sie ein Verbrecher war.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Ich denke, der Grund, warum die Regierung nicht wirklich über den Arbeitsaspekt spricht, ist, weil sie auf Sean Combs Intent konzentriert ist. Was er von Cassie wollte. Sie könnte ein Traffiker sein, sie könnte nicht ein Traffiker sein. Aber tolle Frage, ich mag es. This next question is from Sandy from Atlanta, Georgia.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
When Sean Combs' attorneys say that he could be guilty of some crimes, but not the ones he's being accused of, they're for the most part pointing to state charges of assault, battery, sexual assault or things of that nature.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
And so it's unlikely that those charges will be brought against Sean Combs, because either one, the statute of limitations has expired, or two, those are not federal charges, those are state charges, and that's not the arena that he's in. So similar to the Intercontinental Video, where we saw Sean Combs beating and hitting Cassie.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Diese Woche spricht die Gerichtssitzung an, wer sie sagt, dass sie Teile von Cassies Beurteilung korroberieren kann, besonders ihre Beurteilung von physischer Gewalt und dessen, wie Combs ihre finanzielle Lebensbedingungen kontrolliert hat. Das betrifft Cassies Mutter und ihre ehemalige beste Freundin.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
He cannot be charged in the state of California for that because the statute of limitations has expired. Und für die meisten Angelegenheiten von Domestic Violence außer Rape im ersten Grad, sind die Statue-Limitationen für diese Angelegenheiten irgendwo zwischen zwei und zehn Jahren, wiederum abhängig davon, was du meinst, wenn du Domestic Violence sagst.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Es ist also sehr unwahrscheinlich, dass diese Angelegenheiten gegen Sean Combs gebracht werden können, noch mehr so in einem föderalen Zustand, weil es eine Art Interstate Commerce oder das Reisen über die Städte für die Fans braucht, um diese Angelegenheiten zu bringen. Just ahead, more answers to the questions that are top of mind for you in the trial of Sean Diddy Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Wir haben noch eine Frage von einem Kollegen von Clint. Er lebt in Missouri. Lass uns mal hören.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
People who used to work for Diddy will also be called to testify, including a former personal assistant and a former personal chef. Former Bad Boy artist Don Richard took the stand Friday and Monday morning. We mentioned Richard in one of our earlier episodes of the podcast. She was a member of Danny D. Cain, a music group formed on Diddy's hit TV show, Making the Band.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Great question, Clint. And just to give people some background, when Clint and I talk about testimony, let's say, for example, Cassie's testimony is so early on that by the time jurists start deliberating, they might actually forget what she said. Now, they are taking copious notes, but notes are only so good.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
From my experience and my understanding, I've never argued a trial in front of this judge before, but in the SDNY, you are able to not only, one, ask for readbacks, so let's say they say, What did Cassie say about the intercontinental video?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
They could have that testimony read back to them while in court, but I've also seen judges in the Southern District of New York give them the minutes, the typed-out version of what a witness said, and give it to them in the deliberation room to evaluate, or give them the still shots of the freak-offs to evaluate in the deliberation room. So both have been done in the Southern District of New York.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Alright, this next question we have is about the makeup of the jury.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Also, die Schwierigkeit, über die Rasse zu sprechen, wenn es um die Wahl der Jury geht, ist, dass die meisten, und in diesem Fall, die Leute ihre Rasse nicht selbst identifizieren. Zumindest habe ich nie auf einem Jury-Questionnaire gesehen, was ist deine Rasse? Und ich weiß, aus den 31 Fragen auf diesem Questionnaire, haben sie nicht gefragt, was ist deine Rasse?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Sie würden sagen, zum Beispiel, mein Name ist Brian Buckmeier, ich bin 36 Jahre alt, ich bin ein Arzt, der in Brooklyn, New York lebt, richtig? Und so können wir dir diese Identifizierungen geben. Nun, es wäre wahrscheinlich sehr klar, was meine Rasse ist, basierend auf dem, was ich sehe. Nun, ich kann spekulieren, wer weiß ist oder wer hispanisch ist.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Ich kann dir wahrscheinlich sagen, wer aus asiatischer Herkunft ist. Aber ich würde sagen, geh auf den New York City Subway und sag mir, wer Puerto Rican, Dominikaner oder Irischer ist. Manchmal ist es sehr klar zu sagen. and other times based on complexion and the way that they look, it's somewhat difficult. So yeah, that's just some of the difficulties of identifying race in a jury.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
Our last question for today has been on a lot of people's minds. I have seen this one on social media buzzing around and I'm so happy to be able to tackle it today.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
President Trump doesn't have to give an explanation for it. He simply has the power to pardon or commute anyone's sentence. And he doesn't even have to wait until after a conviction. We theoretically could not have a trial tomorrow if President Trump just said, you know what, I want a pardon. It's possible. Commuting the sentence is different than a pardon. So, let's say Sean Combs is convicted.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
He is set to serve life in prison. President Trump can say, you know what, I want it to be five years, I want it to be ten years, I want it to be released today. He can commute the sentence down to whatever he wants. It is a federal prosecution, and that's why the President of the United States has that power to do so. It doesn't really have to give a justification.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
And while we haven't heard anything official, there is some reporting from Rolling Stone that some within Diddy's camp has sought out the possibility of a pardon from the president. As we were recording the podcast, we asked ABC's political team to check with the White House to see what they could find out about the possibility of a pardon.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
She was also in the group Diddy Dirty Money, so she spent years working under Combs and Bad Boy. Sie hat auch ihr eigenes Zivilsud gegen Combs gebracht, um Begriffe zu machen, die Begriffe von Sextraffik und Copyright-Enttäuschung betreffen. Combs hat den Anruf verabschiedet, zu sagen, dass Richard keine zeitlichen oder echten Begriffe verurteilt hat.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
They spoke with a source who said that a pardon for Diddy is not being considered. Alright, that does it for this episode of Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. Thanks to everyone who's called in with a question. That number again is 646-504-3221. We also have it in our show notes. If you appreciate this podcast, please share it and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Your Questions Asked and Answered
It helps other people find it. If you're looking for even more coverage of the Diddy Trial, you can check out Burden of Proof – The Case Against Diddy. The show streams weekdays at 5.30pm Eastern on ABC News Live. You can also find it on Disney+, Hulu or on most of your favorite streaming apps. Bad Rap – The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
If I'm the defense, I'm actually not that worried, because in a case like this, they've already conceded that there is allegations of domestic abuse and violence. And I'm waiting to see the government make the connection between this is simply a man and a woman, especially a man, because we're hearing the violence from Sean Combs on to Cassie, just brutally abusing her, hating her.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
All the things that we said were indefensible, but we're not seeing the connection of was this force used to compel her to go across state lines for trafficking? Or was this simply a man who was a voyager who liked to participate in these sexual escapades that we may not agree with? But in the course of that, he used violence.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
So I'm looking to try to slice this with a scalpel rather than come in with a hammer and just kind of pick the case apart little by little.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
No, I don't think so. I don't think that you can take any of these allegations and say, of course Cassie wanted to do, and again, go and read it, because some of the things we're not allowed to repeat, but the brutality, the coercion, the arguments, the slapping, the dehumanization of what allegedly happened to her, I don't think anyone's going to turn around and say, well, that's just...
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
abnormal sexual encounters. But I think the defense can sidestep it and say, yes, that's a crime. You know what we call that? Rape, abuse, sexual assault. Look at the indictment and see if any of those are listed in the indictment. They're not. And I think the defense is going to try to sidestep them and say, where's the trafficking? Where were these allegations used to traffic her?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
Where's the criminal enterprise and not just an inner circle or an organization of Sean Combs to help facilitate him getting from point A to point B and doing the things that he likes, even though they're state crimes and not federal crimes? I think they're going to try to sidestep it and argue somewhere else.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
Personally, I don't do it. I think I would first hire someone like Bernardo Villalona, and I think that defense is doing something very similar to that. One of the women attorneys are going to cross-examine Cassie Ventura for a number of reasons. One, this is a woman making allegations of sexual assault on that of a man, and two, she is pregnant.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
The optics of that would look horrible if someone like me does this. But I think the other aspect of it from a technical standpoint, very careful. Don't raise your voice. Don't get into an argument. Be as soft-spoken and careful as her, but be deliberate in your words in trying to say, you said this one day, and now you're saying this another day. So which one is it?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
Don't get into a battle with her because you're not going to look good doing so.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
Hey, it's Brian. Today on Bad Rap, we've got something a little different. A dispatch from my colleagues over at ABC News Live and their show, Burden of Proof, The Case Against Diddy. I think you're really going to like it. It's more great analysis and insight on the latest in the Sean Diddy Combs trial. Burden of Proof, The Case Against Diddy, streams weekdays at 5.30 p.m.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
So from a legal standpoint, there are a few quotes that I want to look at that I think kind of run the gambit of what we're talking about here. We have Cassie Ventura here and some of her quotes saying here, after the freak off, the room was pretty bad off. The candle wax, all over the place. And then she described having a pungent smell.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
And she brought us into those rooms in a way that made us think no one wants to be in there. The only way you can be in there is to be compelled. I think that fed into the government's argument of coercion. But we also heard something that I think the defense is going to jump on, where she talked about that she was insanely jealous.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
Eastern on ABC News Live. Find it on Disney+, Hulu, or on most of your favorite streaming apps. Today, you'll hear me on there with host Eva Pilgrim. Take a listen.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
And we remember from Tenny Garagos, she said that this case was about love, infidelity, jealousy, and money. And so I think something like this, Sean Cohn professing to be a man of many women and Cassie potentially being jealous and maybe starting some of those fights or participating in the fights, that's something the defense is going to jump on.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
And then, of course, this, saying that she's super young and naive, people pleaser, getting her personality. I think her testimony really drove home the idea that this was a horrible interaction, that it was a toxic relationship, as Erin is quoting the defense.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
But also, I think there's something that both sides will be able to use from her testimony, that she was trafficked, as the government is arguing, but also that this could just be a domestic violence case where the defense might be able to argue not these crimes, other crimes he's guilty of, maybe not guilty of trafficking and racketeering.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
All right, so I think the smart thing to do, like, start off is talk about Cassie's age. She's 38 years old now. Sean Combs is 55. The age gap was one thing they touched on. The fact that she was his singer and signed on to his label as a singer, and she had done some modeling in the past, and that he had the ability to control whether or not her music got out.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
We also saw the testimony about who was in his inner circle. We saw her talk about bodyguards and chief of staff. And to Aaron's point, She was very matter-of-fact and soft-spoken when she spoke, but what I saw when she talked about those bodyguards and saw pictures of them, it's almost like she started to tremble in her voice a little.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
You can see a sense of fear as she recounted who the people were, where if she didn't pick up the phone right away, someone would come and find her. And I think that really colored the idea of this criminal enterprise.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
I think as they continued to watch, you saw some people feverishly taking notes in the back, but I think as the testimony continued, everyone was really leaning in, listening. They were somewhat stoic. I didn't see anyone really jaw-dropping about some of these allegations.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
Of course, you saw some people, as we see in the reports, shaking their head as to some of these statements because they were very, very horrible and hard to listen to at times.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
Yeah. And so Xavier Donaldson was the defense attorney who continued the cross-examination. And what stood out to me is I think they're still kind of attacking this strategy of attacking the credibility as well as the idea of consent here. And so from there, there are two things. One, Philip or Daniel Philip said that he actually had feelings towards Cassie.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
And there might have been, again, this issue of jealousy that I think the defense tried to hone in on. But of course, the government came back and talked about just the brutality of Sean Combs' interaction with Cassie, the directing of the sexual encounters, who got paid, how they got paid, and then again, just the brutality of the interaction that he saw with them.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
And so participation is a big aspect of being a part of a case for both the defendant and their attorney. Thanks, Andy, for the question. So if you have any questions for me, I'd love to hear them. You might even hear me answer your question on the air. Give us a call at 646-504-3221. That's it for Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
this episode abuse or coercion on the day of opening statements i see a line that stretches for almost half a block some people are excited some people are furiously scribbling notes it's a combination of the press and the public waiting in the same line as we attempt to get into this courtroom that Max only holds about 85 people.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
If you're looking for even more coverage of the Diddy trial, you can check out ABC News Live's daily show, Burden of Proof, The Case Against Diddy. The show streams weekdays at 5.30 p.m. Eastern on ABC News Live. You can also find it on Disney+, Hulu, and on most of your favorite streaming apps. We'll be back in your feed with more updates later this week.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. Thanks for listening.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
I go through the entrance where Danny Garagos, Mark Ignifilo, Brian Steele, and all the other defense attorneys walk in. In fact, I did walk in with them. As Sean Combs walked into the courtroom with a khaki sweater, white button down underneath, and gray slacks,
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
He immediately started to beam with happiness as he saw his children, smiling, holding his hand over his heart, making a heart symbol to his daughters with both hands as they replied the same way and blowing kisses to his family. His sons, his daughters, his mother, and at least two rows of family members filled all in support of Sean Combs just feet behind him.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
Shortly after sitting down, I could tell by looking over his shoulder that he opened up a Bible and began to read before court proceedings began. The first order of business was to pick a jury. To go from 43 prospective jurors to 12 and six, 12 to deliberate and six potential alternates. It was very quick. The judge went first to the prosecution. Who do you want to eliminate? They gave a number.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
Then to the defense, they gave two numbers and back and forth and back and forth until ultimately we have 12 jurors and six alternates. All 18 people came into the court.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
once everyone was seated the judge began to give the jury instructions and as he did i looked from left to right looking at the different people that encompass this jury eight men four women but even beyond their gender the thing that probably stood out to me the most was the age of these jurors. At least half of the jurors were from the ages of 51 to 74.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
And if you take out the 51-year-olds, five of them are 67 years old and older. And the idea that came to me is not necessarily just from gender, but from age. This could benefit the defense. Consent is going to be a very big issue in this case, as it's the difference between domestic violence and trafficking. And if you're asking the question of, is this consent or not, from my experience, it's
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
The older a person is, they have a stricter understanding of consent than that of a younger person. And the definition the defense seems to be working on in this case, it may benefit them more to have an older jury. And the issue of sex and violence came up in opening statements. The government began first.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
painting the picture of Sean Combs being an icon, a leader, someone who people might have even looked up to, but having a very dark side that many did not see, at least not until this case. They talked about how Sean Combs and Cassie were in a relationship that turned violent. They also talked about another alleged victim by the name of Jane and Mia.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
They said that these individuals, Jane and Cassie, were in a relationship with Sean Combs, and Mia was an employee. But each one of these individuals were impacted by violence, sexual abuse, or harassment in some way, shape, or form to compel them to do an act. Like participating in a well-orchestrated freak-off at the behest of Sean Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
For the defense, it was an interesting opening statement by Tenney Garagos. And remember, Sean Combs, he's pled not guilty to all of the charges he's facing. Unlike many opening statements by the defense, this wasn't the defense simply saying, all of this isn't true. Instead, Garagos took the position of Sean Combs is a domestic abuser.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
You're going to see things in this case where you're going to say, he's not a good person. I don't like him. He did a horrible thing. And Garagos said a thing that most defense attorneys don't say, that the actions of her client are indefensible.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
But she drew a very fine line between what he did, saying if this was a domestic violence case, we would not be on trial, and what he's accused of, saying that these were isolated incidences of domestic abuse and not a 20-year-long criminal enterprise of coercing, forcing or using fraud to traffic individuals. That Sean Combs may be guilty of some things, but not the things that he is accused of.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
By some miracle slash by me using my ID as an officer of the court, I was actually one of the first members of the media to walk into the courtroom. A ton happened the first day in USA v. Sean Combs. We got a jury. And as soon as they were seated, we raced into opening statements from both the prosecution and then the defense. We've even had the first two witnesses take the stand.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
Because at the end of the day, there's a video that the defense cannot get away from, but must instead explain in a way that does not convict Sean Combs. And that seemed to be at the heart of the defense's opening statements.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
I was somewhat surprised by the defense's opening statements, because I thought this would have just been an easy, open and shut, nothing to interpret type of defense, where they simply just say, these people are lying, I challenge your credibility, they're making stuff up.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
But instead we're going to have to look at these facts in the case and say, well, is this an isolated incident of domestic abuse between two people, according to the defense, that are in a violent relationship? Or was this a pattern in order to coerce, force, or use fraud to control and traffic individuals?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
It's a much deeper question to think about than I thought I would have to in a trial like this.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
So for example, this defense was so interesting because while we've seen that intercontinental video so many times, the defense's interpretation of it was that Cassie had seen something on Sean Combs' phone and that this was a violent interaction in which Sean Combs was trying to take back his phone after some sort of jealous argument.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
Now, we've all seen that video, but we've never seen it in that light. And it made me think, do I need to go back and look at this video to better understand it? And if you can get someone to that point where they can slightly change their perspective of probably the most damning piece of evidence, to me, as a defense attorney, you might be on the right path.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
Now, could Cassie testify in a way that obliterates that argument? Could we look at that video and not see it in the way the defense is arguing? Absolutely. But if you can get a jury to second guess, to look again and think, could there be something? In most worlds, that's the beginning of a good defense. There were two witnesses that testified at the end of the first day of trial.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
First, a former security guard at the Intercontinental who interacted with both Sean Combs and Cassie. And what we saw in that very violent interaction was on that security camera footage.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
The second witness was a male escort that testified they came to New York City under the guise of believing they were going to perform at a bachelorette or a bachelor party, but instead found themselves in a hotel with just Sean Combs and Cassie. Now, the first witness laid out a few important facts.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
First, this was the individual that apparently had videotaped the actual video footage of Cassie being violently beaten by Sean Combs. He testified about looking at that video, making an incident report, and an interaction with Sean Combs where he alleges Combs had put some wad of money in his hand to which he believed was a bribe to make sure that video footage never got out.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
Again, another aspect the government will argue is a form of hiding the evidence, obstructing justice that goes into that racketeering conspiracy. The second witness talked about the interaction with Cassie. that again, he thought he was going to be an escort for some form of a party, but instead was directed to have sex with Cassie while Sean Combs directed and watched the incident.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
Sean Combs, according to the escort, also violently assaulted Cassie, pulling her by the hair as he said nothing. Both witnesses described shocking violence. The former security guard mentioning a malicious or menacing stare by Sean Combs. the escort talking about the violence and brutality, all to push back on the arguments from the defense that there was no malicious look.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
There was no trafficking in this. That this, as they argued, was domestic violence and not a form of trafficking. At the end of the day, the court doesn't get up and tell us, and this witness will testify next, and then that witness will testify next, but there are some clues as to who will be the next witness to testify.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
In this episode, I'm going to share all of my impressions of day one of Diddy's trial. My first look at the jury, the arguments each side laid out in their opening statements, and why the defense's argument might be stronger than I originally thought. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and practicing attorney. You're listening to Bad Rap, the case against Diddy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
Before the trial began, we heard arguments that Cassie Ventura would be the third witness to testify, but we've already gone through two. There's also rules of evidence that a person cannot testify to evidence or certain observation that have not already been put into evidence. What do I mean by that?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
Before Cassie can testify about the video, someone has to help bring that video into evidence, like the former security guard who recorded it. Before Cassie may be able to describe events that a third party viewed and their interpretation of it, that third party may have to testify to it first, the male escort. Those people are already out of the way.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
So after laying that foundation, the next thing that makes the most sense is to have Cassie Ventura herself now fill in the gaps, go beyond what those two witnesses testified and give her side of the story. the other very real-world application as to why Cassie Ventura will more likely than not be testifying this morning, by all accounts, she is pregnant.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
Pregnant to the point that one would assume she needs to testify sooner rather than later so she can go home and give birth to her third child. It's probably why court is going until 5 p.m. this week and only 3 p.m. for the rest of the trial in order to give this woman the ability to testify, have her day in court, and then go be with her family.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
We have a brand new phone number where you can call in and leave us messages with your thoughts and questions about the case. We've had a great response so far, including a question we're gonna dig into today. Andy G from Reno, Nevada sent in this question. Hi Brian, thank you for all your updates and information on the Diddy case. I have been just fixated since I heard about his charges.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
My question is, how come Sean Combs was present during jury selection? What part does he have in selecting prospective jurors? Well, thanks, Andy. So to answer that question, a criminal defendant has the right to be part of each and every part of the proceeding against him. And so Sean Combs can be there during jury selection. And the part that he has in playing in it is that he can contribute.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Abuse or Coercion?
He has the ability to say to his attorneys, I feel good about this perspective juror. I don't feel good about this juror. He can look and see and weigh in on how he thinks these jurors should be sculpted based on their responses, based on their body language, whatever it may be. Now, ultimately the defense attorney has the final word, but they're your client. You help them defend their case.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
A warning, this episode includes discussion of sexual violence and abuse, so please take care when listening. In 2006, more than a dozen people sat around a long conference table scattered with water bottles and shiny folders emblazoned with a bad boy logo.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
In September of 2007, Cassie threw a party to celebrate her 21st birthday. The party was at a hotel in Las Vegas. In photos, you can see her wearing shimmery pants and a white tank top. She's smiling, holding a glass of bubbly. According to Cassie's lawsuit, Combs showed up to the party uninvited. He brought some of his celebrity friends along too, including Britney Spears.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Combs and his longtime girlfriend, Kim Porter, had reportedly broken up. They were together on and off for about 13 years and raised four children together. In her lawsuit, Cassie alleged that Combs forcibly kissed her in a bathroom that night of her birthday party and that she did not consent to his unwanted contact.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
That fall, according to Cassie's lawsuit, Combs invited her to come to Miami by herself under the pretense of a work obligation. She says he hired a party promoter to make fake flyers for an event that she was supposed to host. But Cassie's lawsuit claims there was no party. It was all a sham.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
The suit says Cassie was, quote, stunned at how easily Mr. Combs was able to recruit others to lie for him. Alone with Combs at his Miami home, Cassie alleged he pressured her to take drugs. She felt she couldn't say no because it might hurt her career. And after she took the drugs, the lawsuit says, she became more intoxicated than she ever had been before.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
And that's when she alleges Combs had sex with her. Then, Cassie alleges, Combs used his wealth, power, and influence to take control of different parts of her life. First, renting her an apartment in New York within walking distance of his, then doing the same in LA. He paid for her car, and when she went to events, he paid for her clothes and makeup too.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
She alleged he used drugs to keep her complacent and compliant. Cassie alleges that she became increasingly isolated and frightened as her relationship with Combs escalated into sexual and physical violence. As the years ticked by, she says she was, quote, unable to see a pathway out of Mr. Combs' abusive hold on her life. Sean Combs categorically denies these allegations.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
In 2008, Cassie released a new single with Bad Boy called Official Girl, featuring Lil Wayne. As Cassie promoted the track on radio stations across the country, she kept getting asked, when are we going to see your next album?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
For me, this song brings back memories of being 18 years old and driving around with my friends in my mom's car. It was the kind of song where if you heard it on the radio, you'd tell your friends, yo, turn that up. It was this song that caught Diddy's attention.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Now it's 2009. A few years have passed since Cassie's first album came out. That summer, Cassie does an interview on a hip-hop station near Albany, New York.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Cassie says the album was pretty much done, that it was being mixed, and that she even had a title for it.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
But by the fall, Cassie's sophomore album was still M.I.A., About a month after that radio interview, Cassie made an appearance at Diddy's white party for the first time. It's the same party that we told you about in episode one, where Ashton Kutcher swung across the pool Tarzan style.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Cassie wasn't officially Diddy's girlfriend at this point, but the young artist caught the attention of the cameras.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Cassie looked radiant in a white mini dress and gold strappy heels. Her image had changed from the Me & You debut single days. Now, she was in her early 20s. She'd recently shaved one side of her head, giving her an edgy look that made her seem older and kind of punk rock. This was a daring hairstyle that got Cassie a lot of attention.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
But years later, stories start emerging to suggest that bold look wasn't Cassie's choice. In 2022, rapper Young Jock told YouTuber and music journalist DJ Vlad about the time he says he was hanging out with Cassie and Diddy in Miami. He says they were partying at a club when Diddy saw a woman with one side of her head shaved. The way Young Jock recalled it, Diddy rushed over to Cassie.
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We searched, but it doesn't appear Diddy or Cassie responded publicly to Young Jock's account. But back in 2009, Cassie said in interviews that she'd been thinking about shaving her head for a while. It would be several more years before Cassie and Combs hard launched their relationship in a public way. In 2012, they started appearing together at glitzy events like Paris Fashion Week.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
They were both always dressed to the nines, but it was clear who the bigger star was. At the 2017 Met Gala, the couple was photographed wearing couture. Diddy talked to Vogue's Andre Leon Talley about what he was wearing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is it. This is fearlessness. Cassie waited a few steps behind until Andre motioned her to come over.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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He told everyone gathered at the conference table that the song had been haunting him in nightclubs and that he thought Cassie had a personality that, quote, the whole world could fall in love with. Before Bad Boy released a remix, Me and You was already an underground hit, even without the backing of a big record label. Cassie Ventura had built up a fan base DIY style.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Here's ABC News entertainment contributor Kelly Carter talking about Cassie's shift from musician to girlfriend.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Cassie's new role as Combs' official girlfriend starts to redefine how she was treated and also perceived. And Combs had a hand in shaping that perception. Like in 2015, he came out with a new fragrance called 3AM. He produced a risque video starring him and Cassie to promote it. The scenes of them embracing and kissing are intercut with the suggestion of violence.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Cassie slaps and shoves, combs his hands, and circle her neck. The minute-long ad was so explicit that some television networks reportedly refused to air it. This was the same year the movie version of Fifty Shades of Grey came out, and this ad was compared to that. Combs went on Andy Cohen's Bravo talk show, Watch What Happens Live, to show him the video. Now that's your real girlfriend.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Oh, she is fully naked. In the video, Cassie is straddling Combs, her body naked and exposed. Combs doesn't say anything in this interview with Andy Cohen about Cassie being a recording artist on his label. For the purposes of this conversation, she's his girlfriend and a model. Remember, Cassie had been modeling on and off since she was 12.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Side note, Cassie's not from Europe. She grew up in Connecticut. Anyways, what stands out to me here is that Cassie, the recording artist, she's no longer in the frame. It's like she's become more of an accessory, an extension of Combs and his brand. In 2015, Bad Boy Records celebrated its 20th anniversary. The next year, Diddy organized a 24-city family reunion tour to celebrate.
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He was the headliner, and he invited legacy bad boy artists like Lil' Kim, Mase, and Faith Evans to share the stage. Some of the shows included special guest appearances from artists like Jay-Z, Usher, Snoop Dogg, and Mary J. Blige. Cassie performed at some of these concerts, but she wasn't a headliner, and she doesn't show up in the press release. And if you look for her, you can find her.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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She's there, at least at some of the shows. But she's not out front and she's not being promoted. She's clearly part of the supporting cast. So maybe that makes sense. After all, she hasn't had another hit song in 10 years. She's sort of a one-hit wonder at this point. At least that's one interpretation. But maybe she's not out front because she's being stifled.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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The secret ingredient was early social media. Remember Myspace? Myspace was only about three years old at the time. It was the beginning of social media for millennials like me who grew up in the 90s and early 2000s. My profile had posts about soccer players I liked, like Ronaldinho, Zizou, and Henri, and some of my favorite music.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
People like DJ and culture critic Megan Wright began to wonder if Cassie's career was being held back intentionally.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
But she was still recording music. Back in 2012, an anonymous fan posted 66 unreleased Cassie tracks on a social media site called Tumblr that was popular at the time. It isn't clear how the fan got these songs or why some of them had never been released by Bad Boy. The collection was titled The Cassie Trilogy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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And if you search around the internet, you can still find a link with all of the leaked recordings, including this track titled Sound of Love. We don't know if this collection of leaked songs put pressure on Bad Boy, but a year later, in 2013, the label released a Cassie mixtape called Rockabye Baby. A mixtape isn't the same as a commercial studio album.
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It might be less formally produced, with songs meant to please the fans or offer tracks that don't make the cut for an album. A lot of times you can download it for free, and that was the case for Cassie's mixtape. Even so, the online music magazine Pitchfork gave Cassie's mixtape a glowing review, saying that now Cassie is more than a singer. Now she's got flow and a remarkable range.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Here's one of the singles from Cassie's mixtape. It's called Numb. When Cassie's mixtape dropped, she did interviews on television and local radio shows to promote it. And she was asked the same question people have been asking her for years. When is her actual album coming out? Here's Cassie in an interview with a radio host named DJ Ski in May of 2013. How long has it been since the last album?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Cassie explains that over the years, she put out some songs here and there, but they didn't really take off. And the reason she never released a new album was because she needed to prove herself more. She needed to earn the respect of her label. Remember, this label she needed to prove herself to, it was controlled by her boyfriend, Sean Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Coming up, Cassie starts working with a new and talented producer who tells us what she glimpsed of Cassie's troubled relationship with Diddy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
I probably posted a picture of me working my after-school retail job at Hollister. I hope to God that picture doesn't still exist. Today, it's pretty common for artists and influencers to get famous off of social media alone. But when Cassie was starting out, it was pretty new to release music without a label, to build connections directly with fans without going through a gatekeeper.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
In 2015, Cassie started working with a Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter named Tiffany Redd. She and Cassie are around the same age. As they collaborated in the studio, they became friends. Tiffany was one of the first people with access to Cassie and Diddy's world who spoke out publicly about the alleged abuse after Cassie settled her lawsuit.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Tiffany remembers this one night she was out with Cassie in Miami. They were celebrating Cassie's birthday at a club, and then they decided to go to McDonald's. As they were driving, she says Cassie's phone lit up. It was Diddy.
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Me & U
This was the era of flip phones and DVDs, so people glanced at paper handouts inside their folders as they scribbled down notes in actual notebooks. Sean Diddy Combs had gathered everyone to tell them about a new artist he'd signed to his Bad Boy Records label.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Tiffany says it was the first time she witnessed this kind of dynamic firsthand. she found it shocking and disturbing.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
When asked to comment on Tiffany Redd's account, Combs' attorney in a statement to ABC News said, Mr. Combs cannot comment on settled litigation, will not comment on pending litigation, and cannot address every allegation picked up by the press from any source, no matter how unreliable.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Tiffany says there was one night, actually another of Cassie's birthdays, where she saw a particularly menacing and controlling side of Combs that alarmed her. Cassie also described this incident in her lawsuit. It was her 29th birthday, and Diddy was throwing her a surprise party. As the party was winding down, Cassie told Tiffany and some other friends that she wanted to leave to go do karaoke.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Soon, Tiffany says, people from Diddy's team circled around them.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Despite the pressure to stay, Cassie and Tiffany made their way to the karaoke club. Later, Diddy showed up with his security detail and Tiffany says they zeroed in on Cassie again. She says all of a sudden, things got really tense when Diddy showed up.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Here's Cassie and the producer she'd been working with, named Ryan Leslie, talking about this in a video blog.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
At around three or four in the morning, Tiffany says Cassie and Diddy returned to Cassie's house. Tiffany was sleeping over that night, and she says Cassie seemed sluggish and sedated.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Cassie's lawsuit includes allegations that Combs supplied her with excessive amounts of drugs and coerced her into sexual encounters that he orchestrated, directed, and also allegedly filmed. These encounters are described in the lawsuit as freak-offs or FOs, and they often involved one or more male sex workers. Sex workers he allegedly instructed Cassie to hire.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
The lawsuit describes how Combs treated these forced encounters as a kind of personal art project. He controlled the lighting and the camera shots in the videos he took. He allegedly told Cassie what to say and what to wear, even down to the shade of her nail polish. Sometimes, these events allegedly lasted for multiple days at a time.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Cassie allegedly often got IV fluids afterwards so she could recover. Combs' defense attorneys claim in a court filing that videos depicting sexual activity between the rapper, Cassie, and male sex workers confirm Mr. Combs' innocence because they show sexual activity among consenting adults. To Cassie, the videos had another purpose.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
She alleges that Combs used them to remind her that he was the one in control. According to the lawsuit, there was one time when they were on a flight and he showed her a video of a freak-off she thought had been deleted. Seeing that video, it underscored how trapped she was. He had this collateral, something that he could use to enforce his power and keep her compliant. Here's Tiffany Redd again.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for watching.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
And that's when the major labels came knocking, including Bad Boy Records, Sean Combs' company. As an attorney, I can tell you that the terms of any deal like this are usually private. We later find out Bad Boy reportedly offered Cassie a contract to make 10 albums. That was huge and also pretty unusual for a new artist without a proven track record.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
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Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
I could only find a couple of examples like this, including the 10-album deal a teenage LL Cool J reportedly got in the 1980s with Def Jam Records. Just think about it. Here's Cassie. She's at the very beginning of her career, only a couple years out of high school. And one of the biggest record labels in hip hop and R&B offers her a chance to make not just one, but 10 albums? That's crazy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
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Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Cassie was pumped and talked about it in an interview with Fun Radio France.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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But those 10 albums, they never happened. It's hard to watch some of these early videos of Cassie before everything changed, because now we know her dreams got derailed. And this legendary label she was so excited to join, she alleges the person who ran it became her tormentor and abuser. That's according to a lawsuit Cassie filed against Combs and his company in 2023.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
The lawsuit describes in excruciating detail how she allegedly got trapped in a toxic relationship with Combs that lasted for more than a decade.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Cassie's allegations include disturbing accounts of abuse that lasted for years, that Combs forced her to use drugs and have sex with male sex workers, that he was controlling, even at times having her medical records sent directly to him, and that he was prone to rage and frequently beat her.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
When Cassie filed her lawsuit, Combs' attorneys issued a statement saying he vehemently denied these offensive and outrageous allegations and that Cassie's lawsuit was riddled with baseless and outrageous lies aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs' reputation and seeking a payday.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Diddy was in the middle of a successful run with Danny Kane on his MTV show Making the Band, and he was getting ready to release the debut album of Atlanta rapper Young Jock. But Diddy wasn't happy with the label's recent performance. He said publicly that he was trying to get things back on track. So now he had another up-and-coming artist he wanted everyone in the room to meet. Cassie Ventura.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
But within a day of filing her suit, Cassie Ventura and Sean Combs reached an undisclosed settlement agreement with no admission of guilt. Combs issued a statement saying, we have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best.
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I think it's fair to say that Cassie's lawsuit was the first domino to fall in the complicated web of civil and criminal allegations that Combs is now facing. And if he's convicted, some of those charges could put him behind bars for the rest of his life. For his part, Combs denies all allegations and has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges he's about to be tried for.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
But if we go back 20 years to when Cassie and Combs first met, what can we learn about how we got here? In this episode, we're going to focus on Cassie. We'll retrace the steps of her relationship with Combs and how some people we spoke with say dating him seemed to hurt her career more than it helped him.
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We'll speak to a friend who claims she witnessed Combs abusing Cassie, and we'll ask, what are the mechanisms and forces that fuel the kind of abuse that's been alleged and allow it to stay hidden for so long? Because to be clear, the abuse Cassie alleged in her lawsuit, it's much bigger than one powerful person. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, and you're listening to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Episode 3, Me and You. Cassie Ventura grew up in a small city in Connecticut that sits about halfway between New York City and Boston. Her family is a mix of cultures. She's described her mom as having Mexican, Black, and West Indian roots. Her dad's side of the family is Filipino. Cassie started modeling when she was 12.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
As a teenager, she attended a performing arts school where she studied ballet and jazz. Cassie moved to New York City in the fall of 2004 with her best friend. At first, she found work as a model. But Cassie wanted to be something more. She looked up to artists like Sade, Janet Jackson, and Aaliyah. She wanted to be an artist too. And not just that, she wanted to be famous.
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She said as much in a 2006 documentary on YouTube called Cassie Ventura, The Beginning.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
Once her deal with Bad Boy was finalized in 2006, Cassie started working on her debut album. The album cover is a close-up of Cassie's face. She's staring straight at the camera with a serious and mysterious expression. Her hair is parted on the side and falls in loose waves over one eye.
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The day of the launch, Cassie and her producer, Ryan Leslie, drove to Virgin Records, a big music store in Times Square, to celebrate. They were greeted by a crowd of fans holding up CDs they had just bought.
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Now that she was a bad boy artist with a hit single, Cassie was becoming more visible on a national stage. She had a big moment in the spotlight in 2006 when she performed in front of a live audience for the popular TV show 106 and Park on Black Entertainment Television, or BET. Both the cable network and the show were a really big deal at the time. Here's DJ and ABC News contributor Megan Wright.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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That day, she wore her long, dark hair tucked behind her ears and big gold hoop earrings. She dressed casually, with little to no makeup. Combs was in his late 30s. He sat at the head of the conference table while 19-year-old Cassie was at the other end. She was there with a producer she'd been working with. They'd released a song you've probably heard of called Me and You.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
As a teenager in the late 90s and early 2000s, 106 & Park was the place to see my favorite performers and check out up-and-coming artists. The show brought hip-hop to the forefront in a way that was mainstream, big, and just cool. Everyone watched it. So if you missed it and showed up to school the next day, you'd be lost in the conversation.
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Me & U
Cassie appearing on 106 & Park meant she had made it onto one of the biggest and coolest stages there was. The day of Cassie's big debut on 106 & Park, she looked nervous.
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Her voice sounded shaky, tentative. You could see her eyes dart across the audience.
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At one point, the camera pulls back to show the crowd, and there's only a few people dancing. The whole thing feels very low energy.
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Jamila Lemieux is a writer and cultural critic. She remembers Cassie's BET debut.
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Some fans didn't think Cassie met those high standards for Bad Boy. I found an online petition to get Cassie kicked off the label that referenced both this BET performance and another one on MTV. The petition got over 3,000 signatures, so not tons considering she had hundreds of thousands of followers on MySpace, but still, it was pretty vicious.
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The petition was titled, We Prefer Lassie Over Cassie, and whoever started it complained of Cassie's penguin-moaning vocals. But after the BET performance, Diddy seemed to stand by Cassie. He told MTV, It just made me appreciate that she got nervous, and it was kind of cute to me, to be honest. He said he told her, It's like riding a bike. You're gonna fall down. You gotta keep on getting on it.
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At the time, that might have seemed like a label exec defending his artist, standing by her. Maybe even a bit of fatherly advice. But those comments to MTV, where he described Cassie as cute, actually showed up in Cassie's 2023 lawsuit against Combs.
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The suit said that by pointing out how young and naive Cassie was, Combs was actually laying the groundwork for his, quote, manipulative and course of romantic relationship with a woman nearly two decades his junior. A lot of what we've learned about Cassie's experience of her relationship with Sean Combs comes from this lawsuit, allegations that he, again, vehemently denies.
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But because the lawsuit was settled quickly and the details of the settlement were sealed, all we have is her 35-page complaint to share her side of the story, her account of how their relationship started, what the alleged abuse was like for her, and how she says it impacted her life and her career. Cassie hasn't spoken about the alleged abuse since the settlement.
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It's common in settlements like this for the two sides to agree not to say bad things about each other. So all we've heard from Cassie is an Instagram post where she thanked fans for their support, but didn't mention Diddy by name.
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So what happens if we take the accounts of hidden abuse Cassie alleges in her lawsuit and compare them with the parts of her life that were visible to the public these last 20 years? what picture emerges? That's coming up after the break.
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To this day, Me and You is the track Cassie is best known for. A song that would go on to peak at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. A song that stayed on the charts for about six months. In other words, back in 2006, Cassie's song was one of the country's most popular singles.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
Imagine the opportunity to beat Tom Brady in sports.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
His hair was a mix of salt and pepper, leaning more towards salt. There are no cameras or microphones allowed in the courtroom. But if you'd been there, you'd have heard the judge open the day by saying, welcome to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
With the exception of voting, for most citizens, the honor and privilege of jury service is their participation in the democratic process. This is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and trial attorney. This episode, a jury of one's peers. Let's get to it. So I got to court at about 7.30 a.m.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
And thanks to the great producers and line waiters at ABC, I was able to do so. Because the line started at 12 a.m. that morning. The person who was waiting in line for me that I relieved at 7.30, they were second in line. And behind me stretched about another 30 or 40 people. The vibe outside was kind of anticipatory, waiting, are we gonna get in?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
It's like trying to get into your favorite nightclub and you don't know where exactly the cutoff's going to be, but we're all excited to get in. Once you get into the Southern District of New York, it's first security, right? I go up to the 26th floor.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
But inside the court, the way federal court operates is you have the judge all the way in the front, you have a large kind of wall that is about waist high with a swinging door that allows you to come in and out of it. And in what we call the well of the court, there are three large rows of tables.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
And the government walked in as a powerful group of women, because it isn't a group of women who are representing the United States of America in this case, and they sat in the first row. Behind them, there are so many attorneys and people representing Sean Combs that they occupy two rows of tables.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
A warning. This episode includes discussion of sexual violence and abuse, so please take care when listening. Jury selection has now started in the trial of music mogul Sean Diddy Combs. I walked into the Southern District of New York courthouse yesterday for the first day of jury selection. Combs is facing federal criminal charges of racketeering, conspiracy, and sex trafficking.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
The entire left side of the courtroom is left open because that's where prospective jurors eventually come in. When Sean Combs ultimately does come in, he hugged his attorneys and he looks back just ever so slightly and then kind of faces forward again. No big gestures or smiles or whatever it may be.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
The goal of jury selection is to find a jury of one's peers, because that's the constitutional right that we all have. As we sat in the courtroom, about 54 or 55 people of varying demographics, whether it be race, gender, age, walked in. And they occupied not just that section that was left empty for them, but there was an overflow that actually had to sit in the jury box as well.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
And at that point, the judge began the process of jury selection, welcoming the jury into the courtroom, explaining to them why they were there, that he expected the case to go on for at least eight weeks, but trying to give people the hope that this isn't going to go as far as Independence Day.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
You might still be able to get your Fourth of July weekend while still being off during Memorial Day weekend, Juneteenth, and other federal holidays that are recognized. After the judge is done giving just the preliminary statements, let's call them to the jury, you can see they all have a sheet or multiple sheets of paper in their hand. That's that questionnaire.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
The same questionnaire that we now have at ABC and can kind of walk through. After that, welcoming everyone, all the jurors walk out again. And then those jurors or prospective jurors move to a different room altogether, just a little down the hall until one by one, they came into the courtroom take the witness stand and are asked questions by the judge.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
The judge, who is a self-proclaimed somewhat of a workhorse, and he is, he's really keeping this train moving. He is a phenomenal conductor. he created this kind of, for lack of a better term, batter's box. Because as one person is in the witness stand being asked questions by the judge, the next person who's about to come up is looking over the list of people and places. What do I mean by that?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
There are a number of people and places that are going to come up in this case that the judge wants to ask whether or not you're familiar with these people in a way that you cannot sit on this jury. And so while one person's reviewing, the other person is on the stand.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
Now, the way it works in federal court, at least at this stage, the judge is asking all the questions to see if there are what you call four cause challenges as to whether or not this person cannot be a juror. If they have the inability to understand English, if they have a medical condition where they can't sit and stay for that long, if they have childcare issues, things like that, right?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
And after the judge asked those questions, the judge said, if I see an issue, I will excuse this juror and we'll move on to the next. And if there are any challenges by either side, they can speak then and talk about it.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
The questionnaire has 31 questions, and one that I think is very important and also came up a number of times when asking prospective jurors what they meant in answering this question was question 10. Have you, a family member, or someone close to you been the victim of sexual assault, sexual harassment, or domestic violence?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
Now the judge also said, if there is something that is particularly personal to you, we can have what's called a sidebar where everyone gets together away from all prying ears. So even us in the audience couldn't hear, and you can ask those questions. The sad part is the sheer number of women who just say yes.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
And I think the saddest part for me is when they say yes, I would hope there'd be some level of shock, But it is such a common place where women say, yeah, there was a neighbor, I was flirting with him, and then he sexually assaulted me in a staircase. just matter of fact. And that's something that one of the jurors actually said. And she said, yeah, but that's just part of the culture.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
He's pled not guilty and denies all allegations. The timing of the start of jury selection, May 5th, coincides with another big New York City event, the Met Gala. It's something Diddy attended many times in his old life. If he had still been the old Diddy, yesterday, he probably would have been getting dressed in something glamorous and high-concept from his label, Sean John.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
It happens sometimes. It happened in 96 so many decades ago, but don't worry, your honor. I can put that aside. I understand that my situation and what's going on here are two different situations and I can be a fair juror. And that's what happened to a lot of those questions. And the judge is asking in a very polite way, I understand that you were sexually assaulted.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
I understand that someone had done this horrible thing to you. Can you put all that aside?" And they say, I think, I believe I can. And they ultimately say yes. Now, could they end up being jurors on the trial? Absolutely.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
From those 54, 55 prospective jurors that came in, the judge is trying to whittle it down to what many people might call a magic number, where no matter what happens, 12 plus alternates will be found. After the break, what we learned about the people who might decide Sean Combs' fate.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
As jury selection is going on, Sean Combs participates in the same way as everyone else does. And what do I mean by that? When a juror walks into the courtroom, he stands up.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
Now, he stands up partly because that is courtroom decorum, that is a respectful way to treat the juror, but it also gives you an opportunity to be seen by the juror, to humanize yourself to some extent, and also see the juror, to see how they react to you. Now, when Sean Combs sat down, you can see him looking at the monitor,
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
putting his glasses on, reading documents, attorneys leaning over to talk to him, him leaning over to talk to attorneys. And through that, we see his interactions and his interest of helping to suss out who might make it to the trial. Jury selection is like riding a train in New York. You will see everyone from all walks of life.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
We're sitting there, and we're seeing an IT technician, a 30-year-old former parochial school teacher, an HBO employee, an executive at a company that deals with books, who at one point saw a memoir, or at least the media report of a memoir, related to people in the case. That person? Dismissed. And that school teacher that I mentioned?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
Instead, he was seated in a grand courtroom with high ceilings and rich wood, wearing a dark, navy crew-neck sweater over a white button-down. No tie with slacks. He wasn't cuffed or shackled. Two marshals sat behind him. He got permission from the court to wear something other than the beige jail smock he had been wearing for prior court appearances.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
That person remained in the jury pool, despite reacting to a comedian's joke on social media about baby oil. She said she can remain fair and impartial and still listen to the evidence that will be presented. But think about that for a moment. This isn't something that was on her social media account that she posted. Because anyone can, for example, type in Brian Buckmeyer and see what I post.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
This is, what did you like on social media? What did you click on? It's still pretty early on in the jury selection process. So if we're trying to get that big picture, that big takeaway, I think it's that This is just the first step. There are so many other steps. We've just hit the surface level.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
But I think once the defense and the government start asking their questions in the next round, that's when we really start to see who's going to end up on this jury. We as attorneys have this very finite way of speaking about things that is not the way that the average person talks about. We as attorneys don't use things like, I can do it. It's either I'm doing it or I'm not.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
And so we saw that struggle from a lot of jurors in the sense of, I can do it. I believe I can be fair and impartial. And so you're starting to see the attorneys kind of being like, okay, I see who I might want to get off because you're supposed to be very sure as to whether or not you can do it.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
There are some great judges in Brooklyn Criminal and Supreme Court, and they ask this question to kind of get people off that fence. And they say, if you got onto an airplane, And the captain of the airplane said, hello passengers, I'm your pilot for the day. I think I can land this plane pretty safely. Would you stay on that plane or would you get off?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
And 10 out of 10 people say, I'm getting off. Because it's not a matter of whether he can land that plane properly. It's a matter of if he will. And so I think right now when we're trying to look at who the potential jurors are, you're getting a lot of can't, maybe, stuff like that. It's going to be interesting to see how this jury selection continues after this.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
As the rest of the week continues, we're going to start to see the defense attorneys and the government ask their questions.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
And I think those are gonna be far more revealing of what this case is going to look like, who they are looking for to be in this jury, who they will eliminate, who they will fight to eliminate, who they will allow to stay, and then we will see who is juror number one, two, three, through 12. And that's when we're gonna start to really see this case begin.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
That's it for Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. We'll be back on Friday with more highlights of this week's journey selection. If you appreciate this coverage, please share it and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps others find it. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. Thanks for listening.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
For the last four years, it's been this rollercoaster of magic.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
There was a bit of testimony that struck me, and I'm curious if you felt the same way, with LA Fire Department arson investigator Lance Jimenez testifying about a black Cadillac Escalade that he saw leaving the scene that was registered to Sean Combs' company. bad boy. Now, did that stand out to you?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
She told the jury that Combs and a bodyguard showed up at her apartment with a gun and made her go with them to Scott Meschede's house, aka rapper Kid Cudi. On Cross, the defense tried to dispute it was a kidnapping, suggesting Clark had previously told defense attorneys she went with Combs to prevent him from doing something stupid and clarifying that he didn't point the gun at her.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
Let's give a little bit of context as to how this came about. There are no allegations that the person who committed the arson or allegedly committed the arson was inside the home, but it was explained to us there was a prior event that had a burglary in the home. They took those fingerprints, they made fingerprint cards, and they stored them as evidence. Now,
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
Evidence gets destroyed all the time. A case gets resolved. The person's found guilty. The case is done. The lead investigator says this person is no longer a suspect. There are many reasons why evidence gets destroyed. But when a case or an investigation is still ongoing, that's supposed to be saved.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
It's supposed to be saved for some 10, 20, how many ever years until the lead investigator decides that it no longer is necessary to keep. And the lead investigator who was on the stand is saying, I did not ask for it to be destroyed. No one contacted me saying it was supposed to be destroyed.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
And the issue here was, I think in my opinion, and I think the judge agreed too, that at that point, the conversation should have been done. They did an investigation, they collected evidence, it was destroyed, they don't know why, and then move on.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
But the government kept going and kept going to the point that it seemed like a very strong insinuation that it's very unusual for this piece of evidence to be destroyed. And so I think the government got far too dangerously close to that implication. But that question of it being unusual is never answered. And so the judge ultimately said, we're going to strike this line of questioning.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
We're going to give what's called a curative instruction, meaning we're going to tell the jury that this line of questioning as to the loss or destruction of this evidence has no bearing or relevance as to this defendant. And then we're going to move on.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
But I think as the judge hinted, if that question was answered and depending on what the answer was, we could have been very dangerous in a mistrial predicament for the government and probably something that the defense would have very much liked.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
Yes. Yes. I ask for mistrials like I ask for seconds at dinner. I'm always going to ask. The reason why you do it is because nine times out of 10, you're not going to get it. But you make the mistrial motion because on appeal, that might be the reason why a case gets reversed. And another example would be Harvey Weinstein.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
You made the argument as to too many alleged victims or people who are prior bad act witnesses testifying. You don't win that argument at trial, but on appeal, the case comes back. So you always make those motions. Celebrity stylist Deontay Nash also took the stand.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
He testified to alleged control, coercion, and violence in Diddy's relationship with Cassie, something that is the bedrock of that sex trafficking charge that Sean Combs is facing two counts of. But what stood out to you from his testimony?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
Yeah, and I really wish that the listeners could see this. Peter has about maybe 30, 40 different pieces of paper in about six or seven different piles. And it is so Peter to be like, let me pull this piece of information at my fingertips and explain to you what's going on. So Peter, please.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
Forced labor and kidnapping are both part of the racketeering conspiracy count Combs is facing. He's pled not guilty. At one point Wednesday, the defense requested a mistrial when an arson investigator from the Los Angeles Fire Department was testifying. While it's the first time the defense requested a mistrial, it probably won't be the last. This is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
Peter, it is always a pleasure, whether I'm seeing you in the halls of ABC or reading an email. Thank you for taking the time to come and talk with us on Bad Rap. My pleasure. Thanks for having me, Brian. That's it for this episode of Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. If you have any questions for me, I'd love to hear them. So give us a call at 929-388-1249.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
You might even hear me answer your question on the air. If you appreciate this coverage, please share it and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thanks for listening. And if you're looking for even more coverage of the Diddy Trial, you can check out our new daily show, Burden of Proof, The Case Against Diddy. The show streams weekdays at 5.30 p.m. Eastern on ABC News Live.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
You can also find it on Disney+, Hulu, or on most of your favorite streaming apps. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer. The podcast production team includes Vika Aronson, Nancy Rosenbaum, Audrey Mostek, Amira Williams, Tracy Samuelson, and Sasha Aslanian.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
Special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Caitlin Morris, Liz Alessi, Katie Dendas, and the team at ABC News Live. Michelle Margulis is our operations manager. Josh Cohan is ABC Audio's director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and practicing attorney. This episode... That's right. Today, we're talking evidence. What the jury has seen so far, how it becomes part of the trial, and how both sides can use it to support witness testimony.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
My guest today is Peter Haralambous, a producer with ABC's investigative unit, and he also works with the visual verification team, which authenticates photos and videos from around the internet to make sure the news that you get is real and true.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
Peter was a paralegal before going into journalism, and one of the things he did as a paralegal was preparing evidence for jurors at trial in the Southern District of New York. Yeah, the very same court where Diddy is being tried. And evidence has actually become Peter's expertise while covering the Diddy trial.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
He collects exhibits filed in court and gets them ready for broadcast, making sure the right redactions are made for our audiences. He's the keeper of a giant spreadsheet where he logs all of the evidence publicly available from both the prosecution and the defense. Peter, let's take our listeners inside the courtroom.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
You know, what strikes me when I enter federal courtrooms these days is that each of the jurors and the alternates have a very large screen in front of them. Peter, can you talk to us about how the technology in the courtroom works in terms of how the jurors are seeing the evidence, how the witnesses see the evidence, and how even the defense attorneys and prosecutors marshal that evidence in?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
In the last few days of USA v Sean Combs, we've heard from more former employees of Combs, as well as celebrity stylist Deontay Nash. But most notably, Diddy's alleged victim going by the pseudonym Mia. Mia worked for Sean Combs, first as a personal assistant and then as a director of development and acquisitions for his film business.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
And one interesting thing I found about this case especially is that they put on privacy screens onto the TVs of the jurors. So I would analogize it similar to the privacy screens you have on a cell phone. You can see it if you're looking directly at the phone. You cannot see if you're looking at it from an angle.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
You've collected a whole database of evidence for ABC that people like myself and others can really dive into to help explain to our audience. Can you give us a lay of the land of the evidence introduced so far and summarize the range of things entered into this case?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
She said the highs were really high and the lows were really, really low. She testified that she often didn't sleep while working for Combs, including one stint where she was up for five days. Mia told jurors that Combs threw things at her, threw her against a wall, and he also sexually assaulted her. When prosecutors asked if she could leave whenever she wanted, Mia answered, I wasn't allowed.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
Yeah, it's interesting, I would agree, how they put this case together, both in terms of the order of the witnesses and the evidence that they provided, when they had to get their star witness on, but also how they chose to build this case based on just the circumstances of it all. You mentioned the defense's exhibits. Can you tell me about that?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
I'd have to ask permission. Her testimony is meant, at least in part, to convince the jury that Combs used forced labor as part of his alleged criminal enterprise. Cross-examination is expected to begin late Friday morning. On Tuesday, another former employee, Capricorn Clark, testified that she'd been kidnapped while working for Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
I see what Peter is saying here. Why not just put the witnesses in a more linear order? Well, it's not always possible given witnesses' schedules and travel needs. Plus, the ordering might also create a foundation of evidence and testimony for later witnesses to build on or corroborate. Let's take a short break.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
But when we come back, some of the biggest moments in the Sean Combs trial this week, including the defense team's request for a mistrial.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Evidence
Peter, let's talk about some of the biggest moments from court in the past few days. It seemed like prosecutors this week were trying to put a button on the arson charge, putting additional witnesses on the stand who they hope could corroborate Kid Cudi's testimony from last week.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
It's interesting that you bring up granting an individual immunity because George Kaplan, one of Sean Combs' personal assistants, we saw him on Wednesday take the fifth, then be granted immunity, and then testify. So what goes into an AUSA's mindset as to we need to give this person immunity in order to testify and how do you get to that conclusion and what do you do with them?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
After the New Year, he testified he got a call that his Porsche was on fire in his driveway. Jurors saw photos of the blackened interior and the charred, melted driver's seat. Kid Cudi said a Molotov cocktail was dropped into the car through a hole cut in the roof. Arson is one of the underlying acts included in the racketeering conspiracy count Combs is facing.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
So sometimes people ask me in just a layperson's term, and so I'm going to ask you in this term. Sure. Is it sometimes that you're just going after the big fish and you let the little fish go?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Just ahead, former prosecutor Moira Penza has faced some of Combs' defense team in court before. And she says they're making some new moves in the Combs trial.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
And I'm back with Moira Penza, a former federal prosecutor who's brought charges similar to what Sean Combs is facing. Perhaps her most high-profile case was the prosecution of Keith Raniere, the former NXIVM leader who was convicted of crimes including racketeering and sex trafficking in 2019. I asked Moira if she sees any parallels between the two cases.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
And Cassie Ventura previously testified that Combs had threatened to have Kid Cudi's car blown up. Kid Cudi testified that he reached out to Sean Combs to kind of squash the beef.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
He met Combs at the Soho House of Los Angeles, where he walked into a room with just Combs standing there, staring out of a window with his arms behind his back, looking like, as Kid Cudi testified, some kind of a Marvel supervillain. That line got a laugh from the jury.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
You've got a little bit of inside baseball here because you've gone up against Mark Ignifilo and Tenny Garagos. And now the SDNY is going up against who I would describe as the lead defense attorneys at Sean Combs. So what can we expect of their style? What can we expect of the way they're going to cross-examine?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
What can we expect of the closing arguments that the defense is likely going to bring up since you know their style of defense?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Although Cassie testified she started seeing Kid Cudi when she and Combs' relationship was in a rough patch, Kid Cudi testified that Cassie told him they had been split up. On cross-examination, the defense said both Kid Cudi and Combs were played by the same woman. The person who played you, the person who played Sean, was Miss Ventura, true? One of the lawyers asked. Yeah, Kid Cudi replied.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
In your case against Keith Raniere, you had an expert forensic psychologist by the name of Don Hughes, who also testified in Sean Combs' case. How did you use her expertise to help in that case, and how do you see her expertise being used to further the government's case against Sean Combs?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
So the interesting thing that I found with this case, which also happened in Keith Raniere's case, was that the defense had the argument of some of this was consensual or all of this was consensual as a way of defending their case.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
What kind of difficulties does that create for the government in terms of trying to prove their case that either consent didn't happen or it doesn't matter in the context of these allegations?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
And this week, the jury saw other photos too, including pictures of baby oil, lingerie, platform heels, and sex toys. You'll recall Diddy's Los Angeles and Miami homes were raided by federal agents back in 2024.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
How do you prepare alleged victims to testify in court, considering all of what's going to happen in the direct examination, showing up to court, and especially the cross-examination?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Moira, thank you so much for your time.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Court's taking somewhat of a longer break from Memorial Day weekend. They're off today on Friday and resume on Tuesday, May 27th. We'll be back in your feed later that day with the latest from ABC News Live's Burden of Proof. If you have any questions about the case you'd like me to answer, call and leave a voicemail at 929-388-1249. Thanks to everyone who's called.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Special Agent Gerard Gannon testified that the feds recovered the parts of two AR-15 assault-style rifles with defaced serial numbers only feet from where Combs allegedly stored supplies for freak-offs. Prosecutors have argued that the threat of violence allowed Combs to coerce his alleged victims to participate in freak-offs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
We love hearing your questions and we'll answer as many as we can on future episodes. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer. Our podcast production team includes Vika Aronson, Nancy Rosenbaum, Audrey Maztek, Amira Williams, Tracy Samuelson, and Sasha Aslanian.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Caitlin Morris, Liz Alessi, Katie Dendas, and the team at ABC News Live. Michelle Margulis is our operations manager. Josh Kohan is ABC Audio's director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Jurors also saw baggies of colorful pills and other drugs allegedly found in Combs' home, including marijuana, powders, and other drugs that prosecutors have alleged were used to make participants compliant during freak-offs and would allow them to perform well past the point of exhaustion.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Thursday afternoon, a makeup artist who worked with Diddy and Cassie testified that she saw Cassie with a swollen eye and busted lip and knots on her head after the Grammys in 2010. Altogether, this week, it felt like the prosecution was really beginning to build support for its racketeering conspiracy charges. This is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and practicing attorney. This episode, prosecutors go for the big fish. As we wrap up the second week of USA v. Sean Combs, I wanted to sit down with someone who could take listeners inside what goes into prosecuting a high-profile case like this one. a federal criminal case that combines RICO charges along with sex trafficking.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
We saw a lot happen in court this week, so let's catch up. The last few days featured testimony from a really wide range of witnesses.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
My guest, Moira Penza, is a trial attorney working in private practice. She's not involved in the Diddy prosecution, but she's got a lot of interesting insight because back in 2019, she was an assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Moira was the lead prosecutor on a RICO and sex trafficking case the government brought against a man named Keith Raniere.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
He was the leader of a company called Nexium that sold self-improvement classes and workshops. Moira and her colleagues proved that Raniere was in charge of a criminal enterprise that engaged in sex trafficking and forced labor, among other crimes. Raniere is currently serving a 120-year sentence. and two members of his defense team are now representing Combs, Mark Ignifilo and Tenny Garagos.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
So Moira has faced off against some of Combs' attorneys in open court, which is another reason I was curious to talk with her. Now, in this conversation, we're going to lean on Moira's expertise and experience as a prosecutor. You'll hear that in how she talks about these cases. She often assumes the government's point of view.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
But we want to remind you that Sean Combs has pled not guilty to all of the federal charges he's now facing. I started by asking Moira what stood out to her so far about the prosecution and defense strategies in the Combs case.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
We heard from two special agents from Homeland Security Investigations, two former assistants who worked for Sean Combs, a makeup artist, and perhaps the most anticipated witness this week, Scott Muscadie, better known as rapper Kid Cudi, who once dated Cassie Ventura.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Let's talk about the part of the case you think is the most clear-cut, the charges of sex trafficking. Why do you think that?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
In her civil lawsuit, Cassie alleged that Combs threatened to blow up Kid Cudi's car after finding out that she and Kid Cudi were dating. Well, Thursday, we finally heard Kid Cudi's version of that story. Kid Cudi walked towards the witness stand, wearing a black leather jacket opened with a white t-shirt underneath, blue jeans, and crisp white sneakers.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Now, we've been getting a lot of questions from listeners about the RICO charges Sean Combs is facing. When people hear RICO, they might think of a criminal organization, like a mob or a gang. I've also heard people talk about that the RICO statute being applied here is overly broad. So can you help our listeners understand why the government is using RICO laws to prosecute Sean Combs?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
So I'm actually curious about this because I've tried to have this conversation with my friends and they're always saying, Sean Combs made music. He produced music. He had a whole fashion line, alcohol, everything. His organization isn't criminal. He's a business person, but then he did freak off. So like only a percentage or a small part of it could be considered criminal.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
A cross earring dangling from his right ear. He testified about a break-in at his home in December of 2011. While he was with Cassie, he says he got a call from an assistant to Sean Combs, who allegedly told him Combs was in his house. Kid Cudi told the jury he returned home to find his gifts that he had bought for his family had been opened and its dog locked in the bathroom.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
So how are you calling what he's doing a criminal enterprise? Can you make sense of that?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Prosecutors Go for the Big Fish
Last thing on this whole RICO allegation and charge, two-part question. What does the government need to prove in order to make out their case against Combs that he's guilty of RICO charges? And from what you've seen so far, are they doing that?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
So I always hate to look over a defense attorney's shoulder and be like, this argument doesn't really make sense. But when the defense made the argument that this is not transportation for the sake of prostitution, because Sean Combs was paying for the time of escorts and dancers because he was just believing he was paying for their time, wasn't paying for sex.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
I kind of looked over at people and be like, come on now. Come on now.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
Is there more coming, Faze? Come on now. And the defense that they were making, I just didn't think really worked out. And it just seems like an easy layup for the government and the way they're presenting this case. So I don't see an argument to combat what you're articulating. And I agree, the easily laid out facts that make out that charge.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
When it comes to the racketeering, I think that's more difficult for the government. There are a lot more moving pieces that you have to fit into place. And if one moving piece doesn't fit correctly, the whole structure can fall.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
And I see the defense having much more opportunities to poke holes in that case or to make that structure fall when it comes to the sex trafficking charge, when you're arguing this is simply just domestic violence, and the racketeering when you're saying there is no criminal enterprise here.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
Combs denies the federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and interstate transportation for prostitution he's facing, and he's pled not guilty. Under cross-examination, the defense asked Cassie to read texts she'd sent to Combs. Texts, they say, show her willingness, eagerness, and agency in the relationship.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
So the pro of having your star witness testify so early, and I don't even think they really had a choice with this. Cassie Ventura is very much pregnant to the point that I think her due date must be very soon.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
Yeah. And so I think for her health, the health of her child, the health of her family, I think the government's doing the right thing by getting her in and out of here as quickly as possible. So it's not really a choice in terms of strategy here. But if it was a choice and it was strategy, I think it's good in the sense of you set the tone and the tenor of the case very quickly.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
You understand what happened to your star witness or the alleged victim, however you want to describe them or what perspective you're looking at it. And you hopefully that carries on throughout the trial.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
The difficulty or the downside of that is when you get to a point where you're doing your closing argument some eight weeks later, the end of June, beginning of July, you've got to keep telling people, remember what I said two months ago? Remember this? Remember that? And jogging their memory and trying to piece it all together can be difficult.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
And I think it might also amount to a little bit of a longer deliberation time because then the jury's got to get in there. They got to request testimony from two months ago.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
I mean, with your handwriting, we should just photocopy it and send it to the jurors at this point. I think it would work out much better. But that's kind of the downside there. Thanks to ABC coordinating producer Tanya Simpson for joining me for this episode. Tanya, I'll be seeing you back in the courtroom.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
Before we go, if you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE or go to rainn.org. That's it for this episode of Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. Make sure to check out a new special from ABC News called Diddy on Trial. That's now streaming on Hulu.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
Nightline co-anchor Byron Pitts sits down with Charlucci Finney, a music producer and longtime friend of Combs, in his first network interview. Here's a clip from the special. I never received a dollar from him as a payroll. That's my brother. Blood make you related, but loyalty make you family. You can find Diddy on Trial from Impact by Nightline only on Hulu.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
If you have something you're curious about in the Diddy trial, leave a voicemail for me at 646-504-3221. You might even hear me answer it next week on the podcast. The number again is 646-504-3221. You can also find it on our show notes. Thanks to everyone who's called in to ask your questions so far. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
Our podcast production team includes Vika Aronson, Nancy Rosenbaum, Audrey Maztek, Amira Williams, Tracy Samuelson, and Sasha Aslanian. Special thanks to Stephanie Morris, Caitlin Morris, Liz Alessi, Katie Dendas, and the team at ABC News Live. Michelle Margulis is our operations manager. Josh Cohan is ABC's director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
The defense also questioned whether her reluctance to participate in Combs' freak-offs was because she wanted their relationship to develop more, and to be more than their sexual encounters. In other words, was the story more about jealousy and infidelity than the serious charges Combs is facing?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
One of the people keeping an extremely close eye on everything happening in the courtroom is my colleague, Tanya Simpson. She's a coordinating producer for ABC's investigative unit. We're going to talk about what she heard and observed while sitting in the courtroom when Cassie was on the stand. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and practicing attorney.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
You're listening to Bad Rap, the case against Didion. This episode, Star Witness. Tanya, you and I have both been in court every day. I think we've been like line buddies as well for a while. We've heard some really incredible testimony. And I say incredible, not because it's like amazing, but just almost beyond belief. Most notably from Cassie Ventura, Diddy's ex.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
We'll get into that in a minute. But listeners might be surprised to learn we can't take any electronic devices into the court with us. So we have to take notes the old-fashioned way, pen and paper. How's your wrist holding up, by the way?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
A warning that this episode includes discussion of violence, sexual assault, and suicide. So please take care when listening. This week, USA v. Sean Combs has been mostly about one witness, singer Cassie Ventura, who was in a romantic relationship with Sean Combs for over a decade. Cassie brought the first civil lawsuit against Combs in 2023.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
And I know you guys can't see us, but Tanya's flipping through his book. One, some of the nicest writing I've seen. Two, very small writing. And so you're like squeezing things into the margins just to make it fit, but it's still just covering the page.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
Okay. So Tanya, let's dive into these notes of yours and see what you think about this case. What have been some of the more compelling points each side has made this week or things that stood out to you, maybe more so in Cassie's testimony?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
You mentioned Cassie Ventura's husband, Alex Fine. And I know that you and I are very close. I think you're just a little off to my side and maybe one row behind. I'm curious if you saw what I saw. I saw him staring at Sean Combs as well. But did you see the side of his face and his ear turn red as if he was getting heated?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
I understood why the judge came to the conclusion that they did. There are competing constitutional rights in the courtroom at any given time. Privacy rights of the alleged victim, constitutional rights of the defendant, but also constitutional rights of the public and the media. And I think when all of these butt heads, the court errs on the side of
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
It included allegations of sex trafficking and was settled quickly with no admission of guilt. This week, we learn through her testimony the amount of that settlement, $20 million. For a long time, that lawsuit was the only look we had into her experience with Sean Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
Let's protect the person who has gone through these alleged acts. While they are allegations, there are documentations and photos of them as well. And I think the belief is that we as journalists can have the ability to articulate what we saw and heard in court sufficiently enough to inform the public without, as the court suggested, re-traumatizing Cassie or anyone else who takes the stand.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
We do have the opportunity, because we're in court, to see how the jury and people in the courtroom react. So how did they react when they saw some of these very graphic pieces of evidence and also hear the testimony?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
Tanya, in the morning, Cassie came across as very stoic and matter of fact. In a way, to me, that was a little jarring. I think if anyone is describing the sexual abuse and the trafficking or the allegations thereof, you would be trepidatious. You would be shocked. You would say it as like a shocking thing. But she talked about it as plainly as I'm talking about.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
Yeah, you're wearing a green sweater. Yeah, you have headphones on. And she was just matter of fact. But in the afternoon when the testimony got very dark, things changed, right?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
I remember when we were researching earlier episodes of this podcast, the lawsuit was one of the very few sources of information we had to draw from to try to understand her side of things. And now, here's Cassie Ventura, sitting in court, very pregnant, answering question after question, testifying to how she believes Sean Combs held her career back.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
When we come back, what are the stakes for the prosecution in having their star witness testify at the very beginning of what's expected to be a long trial?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
I'm back with Tanya Simpson. She's the coordinating producer for ABC's investigative unit and someone who's been in the courtroom paying very close attention to what's unfolding and where debriefing on what we observed.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
So I think when I watch trials, I watch them a little differently than the average person, which I also think is somewhat at a bit of a disadvantage because at the end of the day, it's not an attorney who decides guilt or innocence. It's everyday citizens who sign up and choose to be jurors. But when I listened to the testimony yesterday, And I watched the jurors.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
I'm thinking, here is the square hole. This is the peg that the government is trying to fit into it. And is it fitting? Is a square peg too big? Is it a circular peg? Is a triangular peg? Whatever it is. And I would say in the first day of Cassie's testimony, it didn't feel like this peg was fitting correctly into the hole.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
How she started off participating in orchestrated sex performances called freak-offs because she wanted to please Combs. How she says leaving a freak-off early led to Combs beating her in the hallway of the Intercontinental Hotel back in 2016. The jury saw videos of that incident captured by the hotel's surveillance cameras.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
And the reason for that is, is as a former public defender at the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, I've represented people who have been victims of domestic violence, victims of sex trafficking, people who have sex trafficked others. And I say, listen to it. I was like, does this sound like domestic violence or does it sound like trafficking?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
And then the first day I was like, these sound like the elements of a crime that would be more in line with domestic violence from the facts that we were hearing. But on the second day of testimony, that's when I started to hear testimony and evidence. And also the way that Cassie was talking about Sean Combs, I was like, I've heard this tone before. I have heard this type of conversation before.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
I have heard these elements before. And that's when I started to piece together, I think they're getting closer to the trafficking allegations. Now I say closer because they still need to have individuals come forward and testify to say, I was part of this criminal enterprise. Sean Combe did this intentionally for the purpose of trafficking. This wasn't just a violent relationship.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Star Witness
I think they still need a lot of pieces, but I'm starting to see the pieces align with what the government is accusing in the second day of testimony.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
So I'm curious how that looks because, again, as a defense attorney, my clients often can't afford a jury consultant. So my prep of a defendant to potentially testify may differ from you. For me, I get in one of my buddies or a friend and I say, grill this client as if you're a prosecutor and see if you can make them sweat, see if you can make them lash out.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
And then we gauge how they did on that cross-examination. I might get a few interns, a few first year associates or attorneys as prospective jurors. And that's how I would prep a defendant or a client to potentially take the stand. Am I that far off from you or are you doing something similar, something different? Like how would Sean Collins be prepped to potentially testify?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
What is some of the wildest thing you maybe have seen during this quote unquote cyber stalking that you're like, red flag, we've got to bring this up?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Yeah. And I'll, I'll share one example as well. I've had jury selection where one prospective juror got up on the witness stand, said that he couldn't trust those people, uh, we went into a private chamber with the judge who was Hispanic, two prosecutors who were white. My co-counsel was white and I'm the only black person.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
While the courtroom theater has already begun, the government and the defense have been preparing behind the scenes for months. And gaming out jury selection is a crucial step in that preparation. Think about it. The 12 jurors and six alternates who will be seated for this trial are going to hear all of the arguments, listen to all of the witnesses, and see all of the evidence.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
And the prospective juror who was not black kept saying, I can't trust those people. I kept telling everyone we could just move on guys. Like, you know what he's saying? And ultimately the prospective juror turned and looked at me and he says, I don't trust them. And I'm like, I'm not even on trial. So I don't know what we're doing here. But the person was excused.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
So yeah, we see crazy things like that. And I'll follow up on that because there's a difference between what a person says and how they say it. And I think with the defense attorney and even the government, they'll look at how it's said and say, all right, I might not be able to get them out for a cause, but I will definitely take them out for preemptive challenges. If I say, I really like Eric.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
I want to go out for a beer with him. You're like, I think Brian wants to hang out with Eric. But I would say, I really like Eric. I may want to get a beer with him. Same words, but the way in which it was said, it's clear whether or not Erickson used one of his peremptory challenges to go get a beer with me.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Got it. Thank you very much, Dr. Eric Rudish, for your time here. Really appreciate the conversation.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
By the way, you're going to see peremptory strikes in action in Diddy's trial today. For cause is when a judge or attorney strikes a prospective juror for bias or because they won't be able to be impartial. A peremptory challenge is when attorneys strike a juror for any reason at all. But importantly, they have a limited amount of strikes.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
In this case, the prosecution will get six and the defense has 10. The number of parameter challenges depends on how much potential jail time a defendant is facing. Before we go, we want to catch you up on one other highlight from the courtroom this week.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Mark Garagos, a lawyer who has represented Diddy in the past, got scolded by the judge for the way he's talked about the prosecutors in the case. Now, Garagos isn't officially one of Diddy's attorneys for the trial. His daughter is, but he's someone they've been consulting in court. Garagos has a podcast, and on it, he referred to the team of prosecutors as, quote, a six-pack of white women.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Judge Subramanian did not like that. Neither did the prosecutors. They told the judge that the podcast has several million subscribers and his statements could infect the jury pool. The judge spoke to Garagos in chambers. We have a transcript of the exchange. He called the language outrageous and said it wouldn't be tolerated in any court from any lawyer in the country.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
He warned Garagos that he'll be listening to the podcast from now on. So Garagos made a joke about being all for it as long as the judge subscribes. Last thing, we have a listener call-in line so we can answer your burning questions about Sean Diddy Combs' case. The number is 646-504-3221. That number again is 646-504-3221. You can also find it in our show notes. Please, leave us a message.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
You might hear your question and my answer in an upcoming episode of this podcast. That's it for this episode of Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. I'm Brian Buckmeyer. We'll be back next week to catch you up on opening statements and where the trial could go from there. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
The production team includes Vika Aronson, Nancy Rosenbaum, Audrey Maztek, Amira Williams, Tracy Samuelson, and Sasha Aslanian. Special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Caitlin Morris, Liz Alessi, Katie Dendas, and the team at ABC News Live. You can check out their daily show, Burden of Proof, The Case Against Diddy, streams weekdays at 5.30 p.m. Eastern on ABC News Live.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
This assortment of people will ultimately decide whether Sean Combs is guilty or not. He continues to deny all of the charges against him. So in this episode, we're going to hear from someone who knows a lot about the strategizing that goes into jury selection and how that could play into this case.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Find it on Disney+, Hulu, or on most of your favorite streaming apps. Michelle Margulis is our operations manager. Josh Kohan is ABC Audio's director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
For the last four years, it's been this rollercoaster of magic.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Imagine the opportunity to beat Tom Brady in sports.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
This is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and practicing attorney. This episode, a good juror. My guest today is Eric Rudich. He's a senior litigation consultant with Blueprint Trial Consulting. His job is to help legal teams prepare for trial, including jury selection. And to be clear, he is not working on Diddy's case.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Now, before we hear my conversation with Eric, I just want to mention that as a former public defender, I've never worked with a jury consultant. This process we're going to describe, it doesn't happen on every case. Actually, far from it. That's because jury consultants are expensive. They typically work on really big cases with really deep pocketed clients.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
We know from court records that Combs's lawyers are using a jury consultant and even more rare. So is the prosecution. So I started off by asking Eric about what his job entails. I think a lot of people haven't heard of a jury consultant or at most, maybe they've seen a fictionalized version on TV.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
This week, jury selection kicked off in the trial of Sean Diddy Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Let's have a little fun, right? You and I just met a few minutes ago. You know that Brian Buckmeyer is going to walk in as a prospective juror. What are some of the things you're going to try to look into? Where are the avenues where you might look into them, where you would have the ability to tell a client Brian's good for your jury or maybe Brian's not good for your jury?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Now, do you or jury consultants take like a one size fits all? You say, OK, this is an assault case, so we're going to do it this way. This is a rape case. We're going to do it this way. This is a murder case. Is that kind of how that works?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Now you use the word test the case. And for whatever reason, that kind of brought me back to law school, the fun parts I remember where we did mock trials, where we did like an exhibition of what a trial would look like with fake jurors and a fake defendant and a fake case. Are you doing mock trials with some of your clients to show them how to do this?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
We're never really sure how long this jury selection process could take, but the judge has been running a very tight ship, and so we seem to be on track for the trial to start next week. We could hear opening statements as early as Monday, May 12th. This week, we saw dozens of prospective jurors cycle in and out of the courtroom.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Well, if you ever need an ABC legal contributor and you put me up at a hotel, I'm happy to be part of this focus group for a couple of days. I'll let you know our daily rate and you can see if it works for you.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Now, there's been a lot of talk about questionnaires. And in this case, there is a 31-question questionnaire that went out to the prospective jurors before they even got into the court. What stood out to you? Also, what would you give in the questionnaire, like an A plus, or what would you say this could have been worked on a little bit better?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
And then ultimately, how do you think it does in terms of picking a good juror?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Now, just to be clear to our listeners, you are not working on the Diddy case. And based on my understanding and being in the court, there is a jury consultant there. And so let's kind of put you into that role there. Sean Combs has now hired you or the SDNY has now hired you.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
If you were working on this case on either side, what would be the sort of profile that you're looking for for the type of juror in the Sean Combs case?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
They included a massage therapist, a freelance writer, an investment analyst, and a high school wrestling coach, a real cross-section of New Yorkers. One by one, they answered questions from the judge. Questions like, have you listened to podcasts about this case? What social media do you use?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Within the questionnaire, and even when asking a prospective juror, there are going to be individuals, as you know, who are going to say that they were victims of sexual assault or abuse in the past. When that issue comes out, how do you parse through which one of those individuals can be fair to a defendant like Sean Combs and who can't be fair?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
In the public defender's offices and some of the conversations that I just have with attorneys, we seem to think, and please tell me if I'm crazy or if this makes sense, that there are certain archetypes of people.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
That if you have a certain case that you want someone who is a woman with a certain education and a certain background or a certain part of Brooklyn, because we may know the different communities. Or we have another case, you might want a blue collar male worker who looks at protecting their three daughters in a way that's different than someone else.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Is that true or is that just make-belief in our heads?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
So Eric's explained what jury consultants do before and during voir dire. But is there a role for them to play later on in the trial? And what are some of the more surprising things Eric's found doing background research on potential jurors? That's after the break.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Also, questions about whether they think they'll be able to listen to testimony that's sexual in nature, about things the government says are a crime. What's the purpose of these questions? It's to figure out whether the juror can give Sean Combs a fair and impartial trial. Legal minds like me refer to this whole jury selection process as voir dire. It means to speak the truth.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Once the jury is selected, is it kind of, I'm done, I walk away from the case, on to the next one? Or is there still more that you carry on with the case?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: A "Good Juror"
Could a jury consultant be part of potentially preparing Sean Combs if he decides to testify?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
Anonymous witnesses, video of Diddy attacking Cassie at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles, and the admissibility of Cassie's memoir. First, witness anonymity. When it comes to witness anonymity, what you're talking about is two competing issues. Because Sean Combs, love him or hate him, believe him to be guilty or not, does have the constitutional right, as we all do, to face his accuser.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
But the accuser also has some protections as well. And we've seen a lot of this in more recent cases, especially high-profile cases involving sexual assault and rape, where an individual or an alleged victim having their name or their likeness out there in the public can be very damaging to them, their health, their mental health, or their finances.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
And so in these competing interests of the right to face your accuser and the privacy rights of an alleged victim, the judge will carve out some sort of compromise to afford both their rights as much as possible. It's probably best to understand that there are a number of alleged victims here.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
And the government has articulated them by saying there is victim one, two, three, all the way up until seven. And there could be more. We know that according to them, there are victims that are alleging issues with forced labor. There are victims alleging sex trafficking and sexual assault and rape. But then the question becomes, who are these victims?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
Are we gonna know who they are, what their names are? And from our understanding of both this federal indictment, as well as Cassie Ventura's lawsuit, there's a very strong assumption that victim one is Cassie Ventura. Cassie Ventura is Diddy's ex-girlfriend of over 10 years. She's expected, as I said, to testify using her own name. And both sides appear to be in agreeance with that.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
Victim two is extremely different from victim one in terms of the agreements that they've made. the government and the defense seem to agree that victim two will testify under an anonymous name or a pseudonym.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
As it applies to victim three and four, the government's motion has been granted, meaning victims three and four, as they are designated by the government, will be allowed to use a pseudonym when they testify. There's some information that we do know about the alleged victims though. Some have been in romantic relationship with Combs in the past.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
It's getting close. The start of this trial against Sean Combs, aka Puff Daddy, aka P. Diddy, aka Diddy. Jury selection is right around the corner. May 5th. That will be a crucial time for both sides to select people who will ultimately decide Sean Combs' fate. Diddy has been unwavering in denying all of these allegations, and he's entered a plea of not guilty.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
And as they are set to testify and ultimately do testify, we might learn more about them outside of their actual names. The probably bigger issue when it comes to anonymity is not the what, but the how do you protect someone's anonymity? while also providing the person the opportunity to face their accuser. I've seen a number of things happen.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
I've seen large black sheets put in front of the witness box and they testify behind those sheets where the public in the courtroom or the jurors cannot see who they are, even the defense, but they know who these people are, just that it's not made public.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
I've also seen a situation where everyone in the courtroom, or at least the people who are there as the public, are kicked out as that witness testifies so that only the government or prosecution, the defense, and the jury are aware of their identity. What the judge will decide is yet to be known.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
Victim anonymity, as much as it is protected by the court or it is attempted to be protected by the court, doesn't always work. The courts are made of human beings who do good things, do bad things, and also make mistakes. So is it possible that we might learn the name of some of these alleged victims throughout the course of the trial?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
May they choose to actually release their name when they're done testifying or if Sean Combs is found guilty? Sure. Only time can tell. Up next, the defense tried to keep out that explosive video of Diddy beating Cassie, tried to keep it out of the court, but the judge said it's fair game. More after the break.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
FX presents Welcome to Wrexham. For the last four years, it's been this rollercoaster of magic. The Emmy Award-winning series returns.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
Another big ruling from the judge was about the admissibility of that hotel surveillance video. It shows Combs kicking, dragging, and shoving Cassie while they were still together. The government wants the footage in. Diddy's legal team obviously once that kept out at trial.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
They made some allegations that CNN's version had been altered, sped up, was kind of chopped up and put out of order, and ultimately was deceptive to any jury. CNN adamantly denied these allegations.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
The judge in reviewing the arguments by both the defense and the prosecution made the decision that the evidence in that video is more probative, meaning having the ability to prove a fact, than it is prejudicial against Sean Combs. And in making that decision, the judge said, let the jury see the video. And so in some way, shape or form, that video will be played at trial.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
This was a massive blow to Sean Combs' defense. The reason why this is such a big hit is because of the same way that people reacted after they saw that video. And if the jury sees that, along with the arguments supplied by the Southern District of New York,
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
a prosecutor's office that has a conviction rate of 90 to 95%, you better believe that's a tool that they're going to use to try to show that Sean Combs is guilty of the crimes he's being accused of. Another big ruling from the judge was whether or not Cassie's unpublished memoir would be used against him.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
And as we get closer and closer to this trial, I thought it'd be smart to take a step back and look at some of the issues that are likely to be argued in this case. This is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. I'm your host, Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and practicing attorney. If you missed our first six episodes charting Diddy's rise and fall, please go back and listen to those.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
Diddy's legal team subpoenaed saying, we legally believe we have a right to this information. They did that for a memoir that was never published. Not only that, but journals, diaries, and documents of her plans to publish it.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
Remember, when Cassie's lawsuit came out, there was talk about a negotiation before that civil lawsuit came out, that Sean Combs' team said that Cassie reached out, seeing if he would be open to settle before a lawsuit came forward. There's a belief or at least some talk about whether or not Cassie was going to publish a memoir or a book to that effect.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
This could be the same thing they're looking for. Now, Cassie's attorneys fought the subpoena, meaning push to have this information not provided to them, them being Diddy's defensive team. And they didn't want to turn over the drafts. The judge ultimately ruled in the favor of Diddy's team and all of those drafts, according to the judge must be disclosed to them.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
Now you might ask, why does Diddy's team care about these drafts? What will they prove? Diddy's team thinks that in some way, shape, or form, these memoirs will, or at the very least can, discredit Cassie. They're looking to show any kind of distinction or differences in the way that Cassie may talk about the alleged abuse on the stand or in the memoir.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
Because any difference between the two might show an inconsistency that they would say Cassie's lying. And that's a big point for them. What does it all mean when you put it together? These different rulings by the judge, some in favor of the defense, like Cassie's memoir being admissible, or at least the drafts.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
Some, like the video of Sean Combs at the Intercontinental Hotel showing Combs beating, hitting, dragging Cassie. Does it mean that one side is winning over the other? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how you view that.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
But what it does mean is we start to see how the evidence and the arguments are going to play out in this case, how both sides will have to overcome and utilize these pieces of evidence to try to prove or disprove a case.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
As we head into jury selection, what I want to see is how, especially the defense is going to use this opportunity to try to weave in the narrative of what they're trying to argue. Who is it that we're going to see that comes up as a potential archetype for who they want to be on the jury? What do I mean by that?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
When it comes to cases of sexual assaults of a man against a woman, there are theories that, for example, and I'm not saying this is always true, but this is a theory out there, that boy moms may be the best type of prospective juror if you're the defense. Why is that? People within a group feel more comfortable criticizing other people within their group. So a woman criticizing a woman.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
A man criticizing a man, a black man criticizing another black man, or a white woman criticizing another white woman. People feel less comfortable, at least to some degree, criticizing people outside of their group. But boy moms operate in a very unique space.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
They could feel comfortable criticizing another woman, but they would still think about how a man might be in that situation because they're raising one. And so are we going to see questions and answers and maneuvers by the defense where they try to go after a specific archetype of a person because they believe that's more beneficial to them? That's what I'm looking for.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
Because sometimes, if not all the time, it's not necessarily the facts that you're arguing. Sometimes it's about the person who's willing to receive those facts and how they interpret it. That's it for this episode of Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. I'm Brian Buckmeyer. Thanks for listening.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Countdown
As we wait for jury selection, I want to catch up on a few things I'll be watching in the lead up to the trial. Things that the government and the defense are arguing should be in bounds or should be out of bounds in terms of what the jury will or will not hear. I'm gonna talk to you about three issues that the judge, Judge Arun Subramanian, is deciding on or has decided on.