Kelly Carter
Appearances
20/20
Bad Rap: Downfall
The culture of silence was colossal. You know, it really protected Sean for a number of years, whether that be because people were afraid they would lose whatever position they were working to get in the industry, or afraid for what might have been on a videotape, or afraid for something else. It kept people silent for a really long time.
20/20
Bad Rap: Me & U
She was his artist and everyone was obviously aware of that. But I don't know that all of us also thought about how that power dynamic played out as being his lover and also, you know, him being her boss too. I don't think we thought about that at the time.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
You know, it stood out because, A, I have been to that very bougie, very excellent hotel in Beverly Hills, California. It is pristine. It's awesome. And the fact that he said they had a file on how to deal with hotel rooms and the aftermath of him renting it stood out to me. I mean, if you or I rented a hotel and we trashed it, essentially, we would not be allowed to come back.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
But for them, they said they needed a week to clean it in addition to a bunch of other things that absolutely stood out.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
What stood out about her testimony? Yeah, you know, when she specifically talked about being taken to Central Park, I mean, because of the realization that she had once worked with his rival, Suge Knight, stood out to me.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
It felt very much like what we had heard in some of the music that he produced over the years, kind of glorifying or at least romanticizing, I think, this kind of mafia style of life. And then to hear her and her testimony describe some of the things that we maybe have heard him talk about definitely stood out to me.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Yeah, you know, when he talked about, you know, being placed in that, I believe it was an escalator, an SUV, certainly going to Mel's Diner on the hunt for Suge Knight. First off, the Mel's Diner of it all. Who knew that Suge Knight was a fan of Mel's Diner? But definitely going because I feel like a lot of people thought that that beef between Suge Knight and
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
And Sean Combs kind of ended in the, you know, horrible tragedy of Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. no longer being with us. But to discover that that rivalry was still very much alive and so much alive that you needed allegedly three weapons to go to deal with it, I think was a bit of a shock for people.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
A Kid Cudi. I mean, you know, let's talk about—we've been waiting to hear from him, right? But let's talk about, you know, the scene that he created, that Marvel supervillain. I mean, even though this is not Marvel, I immediately kind of conjured Morpheus in the Matrix series, because that's really what he kind of gave us when we assumed that he met him at the Soho house.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
actually seeing footage of the car for the very first time, because we've been hearing since she filed her civil suit, since Cassie filed the civil suit in 2023, about, you know, the car being blown up. Seeing what it looked like, I think, stood out to a lot of people and hangs in our memory.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Absolutely, because, of course, none of this happens without that initial civil suit and most certainly without her taking the stand for all those days and giving all the details.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Burden of Proof: Diddy Made Death Threats, According to Key Witness
Thank you.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
Yeah, you know what's interesting is before Cassie filed her civil suit back in 2023, we didn't know that she and Kid Cudi dated. What she has told us and what we have learned through that civil suit filing and, of course, in court today, is that when she was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Sean Combs, she at some point started dating the rapper and actor.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
And she ended it because she was afraid. You know, she said that, you know, she alleges that Sean threatened violence and had gone as far to blow up his car. And when that civil suit came out, you know, Kid Cudi's team released a statement and said that is absolutely what happened.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
You know, so this was all kind of new information for, I think, the people following pop culture about them being, you know, potentially a couple back then.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
We know that they met in 2018 in a gym and at some point he started training Sean and then started training Cassie. You know, Alex, of course, is from originally from Michigan, former college football player who then became a celebrity personal trainer, training people like Jennifer Aniston and even Saquon Barkley of the Eagles. And so and so he, you know.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
met Cassie and their relationship seemed to have, you know, taken off because by 2019, they're engaged, married and having a baby. And they met in 2018.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
Yeah, so Suge Knight, of course, is one of the co-founders of Death Row Records. He currently is serving a 28-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter for a hit-and-run incident that happened in 2015. And I think people, if they're trying to make the connection between Sean
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
and Suge, it's that they were both these hip-hop impresarios of competing labels, and they have publicly beefed, you know, especially during the Tupac versus Notorious B.I.G., Tupac being Suge Knight's artist, Notorious B.I.G. being Sean Combs' artist.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
Yeah, that's interesting, right? So we know that because she said in an interview, I think back in like 2008, that her parents, her mom, I believe, is an Army brat and dad is a Navy brat.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
And while we don't really know much about where they are right now, we know that she's from Connecticut and we have seen her mom, you know, because when she hard launched, as the kids say on Instagram, her relationship with Alex Fine, it was in a photo with her mother. I thought that was interesting.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
When she announced to the world that she was in a new relationship, her mother was also in that picture. And then, of course, her mom came up in the courtroom today when she said that she didn't want to be truthful with her mom about what was going on.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Downfall
The culture of silence was colossal. You know, it really protected Sean for a number of years, whether that be because people were afraid they would lose whatever position they were working to get in the industry, or afraid for what might have been on a videotape, or afraid for something else. It kept people silent for a really long time.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Downfall
And I would venture to say it still is keeping people silent right now.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
Yeah, you know, let's go back even a little bit further to really put it into context, because in 2004, you have Ciara dropping her debut album. In 2005, Rihanna drops her debut album. 2006, Cassie comes around and drops her debut album. And, really, the landscape was very ripe for R&B pop princesses to kind of take over.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
And she really, it looked as if she was going to fit quite nicely along what we were hearing on the radio and what we were seeing in music videos. She was discovered by Ryan Leslie, who is a songwriter who has written hits for people like Beyoncé, Britney Spears, and, of course, Sean Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
And it seemed as if all of the ingredients were there for her to fit quite nicely in this scope of the R&B music scene from young women.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
You know, what happened is we kept waiting for more music to come. You know, when that first album came out, it lived on the top 20 for a couple of weeks, but then it was like nothing. You know, what you've been hearing a lot in today's testimony is that she signed this 10-album deal with Bad Boy Records, but only one album came out.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
And for the longest time, people kept waiting to hear more, see more, what was going to be coming for her, because we saw her on red carpets, right? And then we had to wait about six years after that debut album from her dropped to get her on a Nicki Minaj track. And I thought maybe... that was going to bring some new music from her.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
We kept hearing Shawn talk about how she was constantly in the studio as one of the producers, but we really weren't hearing any new music and certainly no new albums.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
It seems very quiet, far more quieter than it was when, of course, she was with Sean, because we're seeing, as we keep rolling, a lot of red carpet footage, a lot of event footage. It's a quieter life, and it seems very sweet.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
He is someone who often makes a lot of proclamations on social media and Instagram about how he wishes the days were longer so that he could have more time to spend with his sweet wife, who is the bestest, in his words, the bestest mama that could ever be. And they're about to have their third baby. So it's quiet and obviously much more regulated.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
She was his artist, and everyone was obviously aware of that. But I don't know that all of us also thought about how that power dynamic played out as being his lover and also, you know, him being her boss, too. I don't think we thought about that at the time.