Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - P. Diddy and Justin Bieber: A Closer Look

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts or Spotify. I don't really I don't have legal guardianship of him, but for the next 48 hours, he's with me. So we're going to go full, full crazy. Going crazy. Pop superstar Justin Bieber was once mentored by Sean Diddy Combs. Now after Combs' arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, old videos are raising questions about Combs' interactions with Bieber. I take a closer look at their relationship through

Starting point is 00:00:37 the years. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. For the last several days, social media has been full of videos of Sean Combs. You can't click on TikTok or X without seeing something about Diddy. It's practically all you see. And this, of course, comes after Combs' arrest on racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges. At this point, Combs is accused of sex trafficking involving one victim, his ex-girlfriend of many years, Cassie Ventura. The indictment says the allegations date back to 2008. Combs has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer says he hasn't committed any crimes. But there are a lot of people questioning who knew what and when, given that at least part of what Cassie Ventura claimed was backed up by a video obtained by CNN that showed Combs beating Cassie Ventura as the backed up by a video obtained by CNN that showed Combs beating

Starting point is 00:01:25 Cassie Ventura as the U.S. attorney said she tried to escape one of his freak-off sex parties. And many people are wondering whether other celebrities were a part of these freak-offs, and worse, is it possible that some people, maybe other celebrities, were actually victimized? We don't know at this point, but what we do know is that videos of Sean Combs and Justin Bieber have been all over X and TikTok for days, specifically this one when Bieber was 15. As soon as you turn 16, you know what I'm saying? I'm going to let you rock this every time you come to LA. Yeah, this is going to be yours. So every time you come in LA, it's a little dusty, but you know, come get your front shot in. Man.

Starting point is 00:02:07 Hang that out. Minute. Woo. Okay. Okay. All right, so I'm going to be driving this next year. Now that video has been viewed more than 5 million times on Justin Bieber's YouTube channel. He was 15 at the time, and he was staying with Combs for 48 hours.

Starting point is 00:02:26 You know, I have been given custody of him. You know, he signed to Usher. I'm signed to Usher. I had legal guardianship of Usher when, you know, he did his first album. I did Usher's first album. Justin Bieber is now a pop megastar. He's loved by fans around the world. In 2009, at the time of this video, though, he wasn't really known. He's loved by fans around the world. In 2009, at the time of this video though, he wasn't really known. He was just a kid and his first album was coming out. Bieber is originally from Canada and Usher signed him to manage his career. Usher actually got his start in the business through Sean Combs. He lived with him for a year when he was 13 and Usher talked about

Starting point is 00:03:02 his time living with Combs on the Howard Stern Show back in 2016. He was sent to what was called Puffy Flavor Camp. And you're going to go to Puff Daddy's. In the 90s. Do you understand what that's like? Puffy's place was like just filled with chicks and orgying like nonstop, right? No, not really.

Starting point is 00:03:19 I mean, but hey, it was curious. I got a chance to see some things. Yeah, but you were 13. What were you seeing? I went there to see some things. Yeah, but you were 13. What were you seeing? I went there to see the lifestyle. Right. And I saw it. But I don't know if I could indulge and understand what I was even looking at.

Starting point is 00:03:32 It was pretty wild. So nobody tried to, you know, some woman didn't come along. I didn't say that. Okay. I want to tell you about a great free app. It's called Upside, and it will give you cash back on food and gas. This is not a confusing free app. It's called Upside and it will give you cash back on food and gas. This is not a confusing rewards program. Upside transfers money right into your bank account. Download

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Starting point is 00:04:39 Justin, he's in, you ever seen the movie 48 Hours? Right now he's having 48 hours with Diddy, him and his boy. They're having the times of their lives, like, you know, where we hanging out and what we doing. We can't really disclose. But it's definitely a 15-year-old's dream. What you want to do? What you want to do over the next 48 hours? 48 hours.

Starting point is 00:05:02 Let's go get some girls. Let's go hang out with some girls. Man. Let's go. Let's just go get some girls. Let's go hang out with some girls. A man after my heart. That's what I'm talking about. Now, let's be clear. This could have all just been a joke. But in 2020, Justin Bieber gave a tearful interview to Apple Music in which he talked about wanting to protect Billie Eilish from the music industry and the things that he

Starting point is 00:05:22 had been through. There are other videos of Bieber and Combs that have circulated online. What's up, man? You good? I'm good. How are you doing? Young brother, everything's good? Selling out arenas and everything? Starting to act different, huh? You ain't been calling me and hanging out the way we used to hang out. Well, I mean, you haven't, I mean, you try to get in contact with me, you know, through

Starting point is 00:05:40 all my, you know, business, you know, partners and whatnot, but you never really got my number. So my number. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Again, does this video mean anything? It could just be a teenage kid caught in an awkward moment. In 2015, Combs presented Bieber with an American Music Award for best collaboration. And there's another video showing a birthday celebration. It shows an exchange on one of Bieber's birthdays. And finally, the fourth video making the rounds was recorded three years ago. Let's play that again. Some speculated that Combs was looking to see whether Bieber was wearing a wire when he patted him down. It seemed a little awkward for sure.

Starting point is 00:06:38 Around this time last year, Combs and Bieber collaborated on the song Moments for Diddy's The Love Album, Off the Grid. This was, of course, before the first allegations made by Cassie Ventura surfaced. Combs settled the suit with her in a day, and then the federal raid happened in March of this year. So far, Justin Bieber, like many people who know Combs, has been silent. There may be a good reason for that. He just became a father for the first time. A source close to Bieber told People he's aware of Diddy's arrest and the allegations, but added it's not anything that he wants to focus on, though. The insider, likely Bieber's publicist, continued, saying Bieber's been in a happy bubble since baby Jack was born,

Starting point is 00:07:22 and he just wants to focus on being a great dad and husband. That is also completely understandable. Justin Bieber's a first-time father. He should want to enjoy this time and cherish every moment of it. But that hasn't stopped the chatter. This TikTok video from Bieber's father-in-law, actor Stephen Baldwin,

Starting point is 00:07:39 has just added to the speculation about Diddy and Bieber. You have heard the expression, the calm before the storm. There is always a calm before the storm, but then so is there another calm after the storm. There's a calm and then a storm and then another calm. So you get the gist. And no one knows whether Stephen Baldwin was actually referring to the Sean Combs situation or his son-in-law, Justin Bieber. But that video certainly has had people on X wondering. I want to bring in Mitra Ahorian. She is an entertainment attorney in Los Angeles. So Mitra, what are people saying out there on the street? What's the chatter

Starting point is 00:08:30 in Hollywood about Sean Combs' arrest? I think the, you know, the chatter is some of what we're already hearing in the news, except that there are actual people who were at these parties who have interacted with him. Puffy was one of the, and is, we can say is, one of the most influential artists and producers in the hip hop world. We all grew up listening to his music. He's been responsible for bringing a lot of artists, developing a lot of other artists. And so he was so tied into the celebrity world for such a long time that of course, everyone sort of interacted with him, right? The level of interaction is sort of what's going to vary. So in terms of the chatter that's going around, everyone I think is just thinking, oh, wow, like I've, you know, I've spent time with this person or I've worked with this person.

Starting point is 00:09:28 And they may not necessarily have known what was going on behind closed doors or the extent of it. So I think the chatter is really more about, wow, we didn't know this level of perversion, dare I say. So there's a distinction in Hollywood between going to a ditty party and a freak off because the freak offs are what the U.S. attorney says were illegal. So you're saying it sounds like that people are saying, well, I went to a party, maybe a white party or some other type of ditty party, but I didn't go to a freak off. Yeah, I think, you know, definitely people are going to be wanting to distance themselves from the freak offs. Right. So this weird phrase that he came up with and sort of the things that are coming out about what allegedly took place at these sort of orchestrated orgies with, you know, minors and sex workers and, you know, the kind of things that I think a lot of people who are, you know, who maybe didn't participate in that aspect of it are very shocked at.

Starting point is 00:10:38 And so there is absolutely a distancing. And it's not just, you know, parties. Right. Though celebrities had actual friendships, uh, with Diddy, right? They spent time together outside of going to parties with one, you know, going to parties at his house or anything like that. And they might've even partied with him just in the context of just, you know, normally, you know, what we think of normal partying, so to speak. Um, but you know, and, and that normal partying, so to speak. But, you know, and that doesn't necessarily mean that they participated in what sounds like a very specific, you know, set of activities that absolutely would rise to the level of criminal allegations that we're seeing

Starting point is 00:11:20 now. Let's talk about Justin Bieber. I mean, I can't go on Twitter or TikTok or any of these social media platforms. It seems like without seeing a video of Justin Bieber or Usher with Sean Combs. I mean, Sean Combs, as you mentioned, is one of the most influential producers in rap music and hip hop. He mentored Usher. Usher lived with him for a year when he was 13. And Usher kind of has said, you know, I saw some stuff while I was there. He didn't really go into much more detail. But, you know, there's this whole thing about Justin Bieber, and people are speculating and wondering if anything untoward happened there. At this point in time, Sean Combs is charged with crimes

Starting point is 00:12:05 related to one person, and that is Cassie Ventura. So what do you make of people asking these questions specifically about Justin Bieber? I think people are very concerned with what was happening with the minors that he was surrounding himself with. He was Usher's guardian. Usher lived with him, right? Usher's the one that brought Bieber in. Bieber was 15 at the time. So while we may be talking about other celebrities in the context of what did they know and what did they not speak about, the difference here when we talk about Bieber and we talk about Usher is these were kids. Like they were truly kids in an environment that, you know, even if nothing happened to them, even witnessing anything along the lines of what we're hearing about in the indictment is abuse in my opinion, right? So

Starting point is 00:13:03 no child should be exposed to those sorts of things, especially from people that they're idolizing, people that they're relying on to help them in their dreams. And so I think that that is very different when we talk about Bieber and Usher. I think it's a very different conversation than when we're talking about other celebrities who've may witness some of this. You know, there have been some clips online of Justin Bieber, you know, talking about things that he went through in the music industry.

Starting point is 00:13:34 He doesn't really elaborate that on that, but at times becomes tearful. We don't know what he's exactly referring to. And we have no idea if it relates to Sean Combs or anybody else. But it's very sad to watch. And so I think there are people speculating. Plus, he's not commenting on this other than to say he's shocked by these allegations, as anybody would be. And he's kind of rethinking and thinking about, you know, his collaboration with him on his latest album and things of that nature. What do you think about all that speculation? I mean, do you think it, do you think it's warranted and, or do you think that this is people kind of looking for something, you know, and, and, and wondering and hoping that something, maybe that there's some there, there.

Starting point is 00:14:24 I think that anyone who's worked in the music industry has seen some things that they may not see in other contexts. And, you know, that's a part of it. And, and I think that coming into this industry so young, you're going to be exposed to some things that are, that you would not be exposed to if you weren't in the music industry at that age. And that's Bieber. Bieber just had a baby. He had some health stuff that was happening in his family, himself, his wife, Haley. They've been through a lot. They're in a very different place than he was when he was first starting out in his career. We all evolve. And also, he's known to be a Christian, a practicing Christian. So does he want to have any affiliation with any of this?

Starting point is 00:15:15 No. But I think that even for him, where he is in his life right now, I think it is a smart thing for him to just not even get involved in anything, especially if he just saw some things that were questionable but really didn't. And I do – something in me – obviously this isn't based on fact. Something in me says that Justin saw some things but not all of it. I think Usher saw a lot more. He was living at the house. Interesting. I'm wondering if the

Starting point is 00:15:45 federal prosecutors reach out to people like this, I mean, or the, you know, Homeland Security agents, you know, or are they just reaching out to women who may have been involved in these things and the people who filed the civil suits? I think that federal prosecutors, since they do have the power to subpoena, even people who have signed NDAs would have to be, you know, would be forced to testify if they are called. And I do think that it's going to be the people I undoubtedly ushers going to be called to testify. He was living in the home. There's going to be some people in his inner circle, less so with celebrities that are just, you know, what we think about like, oh, Khloe Kardashian was at his party or, you know, the sort of the idea of what was going on that the equivalent of this is perhaps the Epstein parties, right? So everyone wants to know who's on that list, who's on that list. There was politicians, there was, you know, all these influential names and anyone on that list needs to be brought down. I think there's an element of that here, but I think

Starting point is 00:16:48 when it comes to the federal government and who they're going to subpoena, they're going to be subpoenaing people who they actually think witnessed the behavior that is in the indictment, not just the party. Well, we will keep an eye on it and looking into whether or not looking to see whether Usher and Justin Bieber, whether they say more and whether they become part of this case. Mitra Ohorian, thank you so much. Thank you. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - P. Diddy and Justin Bieber: A Closer Look

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - P. Diddy and Justin Bieber: A Closer Look

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