Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - DIDDY TAKES THE STAND? GOOD LUCK ON CROSS

Episode Date: May 23, 2025

Does Sean "Diddy" Combs need to take the stand after all the explosive testimony from various witnesses, including rapper Kid Cudi and Cassie Ventura. Court resumes Tuesday with Diddy's former employee Capricorn Clark on the stand.  Considering the Feds brought out the star witness so early in the trial, the public is swarmed with theories as to who all will take the witness stand in the disgraced rappers sex trafficking trial.  Combs is facing multiple counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and engaging in interstate transportation for prostitution. His indictment cites three anonymous victims in addition to Ventura. If Combs' is found guilty, he faces decades in prison.  Follow Crime Stories with Nancy Grace for the latest in Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking trial. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart podcast. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. State versus Sean Combs, aka Diddy, aka Puff, aka Puffy, aka Puff Daddy, aka Love. He wants that jury to think of him as Mr. Rogers. Wash your filthy mouth out with soap. He is a criminal from the beginning to the end. Everyone may agree that Combs was a bad boyfriend. A bad boyfriend?

A bad boy lifestyle isn't the same thing as a criminal lifestyle. Oh yeah, it's a death knell. We are live at the courthouse and joining us now, investigative reporter Lauren Conlon, star of Pup Crime TV. Lauren, thank you for being with us. A lot happening in the courtroom today. What happened?

After Kid Cudi took the stand today, we heard from a celebrity makeup artist, Myra Morales, who was very good friends with Cassie. And she described an altercation before the VMAs in 2010, where she was in a conjoining room. So I guess two double suites is how I understood it. And she talked about how she heard but didn't see what appeared to be a altercation between Cassie and Diddy. And she saw Cassie's injuries after the fact. She told Cassie to go to the hospital and Cassie did not.

But she testified that she remained close with Cassie and Cassie felt comfortable enough to stay at her house. She even said that during one occasion, she called one of her doctor friends to come over and look at Cassie's injuries And she also had Cassie talk to one of her lawyer friends, but nothing ever came of that During the cross-examination done by Anna Esteveo She really hammered Morales on the fact that she's done two documentaries about Diddy and multiple media interviews totaling eight

She also got Morales to admit that she sold photos of Kim Porter for money and took money from one of the documentaries in order to expense therapy. And then we saw a Homeland Security agent who specialized in digital forensics. He went through how he was able to obtain different footage from Cassie's three different devices, these MacBook devices from 2010 and possibly even earlier. And he made sure to tell us in very technical terms, chain of custody, how he did this

and how he was able to extract the data. A lot of the messages came from being stored on iTunes, which is what we used to use before we had the iCloud. And then he explained why you might see some issues with the way messages are shown based on the extraction. Because we have seen double messages, we've seen blank messages. So he was explaining this to us. Now when Tony Garagos got up to do her cross, she asked about it was one of the MacBooks that had two usernames on the login screen. One was Frank Black, which we know was one of Diddy's aliases. And the other one was a guest user. The HSI agent confirmed that no data was extracted from

the one user. But when Garagos was finished and they did the redirect, they really made sure to say that they only extracted data from Frank Black after they got a search warrant because Cassie, she willingly gave over her devices, but it's clear Frank Black is one of Diddy's aliases and so they needed a warrant for that. We also heard from the general manager of the La Hermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills and essentially what he showed us was different names that were used to check into these hotels. Frank Black we saw, Frank White we saw Jackie Starr, which we know is

Cassie Ventura, and then we saw Jackie Starr, which we know is Cassie Ventura. And then we saw notes that they took that are, they just helped the hotel staff know who's coming to the hotel, what to expect. And it was a lot of corroboration in these notes as to what to expect when Frank Black or Sean Combs arrives. There were notes that the cleaning staff should add $1,000 extra for a deep clean or for damages

because they noted that there was candle wax everywhere. Candle wax is on the carpet on the nightstands. They also noticed or noted that there would be oil spilled everywhere and they would have to do a deep clean. So again, there was a lot of corroboration and there was no cross examination for the hotel manager. Evidence pouring from the witness stand and we are learning that even when Sean Combs is arrested,

knowing that he may turn himself in, even that night when his five-star hotel is raided, it's full of damning evidence. Listen. Homeland Security Special Agent Yacine Binda, who searched Sean Combs' Manhattan Park Hyatt Hotel Suite the day of his arrest. Bottles of baby oil and lube were scattered throughout the suite, and a lighting device was found in the living room. Pill bottles found in a Louis Vuitton toiletry bag contained clonopin prescribed for Frank

Black and a pink powder that tested positive for ketamine and MDMA. A fanny pack contained $9,000 cash and Binda said it appeared a woman was staying in the room with Combs. That's not all that was found. Sean Combs planning a freak off in a five-star hotel in Manhattan when he's arrested. Sydney Sumner joining us. What is Astro Glide? Astro Glide is lubrication for sexual purposes, Nancy. Okay, I'm just curious, Josh Ritter, you're so busy planning how you can destroy Donna Richard on the stand, how you can tear her testimony into shreds. You tell me

after all this, and this is after a federal multi-count indictment, there he is the night of his arrest with a hotel room stuffed stuffed with astroglide multiple bottles of baby oil all sorts of lubricants sex aids and tons of cash and drugs I mean the man can't help himself he is a criminal from the beginning to the end this is the night of his arrest yeah I don't know where to go with that. It doesn't look good. You're absolutely right. Here's the thing though,

that the defense is gonna have to continue to hammer home. And maybe this is becoming a hill too high to climb, but it's the idea that as deviant as this is, as outrageous as it is, where is the crimes here? I know we're hearing a lot of testimony about really kind of sick behavior, but have we heard a lot about him understanding that consent was not being given? Have we heard a lot about criminal enterprise? Those are

the prosecution's going to have to connect. You're actually making my teeth hurt. Does he understand lack of consent? According to the state, the women were drugged out of their gourds. Didn't you hear about that Louis Vuitton bag stuffed full of ecstasy, coke, pot, Plan B birth control. I don't mean just one Plan B birth control pill. I mean, a whole Louis Vuitton bag.

Sydney Sumner, tell him what was in the Louis Vuitton bag that Combs carried constantly. There was Klonopin prescribed for Frank Black, which is an alias that Combs used very frequently when booking hotel rooms for freak-offs. And they also found pink powder, sometimes referred to as pink cocaine or tulis, and that tested positive for both ketamine and ecstasy. Rob Shooter is joining me, the PR publicist for Sean Combs, former PR, former PR guru for Sean Combs,

and see everything went to crap when you left. Host of Naughty But Nice podcast, and author of The Four Word Answer. Rob Schueter, question to you. You're hearing about threats from another star, Don Richard, on the stand. Threats that people disappear when they talk. Did many people surrounding Sean Combs have to sign an NDA, non-disclosure agreement, and why? Yes, absolutely. There are NDAs everywhere. I did not sign one, but lots and lots of people

that worked for Puffy did sign NDAs, and this is because he doesn't want the truth getting out. Not necessarily about the accusations we are talking about today, but his whole life. He's a complete control freak. He decides what's in the media, what's in the press, and what isn't. You don't decide that. He does an example, even though I didn't have an NDA with him, every press release I sent out about Puffy,

whether it be playing Broadway, running a marathon, changing his name, he approved. He approved it. And a lot of celebrities sort of glance at these. Why did he change his name so many times, Rob? To get attention, to get attention. We'd literally be sitting in his conference room and he was like, not getting a lot of press this week.

Let's change my name, which is why I have said, and I believe this in a really perverse way, Diddy is enjoying what is happening right now. He has made himself one of the most famous people in the world and in a sick, perverse way. I think he's secretly enjoying it. But we're all talking about Diddy. Shooter, what about this PR fail? First of all, we hear all about Diddy's tootsie roll last week. How one rape victim when she saw

that wasn't as afraid anymore. Then we have damning testimony on the stand just pouring from Cassie Ventura with the jury looking over him like you POS. Now we hear the latest PR fail where Sean Combs' PR people are paying, just bystanders out in front of the courthouse, paying them $20 an hour to wear a free Puffy t-shirt and the press found out about it. Pathetic, but not surprising. It seems to be here that Puffy is really waging

a two-pronged war, a legal war and a PR war. PR is very important to Buffett. He has spent a lot of money on publicists. And these T-shirts, we shouldn't be that surprised. He's done this before. When I was working with him, he was trying to get young people to vote, and he came up with these T-shirts called Vote or Die

that he sold, he made money from, at his store. So I'm wondering if these t-shirts were produced by Sean John, his clothing line. If not, then I do believe that this would ultimately get out. It's an old PR tool. It didn't work back then. It's not gonna work today.

Yeah, they just tried to pay me $20 to wear a free fucking shirt. Stop. I knew I could tell. The lady right there, she just kept convincing me to go to go wear a shirt and I'm like I'm good that's what so that's so just $20 and you if you guys were you need $20 all you have to do is wear a free puff shirt and you said no yeah I said no did they say how many hours $20 an hour she told me she got paid like $60 yesterday for standing out here in three hours.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. How the mighty have sunk. That's from TikTok at Emily knows everything. Rob Shooter, former PR guru to Sean Combs. It's bad enough to pay people to wear free puffy t shirts, but then they get busted on it. but then they get busted on it. Humiliating, stupid, this stuff gets out really, really quick in the press. But my sources are telling me it's actually worse than what we just saw. But Diddy's team has been trying to convince people to just show up.

They want crowds outside this courthouse. Insiders are telling me that Diddy's really angry that people are not on the streets. His ego is so big, is so big, that he predicted hundreds, if not thousands of people would be outside that courthouse. Nobody is really there. There's about a hundred or so.

Wait, let me see here. Oh no, Diddy's really angry this time. Ooh, so he's mad about his tootsie roll. Everybody finding out about that. He is mad about, what is he mad about? Throngs of people not coming to the courthouse. Did you say thousands? He expected thousands of people

to show up outside the courthouse to support him? You better believe it, Nancy. This guy has a huge ego. When I was with him, he wanted crowds everywhere. And if we had to pay for them to be there, so be it, he has a lot, a lot of money. And the Tootsie Roll thing. Let me just-

How do you find people to come out and fawn over Sean Combs? How did you do that? Where did you find them? You could find people that worked at record labels. You could find marketing companies. You could find people that would find you folks to turn up and you pay them and they wear t-shirts, they

come to album signings. This actually might be very unusual in a legal case, but in the music business, when you see all those fans lined up outside record stores, quite a lot of them are actually paid to be there. It's called the hype business. It's called the business of illusions. And nobody does it better than Diddy until now. Okay, Rob Schueter, do you ever feel bad about everything you did to prop Diddy up? All that was a lie? And- Yeah, I did.

He's nothing but a rapist and a sex trafficker according to prosecutors. Yeah, it's horrifying. And you were right in there with him, man. Yeah, well, Nancy, hopefully I wasn't. I've had many nights when I've thought about this and questioned my consciousness and what did I see? Did I see any red flags?

And so, yeah, I think a lot of people today who turned him into a star, turned him into the guy he is today have some guilt, hopefully a lot of guilt, and people should say, sorry, I have. But I do think, too, a lot of people that worked with him are gonna say, this is totally different. I don't agree. The fact that we helped make him into a superstar

helped him become this monster, at least act out and get away. It looks like what he did for over two decades. You know, Rob Shooter, you and I go way back. You know how I feel about you. Very often, people that I like or respect or witnesses I've never met, they look back and they think, wow, I should have fill in the blank or I didn't realize. I've said that. I didn't realize what was happening. I couldn't see it. When you look back, you know,

propping him up like, you know, you've got Rashard on the stand describing how she saw Sean Combs take a frying pan full of eggs and beat Cassie with it. And you know it had to be hot too if it still had the eggs in it. Beat her with it. And people describe knots she had on her head. And then you've got Kerry Morgan. I mean, it goes on and on and there's gonna be more.

There's gonna be more people. Didn't they see anything? Or were they just oblivious, blinded by all that money and power? It's a really good question. I think a little bit of both. I honestly think that I didn't see this, but it was over 20 years ago when I worked with Puff,

it was the beginning of the monster. He was just sort of forming himself as the celebrity that he is today. I was with him in the beginning. Now I don't think people change, but I do think the power that he is today. I was with him in the beginning. Now, I don't think people change, but I do think the power that he gained over the years allowed him to become, or at least to express, those feelings that he had inside.

But also to Nancy, I do think about this a lot. Did I not see stuff? Because he was paying me a lot of money. Did I not see stuff? Because I ate in great restaurants and flew on private planes with him? And I hope the answer to that is one that I can live with. The defense also questions Cassie on what she meant

when she told investigators Combs was acting strangely leading up to and during the rape. Cassie said Combs was acting nice but strange during their meal before the rape, did not respond to her screams and cries during the attack, and left without any interaction afterward. Anna Esteveo asked if Cassie thought Combs' odd behavior may have been tied to his bipolar disorder, the first time the court has heard about this diagnosis. His what? Brett Brown joining me, executive director of Surviving Assault Standing Strong. It's a nonprofit whose mission is eradicating sex attacks and sex trafficking on women and girls.

So instead of putting up a doctor, they get the woman he has beaten for years according to the state, raped on video, drugged, harassed, threatened. They're asking her if he's got a bipolar problem. If he's been, is he diagnosed with bipolar? Maybe that's why he raped you. Can you believe asking an alleged rape victim? Well wait, maybe he did it because he's bipolar. Are you serious? It's insane. This whole lineup is insane because they're putting both the possibility of bipolar and drug use on her shoulders to decide what state of mind was he in when he committed these heinous crimes. And what's funny to me is they're saying recreational drug use means that he was not responsible for his actions. And in the same timeframe, same recreational drug use made these

women responsible for their actions. And if I remember correctly, the federal trafficking laws, Commercial Sex Act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, doing drugs even recreationally removes your ability to give consent, i.e. coercion, and if it's in exchange for money, that makes it commercial. So the whole thing is insane. Two special guests joining us, Chris McDonough, director at the Cold Case Foundation,

former homicide detective, for my purposes, former vice detective. He is the star of the interview room on YouTube. Chris McDonough, if I'm bipolar was the defense, or I was high on drugs and alcohol was the defense, everybody in the MDC would walk. That all claim they're bipolar, and on drugs and alcohol at the time,

they rape, kill, rob, fill at the time they rape, kill, rob, fill in the blank. Yeah, absolutely, Nancy. And doesn't it feel like the universe is on schedule here? You know, I think Astro Glide is going to have a whole new meeting in block four where he's being housed. What we're witnessing here is a going out of business sale with the largest pimp in the world disguised as a music mogul. Now you're gonna put on your past victims to say that you have a mental disorder. It's crazy, it's crazy.

Crime stories with Nancy Grace. You know, I'm just thinking this through, claiming now that he is bipolar to Rob Shooter, a long time PR guru to Sean Combs, not working for him anymore. Rob Shooter, did you ever know him to be bipolar? No, no, no. working for him anymore. Rob Schueter, did you ever know him to be bipolar? No, no, no. Even though I haven't worked with him for a while, I've obviously covered his career. I'm an entertainment reporter now.

I'd never heard of this. To bring it up at this moment, it's so desperate, it's so wrong, it's so silly, I think, I hope the jury will see through it. But it's just another instance that just shows you how clueless he is. And why I say Puffy's clueless is, trust me, Puffy is running this defense. He is out there.

He's telling his lawyers what he wants. He's not the type of guy to sit back and take advice. He is running the show, and this is the show he thinks is gonna get him off. Hey, Rob Shooter, there is word from believable sources that he is insisting he is going to take the stand over counsel's objection. Do you believe he'll do it? Oh, I only hope he does.

Yeah, I think you do, Nancy, and you're absolutely right. What a stupid, stupid move. But try telling him that. Try telling him that he shouldn't do this. He's not used to being told no. He could argue, and I would give him some credibility here, Nancy, he could argue he's been a brilliant businessman for the last 20 years.

He's made really smart decisions, and his bank account seems to prove him right. So it's very difficult. He's self-made people who have made billions of dollars that they are wrong. They don't want to hear it. They're not going to listen. Mindsiders are confirming your report in Nancy that he is, he is going to take the stand. Testimony pouring from the witness stand all day long

and joining us outside the courthouse, Lauren Conlon, investigative reporter, star of Pop Crime TV. Lauren, thank you for being with us. Tell us what's going on in the courtroom. Yes, Nancy, it started off pretty interesting this morning with Diddy's lawyers actually arguing that the case and the witnesses is becoming more of a gossip chamber of some sort. We also saw Don Richard finish, finish her direct testimony and get cross examined. And

what's come into question Nancy is all of Don Richard's previous statements to the government as they appear to change. And we learned this when the defense came up, the cross examine her. And Don Rashad actually admitted herself that her testimony has changed based on her memories, specifically after the skillet incident, she testified last week and today that Diddy and Harv Pierre, one of his bad boy record executives, actually said to her that if she told people go missing, if they tell. And the defense pointed out that she had never said this to the government and she admitted

that she didn't remember. You mentioned a, quote, skillet incident. And this is Dawn Richard recounting when Sean Combs actually beat Cassie Ventura in the head with a frying pan. Could you explain what happened? Yes. So Donna Shard first testified on Friday that she was recording music at Diddy's LA home with her bandmate.

They were in this Diddy dirty money group or dirty money and Cassie was making eggs at the stove. Diddy came down the stairs and she said that he attacked her or tried to hit her with his frying pan and that Cassie appeared to go down in a fetal position and then he dragged her up the stairs. Now, Dawn Richard during her redirect with the government after she was called out for changing her story,

she said without a doubt that she knows that Diddy hurt Cassie. She was in the fetal position and she saw her get dragged up the stairs. A skillet, a frying pan full of eggs. Now you stated Lauren Conlin that Richard has changed her testimony. I'm very curious, changed it how exactly? Well the first thing that the defense pointed out is that she never told the government. And I believe that she had about eight meetings that Diddy never said to her people go missing.

And this is essentially a death threat. Additionally, they pointed out that in her civil lawsuit, there was some kind of incident that was recounted about Diddy dragging Cassie out of a car onto grass and a lot of people saw and Don Richard actually said, oh, that was a mistake that that my lawyers made. And I guess they were referring to another incident. We learned this in the redirect. So there was that and there was a couple other instances where she left certain things. Okay, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. So Lauren Conlin, one of the things that the defense tried to make sound like it's inconsistent was actually another violent incident. Yes, that is pertaining to her civil lawsuit,

her 2024 civil lawsuit. But what's interesting is that Dawn Richard testified that over time, her memory has gotten better because she wanted to suppress a lot of these bad memories from working with Diddy. She worked so hard to not remember them. And now, you know, she's been working with the government to remember them.

Did she try to intervene on behalf of Cassie Ventura? Yes. And last, you were discussing inconsistencies that she had not used the words Diddy threatened that or his henchperson that people disappear when they talk. What phraseology if any did she use when she was talking to the state? She left that completely out but said that Diddy said to her what you witnessed was passion. Cassie is is okay. Um, Harry Morgan, Cassie's former best friend was on the stand and she testified that after the March 2016 incident, and this is crazy, uh, she was at

Cassie's house. Cassie walked in with the hood, a black eye, put her bag down, appeared to be extremely numb. And then about 30 minutes later, Kerry Morgan alleged that Diddy showed up outside the door banging on it with a hammer. Straight out to Josh Ritter joining us, a veteran criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor, host of Courtroom Confidential

on YouTube. Josh, thank you for being with us. So you say tomato, I say tomato. She, in multiple interviews with the state prior to testimony, stated that she was threatened with physical harm if she taught, in other words, told anyone about Cassie's beatings. Today, the way she described it was, people disappear if they talk, people go missing. I don't see that that's as big of a point as the defense is trying to make it be. I actually think it is a big point. I mean, we're talking about prior inconsistent statements. The idea that she is trying to say that her memory has improved over time,

I mean, I'm no memory expert, but that's laughable to me and I think it'll be laughable to a jury. That is not how memory works. We don't all of a sudden feel stronger and more detailed about our memory, certainly over things that have taken place years and years ago. Cassie Ventura on the stand in a court of law in the criminal trial of Sean Combs aka Diddy and what is that I'm hearing? Oh yeah, it's a death knell. Joining me from the courthouse is Lauren Conlin in the courtroom throughout the day. Lauren, first of all, let's just start chronologically to Cassie Ventura taking the stand. They did a long lead up to her to put her on the stand. Tell me, how was the jury responding to her testimony?

Cassie did get to the point where she discussed the psychological abuse as well as the physical abuse that she received from Diddy. And the jury was listening intently. And it's also interesting because Sean Combs seems to be pretty stoic throughout this. Now, one thing that also seems to be present throughout her testimony is how much Cassie actually loved him at one point.

So I believe that they are going to move on and start really focusing on the abuse. But so far it's been tough. It's been hard for everybody. And Cassie herself has needed some moments to wipe her nose, take some breaths. She does appear very, very sad and very, very somber and as you know, very pregnant. does appear very, very sad and very, very somber and as you know, very pregnant. You know, it's really interesting, Lauren, Colin, that one of the first things that Sean Combs is $10 million defense team did was demand that she be seated in the witness seat before the jury came in so they could not see her baby belly. What happened?

Well, they had been discussing this previously about how pregnant she looked and the fact that maybe the jury could feel sympathy for her. So yeah, she was brought in first and then the jury was brought in. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Cassie Ventura described how free coughs actually became a job lasting 36 to 48 hours, the longest one lasting up to four days. No wonder the participants needed IV fluids after a freak-off. I'm just curious, to Lauren Collin joining us at the courthouse, how was the jury responding?

What I will say is Cassie made a point to say that when she wasn't making music, she was actually having to, quote, recover from these freak-offs. And again, she did say these freak offs lasted between one and four days and it would take her an equal amount of time to get her body recovered, to rehydrate, to rest, to detox from these drugs. It was really, really sad to listen to. Joining us an all star panel to make sense of what we are learning also Lauren Conlon. We are learning that the defense made an argument to the jury through their cross-examination and in their opening statements that the victims in this case were quote strong women that had millions of reasons to stay in the relationship with Sean Combs. In other words, that is a

peek into what their cross-examination is going to be of Cassie Ventura trying to state that she wanted to be in the relationship. She was a willing participant in the relationship and she got a lot of money from Shawn Combs. Do you see that going anywhere? Do you recall that was part of their opening statements? Yes, it was part of their opening statements. They made a point to say that these women are all in control of their lives. The other Jane, she is a single mom.

They said she makes decisions, you know, for her children and for her family. So she could easily get out of this relationship. But what I do think was interesting, Nancy, is during Cassie's testimony, she said that Sean Colmes did pay for a number of her homes, but she paid for a home, a home that she had in Studio City, and she was thrilled that she could finally pay for a home. And she wasn't tethered to Sean Colmes. She had something of her own. So I thought this was really interesting.

You know, it made us realize that she wasn't heavily reliant on him. She did want to separate from him. He was just making it incredibly difficult to do so. Guys, the argument is going to be made to the jury not to believe Cassie Ventura now on the stand throughout the afternoon. The jury listening intently to everything she has to say and to you, Sydney Sumner, joining us, also covering the case from the very beginning, Crime Stories Investigative Reporter. She made quite the impression when she walked into that courtroom, even though Sean Combs had at one point demanded the jury not be exposed to her pregnant stomach.

Describe what she looked like, Sydney. Nancy, today, Cassie's wearing a bodycon, a tight turtleneck brown dress to really show off that baby bump. So the jury is very interested in her. Holmes actually turned around in his seat to watch her as she crossed the room to the witness stand. Cassie is very obviously about to pop. She's eight and a half months pregnant.

So that's very clear. Garagos also insists the women the government claims combs exploited were absolutely there willingly. Garagos says the women who will take the stand against combs were strong, capable, and in love with the man they now call their abuser. Garagos points out that Cassie stayed for 10 years. Garagos says while everyone may agree that Combs was a bad boyfriend, he did not force women to be with him.

Garagos suggests that Combs abusers have several million reasons to come forward now, all of them money. A bad boyfriend? I'm so glad they said that in opening statements. I'm so glad that they reduced the state's case down and everything these victims have to say to Sean Combs being a bad boy. Oh, there it is again. The defense actually said this is all about Sean Combs being a bad boyfriend. Well, a multi-count federal indictment says something very different. Straight out to special guests joining us, Rob Shooter. She, the prosecutor, Emily Johnson, stated that there were two Sean Combs.

The one that beats people, leaving knots on their heads, dragging them up and down halls, just performing all sorts of demeaning and humiliating acts on the women. But then there's the other Sean Combs, the star, the celebrity who's charming and gregarious. Did you see both sides of Combs when you worked for him as a public relations person? Yeah, Diddy is a very, very complicated person. He's very much in control. He controls his own narrative. He determines how he wants to be presented. He determines what photographs he wants released of him.

And so this is a celebrity who's very aware of manipulating his public image. He's done a really, really good job of convincing us that he is somebody that now we know isn't the truth. And so I think with Diddy, we all see one side of him for over what, two decades now. We think we know Diddy. He's that fun guy.

Look at him partying, he's out, he throws great events. He's funny. We've seen him on talk shows where he's been witty and charming. Now we know that that isn't the truth. That Diddy, Diddy behind the scenes, the truth about Diddy is much, much more dark. You know, I'm gonna circle back to you,

but you sparked a thought in my mind. Back out to the courthouse with Lauren Collins standing by, is it true that Sean Combs actually took out a Bible in front of the jury? Yeah, he appeared to be flipping through a bible at one point. He gave a thumbs up to his kids, waved and blew kisses at his mother. And he, yeah, he did seem to calm down after that. And when the jury walked in, I noticed that Diddy did not take his eyes off of them. You know, Eric Faddis, veteran trial lawyer joining me out of

Colorado, founding partner, Varner Faddis, elite legal former felony prosecutor. I'm all for reading the Bible and I am all for being close to the Lord, but when it is used as a stunt, I mean, But when it is used as a stunt, I mean, it's one thing to ask forgiveness. Of course, I'm certainly no biblical scholar, right? It's one thing to ask for forgiveness, but it's another thing to ask for our Holy Father to get our ass out of a sling, technical legal term. I mean, it's a ploy, Thaddis, a ploy. And I find that very off-putting, very off-putting. Not necessarily the family because I can only imagine what comes his mother is going through. But I mean in my mind his

family is innocent. You know, he's got those young girls and other children, but him, the gall, are trying to use the Bible, the Holy Bible, as a prop. Yeah, this one seems hard for even me to defend, Nancy. I mean, look, in the courtroom, it appears so transparent what he's trying to do in terms of garnering sympathy. He should be paying attention to the trots. He should be giving input to his counsel. He should be listening to the testimony and raising points with his attorneys that they can use to try to help him.

Instead, he's sitting there kind of putting on this act with the Bible that everybody and their brother can see right through, I think. Back to Rob Shooter joining us. We see him manipulating the jury in the way he is dressing. I mean, just curious, did you ever see Sean Combs wearing reading glasses? Never, not once. I never saw him without his hair being perfectly styled.

I never saw him without a Marni, a Gucci, a Prada. You know, yesterday I was told, no way would Sean Combs have a stylist BS he's got a stylist he's got a jury consultant he's got a fleet of highly paid lawyers to the tune of 10 million dollars so is there any chance in H E double L that Sean Combs is outfits are not carefully orchestrated. No chance he will have looked over look books. He will have had conversations whether or not he should be wearing his own fashion line.

He has a fashion line called Sean John. They decided against this. And so I've never seen him in a buttoned down white shirt and a sweater, a jumper. That just isn't how he dresses. button down white shirt and a sweater, a jumper. That just isn't how he dresses, but that's how he's going to dress for the next couple of weeks. Because he wants that jury to think of him

as Mr. Rogers, the neighbor next door, the guy they can trust. That's what he wants them to think and that's what he's selling. And I gotta admit it, Nancy, I'm not happy about this, but I think he's doing a pretty good job at selling this side of him. Wash your filthy mouth out with soap.

You brought up Mr. Rogers. Let me ask you, in all the time that you worked for Sean Combs, did you ever see him read the Bible? Never. Not once. I didn't see him quote the Bible, talk about the Bible. There was only one God in Diddy's world, and that was Diddy. Diddy raging over last week's Tootsie Roll reveal. Oh no, Did he's really angry this time. So he's mad about his tootsie roll. Everybody finding out about that. He is mad about, what is he mad about? Thongs of people not coming to the courthouse. Ever since I started investigating Sean

Combs, all I thought about was candy, candy, candy. You know what? I can barely open this Tootsie Roll midgie. You know, suddenly I've lost my appetite, Sean Combs, and I think it's because of you. We are learning that in one episode, one freak-off, as it is euphemistically called, some people call it sex trafficking, that Sean Combs actually dressed as a Muslim woman in a conservative dress, a burqa, where all you see are just the little slits of the eyes. Now, yes, Sean Combs was dressed in conservative female Muslim dress, a burqa, from the neck up, from the neck down, quite the dichotomy.

He was entirely nude. Straight out to Lauren Collins standing by at the courthouse, a burqa. Who is the Punisher? We heard the testimony of Sheree Hayes, aka The Punisher, another escort that used to work with Cassie and Diddy. And this escort testified that he heard Cassie sigh a few times when she was being directed by Diddy during these freak-offs. He mentioned a lot of the same things that the other escort mentioned on the stand, Daniel Phillip, the way the room was set up. Right now, we not only remember, but we acknowledge American heroes,

typically women from every corner of our great country, that come forward and speak out against rape, against sex trafficking, against abuse, even though they are facing horrible odds, possibly retribution, possibly losing their job, possibly losing their career, but coming forward and speaking the truth to all of you witnesses, all of you victims. We salute you and please never be quiet. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye friend.

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