Law&Crime Sidebar - P. Diddy’s Connections to Billionaire Elon Musk Examined Amid Trafficking Case

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wonderly Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wonderly Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. views shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

Starting point is 00:00:35 will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Billionaire Elon Musk is the latest celebrity being called out for his connection to Sean Diddy Combs. As a music mogul turned inmate sits behind bars in a federal detention center in New York. Investigators are looking into who knew what and when. We're discussing how Elon Musk could end up in the spotlight as Combs' legal troubles continue to mount. Welcome to Sidebar presented by law and crime. I'm Elizabeth Milner in for Jesse Weber. Billionaire businessman Elon Musk's own comments have him in some hot water online. Some are calling him out as hypocritical

Starting point is 00:01:22 for questioning who might have known about the indiscretions of Sean Diddy. Combs. Last month, the federal grand jury for the Southern District of New York indicted Combs on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors alleged Combs was the leader of a criminal enterprise that focused on fulfilling his sexual fantasies. Multiple civil lawsuits as well as the criminal indictment described what Combs calls freakoffs or FOs. And Cassie Ventura's multi-million dollar lawsuit, which Combs settled the day after it was filed, Ventura described. the freak-offs as sex sessions that would often last for several hours. They required intensive

Starting point is 00:02:02 preparation, including setting up a room in Combs' home or hotel with lighting and lubricant, bringing in commercial sex workers and procuring and administrating drugs to the people allegedly being forced to participate. There's a chance more charges could be filed down the line, but for the time being, Combs is locked up in Brooklyn, New York, with no bail. Two different judges decided to deny Combs' request to be released until trial. His legal team had offered up $50 million dollars as collateral, even planning to leverage Combs' multi-million dollar Miami Mansion. But the judges denied it, citing evidence that the music mogul may have been involved in witness tampering and determining he may be a flight risk. Plus, the legal action being taken against Combs isn't slowing down.

Starting point is 00:02:46 We told you on an episode of Sidebar earlier this week that Texas attorney Tony Busby plans to pursue legal action against Combs on behalf of more than 100 victims, more than two, dozen of those future plaintiffs see they were minors when Combs allegedly assaulted them. During a press conference, Busby told reporters that he's not just planning to name Combs as a defendant. The wall of silence has now been broken and victims are coming forward. Our team has had at this point more than 3,285 individuals contact us with people claiming people claiming to have been victimized by Sean Combs. After vetting, we now represent 120 individuals who intend to bring civil claims in civil court against Sean Diddy Combs, as well as claims against many other individuals and entities that we will name as defendants as we file these individual cases. I expect that through this process, many powerful people will be exposed.

Starting point is 00:03:52 Many dirty secrets will be revealed. We know what we are potentially up against. And as is always the case in situations like this, when a celebrity is involved, people can be downright mean and nasty. You're shocked at the length fans will go, no matter the evidence, to the contrary, to defend celebrities they love. I mean, there's a reason for this word fans. They're fanatics. I've personally already been threatened multiple times on social media. And when I agreed to pursue this, I expected as much. This isn't my first rodeo.

Starting point is 00:04:25 but victims who step forward to have their voices heard should not be subjected to that kind of conduct. They should not be targeted. In response to Busby's news conference, Erica Wolf, an attorney for Combs released this statement, writing quote, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors. He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation, end quote. As we learn more about Combs' behind-the-scenes behavior, which has apparently been going on for decades, many people are questioning his relationships with A-List celebrities in the music industry, fashion world, and entertainment business.

Starting point is 00:05:10 We recently looked at his connections to Usher, Justin Bieber, Meek Mill, and Ellen DeGeneres. You can check out those episodes over on the Law and Crime YouTube channel. The latest person in the sites of critics is Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla, Space X, and the site formerly known as Twitter. On Tuesday, a user tweeted, how many other cases are like this that we don't know about in the music industry, seemingly referring to instances of assault and abuse. Must responded with good question. Then on Wednesday after Busby's news conference, Musk shared a screenshot of an article from the Daily Mail, headlined, Diddy accused of abusing a nine-year-old boy and spiking drinks with horse tranquilizers as 120 victims come

Starting point is 00:05:50 forward with shocking claims. Musk added the comment, how many people in music and entertainment knew about this. This sparked a lot of discussion in the comments about his own connection with Combs. Singer and reality TV star Aubrey O'Day retweeted Must saying, ask your friends. They will tell you. O'Day has been a vocal critic for Combs for many years since her days on the reality TV show making the ban in the early 2000s. On the show, Combs had groups compete to be a part of his label Bad Boy Records. O'Day was a member of the girl group, Janity Kane. She claims Combs was abusive not only on the show, but for years afterward. She claims she was fired from Danny DeCaine for refusing Combs' sexual advances. O'Day also tweeted a broken heart emoji saying,

Starting point is 00:06:32 quote, I ask the universe to project love to those suffering that we cannot reach. Please grant them an internal perspective that helps them to see beyond the here and now and help any victim foster a worldview that this man's abuses cannot ever penetrate. All of you who knew who he was that paid this man with money or opportunity or enabled him to continue, you all have blood on your hands. I know who you are. You know who you are. Good luck. Combs' most notable connection to Musk involves Musk's takeover of Twitter, which he rebranded as X. To New York Times reporters Katie Conger and Ryan Mack wrote a book about the huge purchase called Character Limit. According to their account, Musk has spoken about Combs and meetings with executives seemingly as a way to dispel concerns

Starting point is 00:07:16 about racism. Must reportedly addressed a man named Detavio Samuels, who was CEO of media startup Revolt TV, which Combs founded. Samuels was expressing concerns about potentially racist rhetoric increasing on X thanks to new policies. The authors claim that when Musk reportedly said, quote, I don't know if you know this, but Puff is an investor in Twitter. You know he's a good friend of mine. We text a lot, end quote. Puff is of course one of the many names Combs used during his long music career. Other executives who were present told the authors that the whole exchange was embarrassing. When Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, there were rumors about who might have

Starting point is 00:07:54 contributed their own funds. That actual shareholder list was revealed during a federal lawsuit over Musk's alleged failure to pay arbitration fees. Sean Combs' capital LLC was on that list. The court document did not reveal how much money each contributor put in, but Combs is rumored to have invested 10 million. million dollars. Combs' legal team has filed another appeal for bail, and he's expected to be back in court next week. There are a lot of tough stories that we cover here at law and crime, and part of the

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Starting point is 00:09:02 how much you could earn, download Upside or click the link in the description and use our promo code sidebar to get 25 cents back on every gallon on your first tank of gas. Again, that's promo code sidebar for an extra 25 cents back on your first gallon of gas. We have a lot to break down and joining us to discuss it further is former federal prosecutor and president and co-founder of West Coast trial lawyers. That's Nima Romani. Nima, always great to have you on. It seems like a lot of celebrities who have been known to mingle with Diddy have come under fire or scrutiny after his arrest. But what are your thoughts on Elon Musk's comments about who else knew about Diddy's alleged behavior?

Starting point is 00:09:41 given he reportedly said he and Combs used to text a lot. And no question, every single day, it seems like another celebrity, whether it's in Hollywood or in Elon Musk's case, some other part of the country is being wrapped up in the Combs investigation. And there's a lot of people that maybe regret some of the pictures and tweets they had sent because apparently, allegedly, if you believe the victims that there were a lot of other people who participated in these sex acts. And some of the victims are even saying, that there are people who are even more well known and more famous than Diddy. And I can probably count on maybe two hands, a number of people who are more famous than Diddy.

Starting point is 00:10:21 And not to accuse anyone of anything, but of course Elon Musk would be one of them. And it seems that Diddy's connection to Musk really stems from Musk's purchase of Twitter, now known as X. But what are your thoughts on the backlash that he, he being Elon Musk received from posting that comment on social media? Given Elon Musk's power and connections into Hollywood, do you think he made, that comment to spark conversation about the newest allegations did he faces or to kind of be controversial in a way? Well, Musk is no stranger to controversy. And he'll dive right in, whether it's, you know, political firestorm, obviously buying Twitter and taking it private. And apparently Combs was an investor in Twitter, at least according to Musk. So obviously they have some sort of professional

Starting point is 00:11:05 relationship. It appears they have a personal one as well. They've been photographed together at the Chappelle comedy show, I believe. I don't know if there's any pictures of Musk at one of these parties. And certainly we haven't heard anything about him being at one of the free cops, but obviously more and more people are coming forward every day. We have male and female sex workers as allegations of sexual abuse of minors. We believe the lawyers who are representing some of these civil plaintiffs, they're going to file more than 100 lawsuits in the coming weeks and months. And of course, we already know that there's nine or 10 plaintiffs who have already come forward and file. And of course, we'll deep dive into that in just a little bit. But for now,

Starting point is 00:11:44 it was also interesting to see Aubrey O'Day's response when she replied, Ask Your Friend. What do you make of that response, especially given that in a way Diddy's behavior was this kind of open secret in Hollywood? It really was one of the worst kept secrets in Hollywood. And obviously, there were rumors about what happens that is infamous parties for years. And it really took Cassie Ventura to come forward. Obviously, that's Diddy's long time, a girlfriend of more than a decade. And once she filed their lawsuit back in November, that really sort of motivated others to come forward. You know, with respect to O'Day, obviously, she's been critical of, you know, obviously Didy and Musk's relationship. Whenever you have someone in the industry who's coming out and making these allegations, you really have to

Starting point is 00:12:28 start investigating. If you're law enforcement, say, like, what does, you know, O'Day know, what do others know who else was there because we've all seen the videos we've all seen the photographs of course the worst video beating being the 2016 beating of cassie but we've all seen lots of pictures of folks who were at to these parties so whether there were participants or mere witnesses I think they'll have a lot to say in this case um in your opinion do a lot of the big names who either had prior personal or even business relationships with combs need to be worried right now No question. If I were someone who had, especially any type of personal relationship with Diddy, even if I was at one of Diddy's parties, I would be talking to a lawyer.

Starting point is 00:13:11 Obviously, if there were participants in the freak-offs and the sex acts, especially if we're talking about acts involving minors, there's significant criminal exposure. There's mandatory minimums for the sex trafficking. But even if you're a witness, I would potentially be concerned. You may be dragged into a very public trial. We know that this case is unlikely to risk. resolve. It is likely going to push this case off over to trial because there's really no deal to be had. So if you're a celebrity and you were even at one of, say you were just at one of parties, but you didn't participate in the sex act, you still may be a witness because there are allegations that the sex workers at the white parties had to wear black. So maybe that's

Starting point is 00:13:49 something that you observed. Maybe you can corroborate some of the stories of the other victims and witnesses who are testifying. So we know that given the high likelihood that this case will move forward. The fact that there's been a lot of civil lawsuits, we're looking at a lot of trials and a lot of potential witnesses. So those celebrities should be talking to a lawyer right now. And I think a lot of people may see Diddy's arrest as kind of the start of the fall on the music industry in Hollywood. That being that they think a lot of others will get exposed that we were just kind of discussing a little bit. But in this case, do you see that happening that a lot of people might, you know, end up.

Starting point is 00:14:26 I know you had just mentioned that you think that a lot of witnesses to his parties and stuff like that might be called into court. But do you see this kind of fall on Hollywood happening in the wake of Diddy's arrest? Frankly, I thought we were going to see more in the indictment that was unsealed by the Southern District of New York because so much time had passed. The lawsuit was filed by Cassie in November. The raids happened of Diddy's homes in March. The video of the beating was released.

Starting point is 00:14:53 by CNN in May. And now we're in October. It's almost a year later. And I expected some other individuals to be indicted, at least named in civil lawsuits, because so much time had passed. But perhaps people are taking a really cautious approach. I can see that from prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan.

Starting point is 00:15:15 They've taken actually a very similar cautious approach. And Mayor Eric Adams' indictment, they haven't really charged all the other participants in that. conspiracy. So maybe they want to just be targeted focus on combs. But there has been a lot of criticism, like you said, of the music industry. And obviously, the entertainment industry with Weinstein and others, they didn't have their Me Too moment. But I certainly wouldn't want this to be another Epstein type situation where maybe individuals who were allegedly participating in the acts don't face the justice that they should. And with new attorneys being added to Diddy's

Starting point is 00:15:49 version of an O.J. Simpson like defense dream team, they're kind of pushing for his appeal. to appeal his detention order, I should say. Do you see that being successful the third time around? I think that's unlikely. And obviously, we know that Diddy has essentially unlimited means. He's reportedly worth a billion dollars. Even if he's taken a hit, he's well into the hundreds of millions of dollars. So he's going to have the best and probably one of the largest teams of defense attorneys

Starting point is 00:16:16 that we've seen in recent memory because there's really a huge challenge here. if you're Diddy's lawyers, not just with respect to bond, but just every day to the extent that more witnesses and victims come forward, it's very hard to argue that these sex acts were consensual. That's what Diddy's lawyers have said publicly that, yes, they happen. They weren't necessarily these large orgies or anything like that. There were three sums, and they were all consensual, and that's what the freakoffs were. Well, if you have hundreds of individuals who are telling a different story, a physical and sexual violence, that's difficult to overcome. Now, with respect to bond, these crimes do carry a presumption of detention, and Diddy is looking at

Starting point is 00:17:00 decades in federal prison. Now, I know his lawyers had a very creative bond package, a $50 million bond with round-the-clock surveillance by former law enforcement, cameras in the house, visitor log, no cell phone, no internet. But the question I have, and the question the Second Circuit Court of Appeals is going to have when they look at this detention order is, any other criminal defendant would be detained if they were facing these types of racketeering and sex trafficking charges. Why should Combs be treated any differently because of his fame and his wealth? So I expect the Second Circuit that three-judge appellate panel to affirm the detention order by Judge Carter in this case. And like you had just mentioned previously in this interview and previously when we had spoke that you had said that the indictment was underwhelming.

Starting point is 00:17:44 Given the latest wave of accusations, that being more than the 100 alleged sexual assault victims in Texas, some including minors, do you see a superseding indictment coming in Diddy's case? I do, especially if those 25 minor victims are credible. U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said the investigation is ongoing, and I don't think he can ignore minor victims. And minor victims are important for a couple of reasons. One, obviously, our laws are supposed to protect minors. That's what they're there for. but minor victims can't consent to sexual activity. So the difference between consensual sex and sex trafficking is force, fraud, or coercion.

Starting point is 00:18:24 That's why Diddy's lawyers were saying that it was consensual. That's going to be their legal defense in the case. But because minors can't consent, there's really no defense there unless Diddy's going to argue that sexual contact didn't happen at all, that it wasn't him or they're lying. So it's important both in terms of protecting the victims, but also to really get a, around one of these key defenses in the case. Now say that you're prosecuting this case and putting your prosecutor hat back on, what kind of evidence are you going to be tackling

Starting point is 00:18:54 if you were the one to be trying Diddy's case? The best evidence in this case is the video evidence because witnesses can lie, even victims can lie, but video doesn't lie. And the example I like to give, I keep going back to that video, at the Intercontinental Hotel here in Los Angeles, where I am Combs beating Cassie.

Starting point is 00:19:12 The reason why that's so important is up until that moment, Did he and his lawyers, their strategy both legally and in the press was to deny. And after that video, there's no denying that an assault happened. So Didi came forward, he gave, I would say, not a wholehearted apology on social media, but he did say something. It just goes to show the power of video evidence. So apparently, if you believe the victims and he believe Cassie, which I do, did he recorded many of the Sex Act, and he maybe did so to have a leverage over the other participants, maybe blackmail them or extort them. The irony here is, of course, that those videos are going to be used against Diddy at this trial. So he may have created

Starting point is 00:19:57 the evidence that may ultimately commit. All right, Nima, I really appreciate your time and insight to this case. Before we sign you off, anything else you'd like to add? No, this case has everything. It has celebrities, it has sex, it has drugs, it has violence. I mean, And that's why we're going to be tuned to this for the coming months and maybe even over a year. All right, Nima Romani. Again, I appreciate your time today. And thank you. It's always great to see you.

Starting point is 00:20:20 Thanks for having me. Well, that does it for this episode of Sidebar. You can check out more episodes and subscribe to us anywhere you listen to your podcast, whether it's Apple Podcast, Spotify, or YouTube. I'm Elizabeth Milner in for Jesse Weber, and this has been Sidebar presented by Law and Crime. You can binge all episodes of this Law and Crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

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Law&Crime Sidebar - P. Diddy’s Connections to Billionaire Elon Musk Examined Amid Trafficking Case

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