RedHanded - Diddy: The Trial | #408

Episode Date: July 17, 2025

On Wednesday 2 July 2025, a jury found Sean Combs NOT GUILTY of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy – his two most serious charges, which carried a potential sentence of life in prison. He was found guilty on lesser charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.So, despite all the clear evidence of guilt, how did the jury come to this decision in just two days of deliberation? We take a closer look at how the trial went down, what part Cassie Ventura played, and where the defence went so very wrong…Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandPatreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesFollow us on social media:YouTubeTikTokInstagramVisit our website:WebsiteSources available on redhandedpodcast.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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And welcome to Red-Handed. We promised that we would return and we have, against my will. Mm-hmm. We diddly done it. He diddly done did it, but he diddly done got away with it too. This is the last opportunity for any diddy jokes. Diddly, diddly diddly done did it, but he diddly done got away with it too. This is the last opportunity for any diddy jokes. Diddly, diddly diddly, diddly fiddly, fiddly. I can't think of any more.

Don't worry. If I think of more, I'll just randomly say them. Perfect. We're going to need to inject some levity into this absolute hellscape. Excellent. You have probably all heard by now that after six and a bit weeks of trial... Sorry I just immediately started laughing because I was like this finding piddly diddly. It's not that good. Are you pleased with yourself?

Was it worth it? It was. The bad boy did not get life. And if you haven't heard that Sean Diddy Combs has essentially got away with it. I envy you and the life you lead. Do you want to swap? Initially when the verdict came out, I was surprised. And after I had a look at it, I'm not surprised at all anymore. I can't label my emotions regarding verdicts anymore.

After a decade of doing this, I now cannot, I need like a, I need a series of flip cards, Hannah, that you show me with like a frowny face, a surprised face, an angry face, and then you can just be like, oh, Saru, the Karen Reed verdict is in, she's free to go, she's innocent, so is Diddley, kiddley diddley. How are you feeling? Point to the

face that represents how you feel. And that's basically how we're going to do it because I don't have words anymore. Show me on the doll where they hurt you. Okay. As per my previous email, I am currently the most nihilistic version of myself that I've ever been. This really hasn't helped. So maybe I'm not the best judge and maybe there are people out there who would look upon this less like there's no point being alive anymore than me. But you know, I've got this job and they don't.

Here we are. Okay So here we are. Okay, here we go. As promised, here is the red-handed rundown of the trial of P. Diddy, Puff Daddy, Brother Love or whatever the fuck. And where it all went so very wrong. I'm going to start with the semi-good news. Last week, Sean Diddy Combs was found guilty on two federal counts of transporting people for prostitution. Each of those convictions carries with it a maximum sentence of 10 years. And here's the bad bit. Sean Combs was acquitted on the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. Both of those carry life sentences and a 15-year

mandatory minimum. And when I first read the verdict, I thought that the difference between transportation for prostitution and trafficking was state lines. I was wrong. Transportation for prostitution has to be over a state line for it to count as transportation. Sex trafficking is very different. We're gonna define them in a minute, but the definition of trafficking and him being found not guilty for it is one of the many many reasons I'm extraordinarily upset about this. It's a lot worse than I thought. Take it away, Saruchibala! Hooray!

Now in this episode, we won't be doing any background on Combs or spending much time on the hundreds of civil cases that are now plodding through the courts against him. We already did that. This episode is purely concerning the federal criminal trial that kicked off on the 5th of May 2025. Sean Combs stood accused of the following charges. Count 1. Racketeering conspiracy. Count 2.

Sex trafficking of former girlfriend and bad boy signee Cassie Ventura. Count 3. Transporting individuals including but not limited to Cassie Ventura to engage in prostitution. Count 4. Sex trafficking of anonymous former girlfriend who testified under the name Jane. Count 5. Transporting individuals including but not limited to Jane to engage in prostitution. We all know what prostitution is, but let's define the other less straightforward charges. Racketeering pertains to a set of illegal activities in which the accused commits at least two related crimes within 10 years as a part of a larger criminal enterprise. The charge of racketeering is designed to take down structures that enable organized crime rather than just going after offenders for individual crimes. Yeah, if racketeering as a

criminal thing didn't exist there would be no punishment for like the orchestration of criminal empire essentially. It would just be got it, 1700 counts of money laundering whatever. Sure, sure. The point is racketeering was codified as an offense in order to link people carrying out as Hannah said coordinated and systemic illegal activity. For Combs to be found guilty of racketeering, the prosecution would have to convince the jury that he had established a criminal enterprise or coordinated criminal activity with at least one other person. Just one. That's all they needed. Within a 10-year period, just one.

Which seems doable. Given what we know, seems simple enough. In this specific case, the coordinated illegal activity was identified in the indictment as Sean Combs being the head of a criminal enterprise that kidnapped people, arsoned things and obstructed justice. They just needed to prove that once. Moving on. Sex trafficking.

The federal definition of it as of the year 2000 is the recruitment, harbouring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion or in which the person induced is under 18. Which means that for something to be trafficking and not transportation for prostitution there has to be exploitation that's the key. It has to be without consent. It can't just be for the exchange of money that everyone agrees. And that's why trafficking is a much more serious crime than transportation for prostitution and why it carries a life sentence. Therefore, for Sean Combs to be convicted of sex trafficking, the prosecution had to prove or convince the jury that Cassie and Jane were being exploited and

that they were being coerced by Sean Combs to take part in commercial sexual activity against their will fraudulently or under threat or both. Again they just needed to prove that that had happened one time over a 20-year period. Anyway, if I take the brains off myself now, I ain't ever coming back. So I have to just keep those reins on, keep that saddle on, keep those blinkers on, keep that bit in. Finish line in sight. It's all the horse references I know. Okay, so once he was indicted with all five of these counts, Sean Diddy Combs pleaded

not guilty to all five of them. And the show was on the road. The first week of trial was dominated by Cassie Ventura. And I am so annoyed that when we did the two-parter pre-Diddy before the trial, the rundown of what a heinous horrible man he is, I didn't connect how ironic it is that P Diddy, who couldn't handle people not knowing that he was the hitmaker, that he was the reason all these people were famous, is undone by a woman called Cassandra. Because who is Cassandra? The sightseer. The sightseer who is cursed with nobody believing her. Dun dun dun. I'm fucking furious!

Okay, yeah. Cassandra, if you don't know, the lady who lived in Troy told everyone what was going to happen. She was like, I feel like maybe there's going to be a big horse. And they're like, shut up. Shut up. And then what happened? Troy burned to the ground. Mm-hmm. Cassandra was a woman who told everyone the truth and nobody believed her. The ultimate, I told you so.

Quite. And if any publication steals that from me, I will kill them. Button bending. Exactly. your dog. A message from the City of Toronto. What's your final view on to what degree she believes all this stuff? She lied. She tried to manufacture evidence. I'm Christopher Goffard with a new series from LA Times Studios. This is one of the most heartbreaking cases. The victim couldn't be more innocent. Each week we'll be diving into a consequential case. I didn't just start as some nut job that wanted to go do violent shit.

I didn't want to do any violent shit really at all. From Los Angeles and beyond. What was so startling about the case was that it did mark the first time that there was a criminal trial which disclosed that the government had lied to people and it's hard to remember. Crimes of the Times. Subscribe. Crimes of the Times. Subscribe to Crimes of the Times on your favorite listening app. A link to video episodes will also

be available in the show notes. I never told anyone for 25 years. I just was scared. Now at 81, what the hell? So the prosecution opened with a statement from Emily Johnson, who described Sean Combs as a sex demanding dictator who called himself the king. I know we have discussed this before, but if you have to call yourself the king, you're probably a fucking loser. Yeah, I agree. The jury was comprised of eight men and four women. The case against the fallen

music mogul, though, would be built primarily on the testimony of women, Cassie and Jane being the most important. Cassie's civil lawsuit against Combs was settled for 30 million, and it jump started the federal investigation into Diddy and led to the infamous baby oil raids. Pictures of these Homeland Security raids have now been released. And they are just as bad as you think they are. The defense's opening statement was centered on the complicated nature of Combs' character, outright admitting that domestic violence

against women had been a consistent feature of his past, but that those women were not coerced to have sex with him or anyone else. According to attorney Teni Garagos, this case is about voluntary adult choices made by capable adults. voluntary adult choices made by capable adults. The prosecution's first witness was a man called Israel Flores, a security guard at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles, which is where the infamous footage of Combs dragging Cassie down the corridor by her hair was captured in 2016. When Israel Flores was asked to describe the night the clip we we have all seen, was captured, he testified that he was called to the sixth floor of the hotel due to reports of a woman

being in distress, and when he got there he told Cassie and Combs that they had to return to their room. Combs then handed him a wad of cash that Israel interpreted to be a bribe because Sean Combs instructed Israel Flores not to tell anyone what he had seen. Allegedly, allegedly, allegedly, allegedly, unfortunately because he hasn't been convicted of these things. I have to keep saying that. Anyway, additionally Israel Flores told the court that he made two copies of the CCTV footage that night to show his wife at home. He only has one wife, so two seems a bit odd doesn't it it? Leak it, did you, babe? Honestly, we're never going to get to the bottom of that. Not today, not never. So let's move on. Next up in the witness box for team prosecution was Daniel Phillip, a stripper who claimed that he

had been employed by Combs multiple times to have sex with Cassie, while Diddy watched. Phillips also testified that he heard Combs beating Cassie Ventura on more than one occasion and overheard her crying often. Then Cassie herself took the stand and stayed there for four days, whilst she was almost nine months pregnant. Her testimony began by detailing the infamous free coughs that left her humiliated and full of drugs. According to Cassie, these Sean Combs sex productions could last for hours or days.

And eventually, they became her full time job. or days, and eventually they became her full-time job. Not just because they went on for so long, but because of the amount of time it would take her to recover from them. The most harrowing moment was Cassie's description of a male escort pissing in her mouth until she nearly drowned. If we believe Cassie, Sean Combs would direct every inch of these marathon sexcapades, even down to the color of Cassie's nails. Cassie Vinchora sobbed as she told the courtroom that she had participated in

these events because she wanted to make Combs happy. And she was worried that he would hurt her, or worse, if she refused to enthusiastically engage. On her second day of testimony, Cassie Ventura took the court through the details of the 2016 video footage, along with other frequent beatings she alleged to have endured at the hands of her former boyfriend and boss. Cassie also claimed that Sean Combs would use footage of the numerous freak-offs

to blackmail her. If she didn't follow his instruction to the letter, he would withhold her music from publication. The 10-album deal she'd signed with Bad Boy Records was entirely unattainable. When asked about Combs' own sexual violence, Cassie gave a specific example of one night in 2018 when she alleged that Combs had raped her after they'd gone out for dinner. And then a month later she had consensually had sex with him, which shouldn't really matter, but it did, obviously, and I don't need to remind you but I'm going to anyway just so I can sleep at night. A rape is a rape no matter what happened before or after it, but due to the outcome of this trial, it's quite obvious that the jury were

not unanimously convinced of that fact. But let's not get too far ahead. Let's stick to the play-by-play. Cassie ended her time with the prosecution by explaining that her relationship with Sean Diddy Combs had left her traumatized to the point of suicide. Then the cross-examination began. The defense confronted Cassie with a bunch of messages they claimed illustrated how enthusiastically she had participated in the freak-offs. There was also a large focus on drug use, alluding to impaired judgment

on both Cassie and Combs' parts. And when it came to the $30 million that Cassie had won in the civil suit that had started it all off, Cassie Ventura said, I'd give that money back if I never had to do freak-offs. Kid Cuddy graced the stand at the top of week two. We briefly ran over this in Under the Duvet but we'll do it again. The day and night hitmaker testified that while he was seeing Cassie, Sean Combs arranged to have his car blown up in a jealous rage. An incident that according to Kid Cuddy, Sean Combs apologized for years later in person. Kid Cuddy also conceded that Cassie had been leading a

double life and had played Sean Combs and him off against each other and it bears repeating even though I already said it on Under the Duvet, I've lost respect for him after that. Cassie's mum Regina Ventura on the other hand is a force of nature. She testified that back in 2011 her daughter told her that Sean Combs was threatening to release sex tapes, and that that Christmas Cassie had gone home to Connecticut with a large bruise on her back. She told her mum that it was because Sean Combs had kicked her to the ground during an argument about Kid Cudi.

Regina Ventura also alleged that she had tried to hit Combs herself during a physical altercation over Cassie's phone. Combs had swiped the device at a birthday party and when Cassie went home to her LA apartment, phone-less, Regina called the police and confronted Combs outside the building. Moving on, we have another Under the Duvet mention for you. Kerry Morgan, former model and former best friend of Cassie Ventura. She did not want to be there. She had to be subpoenaed, which may seem like a violation of girl code. But it's actually because when Combs violently attacked her,

Cassie gave her a gag order and told Kerry it wasn't a big deal. That would probably end a friendship for me too. Yeah, not mad at it. Anyway, forced to be there, Kerry recounted the attack that ended her friendship with Cassie and went on to state that she had been a witness to Combs' physical abuse towards Cassie several times. Specifically an instance in Jamaica in 2013, where Combs dragged Cassie by her hair and pushed her down to the ground, causing her to crack her head on a brick surface.

All because Cassie took too long in the loo. According to Kerry Morgan, during the attack, Cassie's screams were guttural and terrifying. Which to say that about your ex-best friend who you don't like anymore, it's quite something. Dawn Richard, one-time member of Combs produced group, Danity Kane, told a very similar story. On the 16th of May this year Dawn testified that she saw Sean Combs beating Cassie for taking too long to cook him dinner back in 2009. Most shockingly, Combs attempted to whack Cassie over the head with a hot, heavy skillet

that still had eggs in it. And according to Dawn Richard, trying to protect herself, Cassie fell to the floor and curled into the fetal position, but that didn't stop Sean Combs from dragging Cassie up the stairs. Dawn Richard heard glass breaking on the floor above herbs from dragging Cassie up the stairs. Dawn Richard heard glass breaking on the floor above her once her friend Cassie was out of sight. And according to Dawn Richard's testimony, she was called into Sean Combs' studio the next day and he told her that what she had seen was just what people in a passionate

relationship do. And then he told stardom-hopeful Dawn Richard that he really wanted her to make it but, and this is a quote, where he comes from people go missing if they say things like that, like if people talk. Dawn Richard told the court that she was sure that this statement was a threat on her life. When it came to cross-examination, Marc Anfilio, Combs's lead defense attorney after the other one quit, called Dawn Richards' story a drop-dead lie because Cassie had never brought it up. She'd never mentioned it. And Dawn Richard did concede that she had only

recalled the skillet egg story when she'd been speaking with the prosecution. She didn't mention it in any of her prior interviews, which, fucking hell, like recall the skillet egg story when she'd been speaking with the prosecution. She didn't mentioned it in any of her prior interviews which... fucking hell like either the prosecution... I feel like there are a few quite major mistakes. I feel like they should have gone after trafficking or racketeering one or the other and because they're trying to do the racketeering thing they're trying to give this like massive overview of these decades of all of these things. It would have been so much better to just really clearly prove one instance of trafficking

and he would have got life. Or at least he would have got a minimum of 15 years. By going after racketeering, they've given too many variables. Yeah. And obviously we might, I'm sure we will come onto this later in the episode. Do you think the kind of smoking gun for the defense were those text messages from Cassie to Diddy? Do you think that's what really kind made about the messages in the press. I don't think so. I think like... Because yeah, just to clarify, I haven't followed this case, but I watched like a couple

of videos where they were talking about the text messages and my understanding is, and I'm not saying for a second that people wouldn't send those when they're victims of coercive control, domestic abuse. It was things like Cassie instigating or wanting to instigate freak offs, volunteering for them. Are you sure that's Cassie or is it Jane? I believe it was Cassie, the ones I saw. And it was her saying, I really want to have another freak off. I want to do it.

I want to see you. Let's do this. Let's organize it. Let's, when are we doing it? When are we having another freak off? And some of those text messages were even after she had left Diddy and was with this new guy. And so obviously I wonder if that was the thing that made people feel like what the defense is saying, adult choices made by adults. I'm not saying I agree with that,

but I'm saying looking at that, is that what in your mind made the jury feel like, yeah, she was into it. I mean, I'm sure it helped, but I'm of the opinion that actually what was more swaying was the men who took the stand who said, I never saw her say no. I never saw her look reluctant. I never saw her hesitate. I think that held more sway. And also, I do think it's significant that the jury was eight men and four women. I think that makes a huge difference. Yeah, I think it's the combination of those things, isn't it? It's like what these people are saying who were like, she never looked reluctant. Who knows? That's their like testimony,

whether that's true or not. But I think the combination of that plus text messages where whatever state of mind she is, but she is seeming like she's into it and engaging and enthusiastically engaging. Whatever the motives for that, I feel like that's probably, from my brief looking into this case, I feel like that's what probably made it feel like. But yeah, you're right. I think the prosecution ran after the wrong thing, which made it a harder hill to climb. Yeah. I think that like, I think what is so disappointing for me is that, yes, she said those things. Both of them did. And I have no doubt that they both appeared enthusiastic. But that doesn't mean that they weren't coerced

and I think that that is what has not been explained by the prosecution to the jury and that is so disappointing. Absolutely, I think that is the problem, right? When you are doing a jury trial and we've seen this many times before, the defense is obviously going to bring up those text messages. It's like, like I said, they're smoking gun, they're like ace in hole. Those are the text messages that is going to make it seem like it was a consenting activity that the two took part in. And obviously as people who have been around the true crime block many a time and

people who understand these things psychologically that a victim can be abused to the point that they are under coercive control, even if they have distance and are in another relationship, that that power dynamic can exist if that's not adequately explained by some people I know I criticize all the time, but by experts being brought in to explain that to a jury. I'm not saying for a second that I think this was the right decision, but I can see why that would be difficult for a jury to wrap their heads around without sufficient guidance from the prosecution.

And there was no guidance at all. That's crazy. So yeah, that just feels mind blowing to me because how would they not look at those text messages and not think that is going to play really badly in Cassie's defense? I honestly think what it comes down to is complacency, honestly. It just feels like an open goal. And they, they were trying to do too much by going after racketeering. Anyway, whatever. Not whatever, it's really important.

So yeah, getting back to the trial. Even this early on in the proceedings, Cassie's integrity was being called into question, which was really, really terrible news for the prosecution. And it got worse for Cassie Ventura when it was sex worker Sharae Hayes' turn in the doc. He testified that he had been hired by Sean Combs to participate in as many as 12 freak-offs between 2012 and 2015. And everything, as far as he was was concerned seemed totally consensual.

His male escort alias is the Punisher, by the way. Other Combs employees were heard from too. David James was the first of the former bad boy PAs to take the stand. And James spoke candidly about Combs' significant daily drug habit, and also told the story of the night he realized that by working for Diddy, he was mixed up with some very, very dangerous people. Here is the story he told. In 2008, David James had been at the wheel of Sean Combs' Lincoln Navigator in the car park of Drive-In in Los Angeles called Mel's which I had to look up apparently

big deal American diner best diner in America I feel like there's 70,000 best diners in America anyway. Wow. I'm going to LA in a few weeks I'll have a look. Anyway he's in this car in this car park with someone called Damien D-Rock Butler who's a very favorite bodyguard of the bad boy enterprise and the pair of them spotted none other than Shug Knight and then escalate a few parking spaces down from them and a confrontation ensued as Death Row's head honcho asked D-Rock what he was doing in his city and while this this is going on, Suge Knight very obviously passed a firearm by one of his minions and then four SUVs swung into all four corners of the male's car park. So D-Rock and David

James sped off to Combs' Hollywood home and once he was told what had happened, Sean Combs grabbed three guns and ordered David James to drive him and D-Rock back to the car park, which was just ten minutes away. By the time they got there, Suge Knight had already left, and David James, realizing that his life was in very real danger, handed in his resignation soon after. And that testimony might seem out of place compared to the other ones, so I can only assume that it was included to beef up the racketeering charge. That same week, we heard from another former assistant as well, George Kaplan. But his testimony was once again focused on Cassie and Combs's vicious treatment

of her. George Kaplan said that although he was grateful for all of the great business tips that he had learned from his former boss, he was quote, not comfortable or aligned with the physical behavior that had been going on from what I had seen pieces of. He told the courtroom about a time where Combs had attacked Cassie on his private jet with a whiskey glass. As Cassie screamed, is anybody seeing this? Many people saw, George Kaplan included, but no one did jack shit to help Cassie or defuse the altercation.

According to Kaplan, his inaction was because all he wanted was to have a great job in the entertainment industry. Although the violence was the reason he quit in the end. Which I'm just not sure I believe. But I guess at least he testified. Yeah. Yeah. Ugh.

Yet another bad boy employee had even more to say. Capricorn Clark claimed through tears that Sean Combs had kidnapped her at gunpoint during a mission to kill Kid Cudi in 2011. Combs was furious with Capricorn for hiding Cassie's relationship so he woke her up in the middle of the night and told her that they were going to kill Kid Cudi right there and then. I think what is key to explain is that because the people who are involved in this case are so rich, their houses are fucking huge.

So like a lot of the, like Capricorn Clark or like George Capricorn, like a lot of these bad boy employees are in Combs' house for like extended periods of time. They sleep there, like, because it's essentially a fucking, like, office block. So she just is in his house. It doesn't necessarily mean that there's something even more nefarious going on. It's very common in that sort of industry because everyone lives in these fucking giant estates. Anyway, on the 12th day of the trial, another former employee once again told a similar story. And this woman used the pseudonym Mia, and she worked for Sean Combs in a bunch of different roles for eight years.

She saw it all. She was worked to the bone on top of forced sleep deprivation and violence. Mia claimed that her former boss Sean Combs raped her and forced her to perform oral sex on him, and she felt like she had no choice. And this is what she said, I couldn't tell him no about a sandwich. I couldn't tell him no about anything. According to Mia, Sean Combs sexually assaulted her four times during her tenure at Bad Boy. She told the jury that she couldn't face telling anybody and losing everything that she'd worked so hard for The world that Diddy had created for her to live in was all she had left and That's how they do it and the fact that that was not explained. Yeah, absolutely

I mean, I'm not saying it wasn't you know alluded to by attorneys. Yeah But I why is there no testimony about how coercive control work? Not that that's, you know, in the legal system in the US, but like nothing to even plant a wobble of doubt of what consent actually means under these circumstances. Yeah. I mean, I really feel like the prosecution for such a high profile case, sadly did such a bad job, it seems, of clearly explaining to people the psychology behind all of this, the inner thinking behind all of this. I don't know, it's baffling to me.

Mia also told the court about witnessing Combs beat Cassie outside a party that had been thrown by the artist formerly known as Prince, which is what sparked all of the TikTok rumors that Prince had testified against Eddie from beyond the grave, which like I wish I lived in that world, but we're stuck with the shit heap instead. But yeah, the defense showed the court also an array of posts from Mia's Instagram in which she describes Combs as a mentor and as an inspiration. And they're essentially like, who would post that about their rapist? And disappointingly, that worked. That was enough. And also, I don't understand, I get what they're doing. There's like building this large image

of all of these people, but he's not on trial for the rape of Mia he's not on trial for beating up Cassie outside Prince's party so just one thing at a time you know yeah today is the worst day of Abby's life. The 17-year-old cradles her newborn son in her arms. They all saw how much I loved him. They didn't have to take him from me. Between 1945 and the early 1970s, families ship their pregnant teenage daughters

to maternity homes and force them to secretly place their babies for adoption. In hidden corners across America, it's still happening. My parents had me locked up in the godparent home against my will. They worked with them to manipulate me and to steal my son away from me. The godparent home is the brainchild

of controversial preacher Jerry Falwell, the father of the modern evangelical right and the founder of Liberty University. Where powerful men, emboldened by their faith, determine who gets to be a parent and who must give their child away. Follow Liberty Lost on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

We acting bad, bad, bad, bad. We ain't trying to hurt nobody. For decades, he was untouchable. But now it's all coming undone Sean combs the mogul as we know it is over he will never be that person again even if he's found not guilty of these charges. I'm Jesse Weber host of law and crimes the rise and fall of Diddy the federal trial a front row seat to the biggest

trial in entertainment history, sex trafficking racketeering prostitution allegations by federal prosecutors that span decades and witnesses were finally speaking out. The spotlight is harsher the stakes are higher and for did he there may be no second chances. You can listen to the rise and fall of did the federal trial exclusively with wondering plus join wondering plus in the one to react Spotify or Apple podcast right now.

The defense also did a good job of undermining the testimony of stylist Deontay Nash, who had styled Combs and many of Bad Boy's artists. Deontay alleged in the stand that he had witnessed Combs beat Cassie on multiple occasions, and also that Sean Combs had told him about the freak-off sex tapes featuring Cassie. He also testified that he thought Cassie was suicidal. Did his defense team ask why Deontay didn't intervene if he was so worried for Cassie Ventura? If he really thought her life was in danger, why didn't he do anything about it? Which, I just feel like we should all know that that's not how that works.

But that's quite literally the only argument the defence make against every single witness. There's 34 witnesses for the prosecution. I'm gonna say though, this is the problem. It's that the defence didn't need to do more than that. They called no witnesses. They didn't need to jack shit. Yeah, when you told me they spoke for like 20 minutes, I was like, oh fuck, it must be because they know he's screwed. No, it's because they knew the prosecution delivered such a piss poor

case. It's like they're providing the jury with all of the ingredients for a meal, but with no recipe. That's what it feels like. Like the jury are looking at all of this information and they're like, what do you want me to do with that? I don't know. And I genuinely feel like that's the problem here. I agree. And yeah, the defense just instilled this niggling down after every testimony. But if that's true, if it was so awful, what kind of person wouldn't say anything? Like what kind of person wouldn't intervene? And would a person who wouldn't intervene, would they be the type of person you'd believe on the stand under oath? And this is all the defense ever need to do. They only need to poke holes.

Even when Homeland Security agent Jared Gannon confirmed that cocaine, ketamine, lingerie, AR-15 handguns and of course all of the racks and racks and racks of baby oil seized from Kohns' mansion confirmed all of those things to be true the very same week. And that takes us basically to the halfway point. Week four of the trial kicked off with Mia's third day on the stand and more details of her sexual assaults. She explained that although she was deeply ashamed, no one around her was acting like anything was wrong. So she didn't tell a soul. Next up was Intercontinental Hotel security guard and source of CCTV footage Eddie Garcia. In 2016 he was contacted by Bad Boy and was given a

hundred thousand dollars in a brown envelope by Combs himself to get a copy of the CCTV footage and Combs told Eddie Garcia, Eddie my angel I knew you could help and then Garcia signed an NDA that was shown to the court. That testimony was followed by former CFO of Bad Boy who claimed that he had never seen anybody help Combs commit any crimes. Even when he was presented with bank records showing business funds being transferred into Sean Combs' personal accounts, Derek Ferguson stuck to his guns. Which again, they're presenting that being like, well of course, how could money be funneled out of Bad Boy into these personal accounts and these personal accounts are being used to fund free costs?

How could the CFO not have known that? And Derek Ferguson's just like, I don't know. Sounds like a you problem. Wow. testimony came from Cassie's friend, Brianna Bongolin, who accused Combs of dangling her over a 17th floor balcony in LA, like Suge Knight did to Vanilla Ice, allegedly. Only slight difference. I believe Vanilla Ice was by the ankles. I thought you were going to say the only slight difference, Vanilla Ice deserved it. That too. A believable story, given everything else we know, but Brianna Bongolin cracked under the pressure of cross-examination. Her most common response to questioning was,

I don't remember. Come on. It's just like, honestly, shots in the head for the jury. On top of that, Diddy's defense presented a photo of Bungalow taken out on the town the night that she claimed this happened in 2016. And also a hotel receipt indicating that Combs was actually in New York at the same time. Sean Combs nodded so emphatically from his chair that the judge had to give him a warning. The judge gives him lots of warnings. One particular point in the trial, he's, I believe he was

actually removed from the courtroom because he kept staring down the jurors. And the judge is like, you have to stop. I'm also like, is this how confident the defense were that they didn't even prep him to be like, smile, smile at the jury, look at them very kindly, we don't want to piss the jury off. Yep. I genuinely believe that we all had it so wrong. That they were like, well, what can I do? What possible? No, they went in there fucking knowing they were going to walk out of this on top. And then that week of trial rounded off with the second most important of the prosecution's

witnesses, Jane, not her real name. There are a lot of theories as to who Jane is, but we're going to leave those to you. Also, like, you don't have something else better to do with your day. No. I know who it is. We are going to leave it. So Jane dated Sean Combs from 2021 all the way up until his arrest in September 2024. She alleged that during their relationship, like Cassie, she was forced to engage in debauched sexual acts with male escorts.

Jane also told the jury that she became financially dependent on Sean Combs, which everyone forgets is also a form of abuse and is a significant contributor to a lot of abuse spouses feeling like they are unable to break free. No one explained that to the jury though. One month after Sean Combs posted his Instagram apology to Cassie, he and Jane got into an explosive physical altercation which left Jane with a black eye and welts on her forehead. She ran barefoot through the streets before he caught up with her. And then she alleges that back at the house, Combs told Jane to put some ice on her injuries and get dressed. And then a male escort arrived and Jane was expected to have sex with him after

taking an ecstasy pill. And Sean Combs says, take this fucking pill you're not gonna ruin my fucking night. Jane repeatedly told Combs that she wouldn't do it, she didn't want to. To which Combs replied, is this coercion an inch away from her face? Which I can understand why the defense would be like, who uses the word coercion? Why would he say that? Doesn't that seem a bit specific for her to be saying that he said that particular legal word that isn't really in anyone's lexicon? But I also understand what the prosecution are trying to do is prove coercion and violence in a specific instance because they only need one and that's what they think is going to

happen with this testimony but it fucking doesn't. No. Because texts between Jane and Sean Combs were presented. The prosecution gave ones that said things like, from Jane, I'm not a porn star, I'm not an animal, I need a break. And also following up from Cassie filing her civil suit, Jane texts Combs saying, I feel like I'm reading my own sexual trauma.

It makes me sick how three solid pages word for word is exactly my experiences and my anguish. Which the defense are gonna say, well, yeah of course she's going to say that Cassie just got 30 million. And then the defense came to the table with text messages as well. In which as Saru said, similarly to Cassie's text exchange, Jane positively engages with hiring escorts for free-cofs and says things like, oh yeah, he seems cool babe, I'll get him to do the NDA. And also playfully chastising Holmes for not filming a particular instance.

Jane insisted, like Cassie had before her, that she had done all of this because she loved Sean Combs and she wanted to please him, but she was also terrified of what he was capable of. And Jane was on the stand for six days. She was followed by Jonathan Perez, yet another erstwhile PA, who was shown footage showing Jane engaging in Wild King Nights, and Jonathan Perez testified that Jane didn't seem hesitant to be involved. That just so happened to be the day that Kanye West showed up to support Sean

Combs. Although after being told that he would have to sit in the overflow room and not in the main court, he did leave. Not that bothered then, is he? He just sort of shows up expecting to be like, of course, here is the red carpet, would you like your throne? And they're like, no, you have to queue up with everyone else and actually there's no room and he's just like, fuck this shit and leaves. I don't care about him that much. Oh my god. Though I do wonder if the defense will get rid of him now. The next week kicked off with testimony from Combs' former chief of staff, Christina Coram, who the prosecution claimed was directly involved in the orchestration of the freak-offs inflicted

on both Cassie and Jane. This narrative was bolstered by freak-off expenses being shown to be moving through Combs' companies. Then the jurors were shown clips of the sex marathons by both the prosecution and the defence. The defence calling the video powerful evidence that the sexual conduct in this case was consensual and not based on coercion. One juror tore the headphone off almost immediately, evidence that the sexual conduct in this case was consensual and not based on coercion. One juror tore the headphone off almost immediately and another juror was actually dismissed, but for a different reason. It turned out that he had given inconsistent information regarding his home address, which seemed to indicate that he had sought out a spot on

the jury. Again, it's another one of those things that's retold as like, freak off footage, so disgusting, a jury had to be dismissed. That's not happening. It just happened on the same day for completely different reasons. So once that jury was got rid of, the hearing resumed a few days later. And it was time for the court to hear from another former assistant, this time one called Brendan Paul. And Brendan Paul testified that he had obtained illicit drugs and prepared hotel rooms for Wild King nights as a part of his job role at Bad Boy and that he kept a running list of supplies in

his phone's notes app. And although Brendan Paul caught a cocaine possession charge during this time fulfilling this role, he too testified that Jane never seemed hesitant or apprehensive when it came to sex with male escorts. And then finally, week seven and the 34th witness for the prosecution, Homeland Security Special Agent Joseph Cecilio, who read from text messages and American Express statements, weaving a web of Combs's elaborate coordination of the drug-fuelled sexcapades using company money, inferring therefore that bad boy employees must have been working with him in the procurement and execution of illegal activities that Cassie and Jane were coerced into participating in,

therefore showing Combs to be guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking. Clearly alluding to this in their closing statement, they said, if there is one time, one single freak-off that jurors find were the product of force, threats of force or fraud or coercion, then he is guilty of sex trafficking. And then the defense did not call a single witness and they summed everything up in about 20 minutes and Sean Combs did not take the stand but he did find time to tell the judge when the jury were out of the room, I wanted to

tell you thank you, you're doing an excellent job. The defense's closing argument zeroed in on the enthusiasm shown by Cassie and Jane, stating that Sean Combs was a bad man with a complicated swinger lifestyle and a big drug problem, but that that did not make him a trafficker or a racketeer. Yeah a lot of the sort of like Manosphere commentary on the trial is like, Oh, well, you shouldn't like have to go to prison for like being a freak. Which like, no, you shouldn't. But it's completely demoralizing that they couldn't manage to show that that's not what was happening.

Basically, they said that he was just a troubled man who should be returned to his family. After the nine cumulative hours of closing statements, the jury entered into deliberation. We thought it would take weeks. We were horribly wrong. After two days of sequestment, the foreman passed a note to the judge saying that they had decided on four of the five counts, but that they

were deadlocked on the fifth. When it came to the racketeering charge, the jury held, unpersuadable opinions on both sides. This is technically a partial verdict, which could have been announced there and then, but the judge instructed the jury to continue deliberations, and we all held our breath. Which means it only took them two days to unanimously agree that Cassie and Jane were not trafficked. The next day the jury confirmed that they were now agreed on all five counts.

And as we know, Sean Diddy-Cohbs was found guilty on two counts of transportation for prostitution, but he was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. And that means, children, that after three days, the jury of eight men and four women were agreed that neither Cassie Ventura nor Mystery Jane were ever coerced into freak-offs and nobody helped Combs to deliver the events. As the verdict was announced, Sean Combs fell to the floor. He knelt and prayed and then he stood up and shouted to the gallery, I'm gonna be home soon. I love you. Thank you. I love you. And you know what? He probably fucking will. His two guilty convictions carry maximum sentences of 10 years, so he could get 20 on the inside,

but I highly doubt it. We're not going to find out for months. Anyway, the sentencing of Sean Diddy Combs is set for the 3rd of October, and despite his attorney's best efforts, Sean Combs has been denied bail and will await his fate in jail and that's time he will probably use to create some sort of redemption arc album that will make him millions. Still not a word from Jay-Z, but he'll probably produce it. I hate it here. Yeah, it's pretty shocking. I am sad face. I need sad face. I just think, yeah, I just feel that the prosecution here,

if there was absolutely no instruction given to the jury, no decision taken, no experts brought in, no witnesses there, not just witnesses who were testifying as to what they saw or what happened to them personally, but actual witnesses there in an expert sense to create this narrative, to show this understanding, to link up the dots for the jury between how coercive control can lead to this kind of situation and the way in which it presented. I just don't understand what they were doing. I do not understand what they were doing. And for me, honestly, the defense, this was a fucking slam dunk for them. It was easy. No wonder they wrapped up in 20 minutes. No wonder they didn't call any witnesses. They saw they would have had in discovery exactly what the prosecution's plan was. And they probably laughed. And they laughed all the way to fucking walk in Diddy out of there. I know he's on bail, but you know what I mean? I mean, in... Yeah. Realistically, I think he'll get five.

I think he'll do two. Yeah. Piddly diddly. Piddly diddly, indeed. Oh, god. Yeah. That's it. That's all I can do.

Yeah, that's all we need to do. That's it, guys. We have done plenty this year on this man. Yeah. That's it. That's all I can do. Yeah, that's all we need to do. That's it, guys. We have done plenty this year on This Man. And yeah, that's it. So we will see you next week where we will be talking about Erin Patterson. We will be bringing you a two-parter on the Mushroom Murderer, who, smiley face, the jury found guilty.

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