Before we jump into today's deep dive, a quick heads up that we'll be discussing a story that includes themes of sexual assault and sex trafficking. Please listen with care, and if it's not for you today, we'll see you again later this afternoon.
Already, and this is the Daily OS.
This is the Daily OS.
Oh, now it makes sense.
Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Wednesday, the fourteenth of May. I'm Zara Seidler, I'm Emma Gillespie. The high profile sex trafficking case of Sean Diddy Combs has begun in court this week, with both the prosecution and defense laying out their arguments. The fifty five year old rapper and producer was arrested and charged in September last year. He was later denied bail and has been
in custody ever since. In today's podcast, we're going to explain the context of the case and also run through what we've learnt in the first few days of the trial.
Zara, it feels a little bit surreal that this trial is finally here, because we've been talking about this case for such a long time. It felt like getting to this day would never happen. But it's all unfolding in New York as we speak this week. A lot has been said about this trial and these allegations, particularly in the media, over the last several months. But I think it would be helpful to take it right back. Let's start from the beginning. For anyone who isn't familiar, let's
take it back to basics. Who is Diddy?
Yeah, so Sean Diddy Combs has a bunch of nicknames. I think it's sort of important to just say that because he's referred to as a different name by like ten different media arbots. So you might hear him refer to as p Diddy, Puffy Diddy. I'm going to just refer to him as Combs. Yeah, that is his surname now. He founded bad Boy Records in nineteen ninety three, and the music label has gone on to represent some of the world's most famous rappers. People like Notorious Big are
among those who he represented. Combs is a three time Grammy Award winner. He's worked with people like Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Usher, and Faith Evans, just to mention a few. He's also done a bit of acting. He's starred in films like Monsters Ball, get him to the Greek and draft day, and I guess I think it's just important to say right now. The reason why I'm saying all of these different things that he started in and things that he's done in his career is not
to rattle off his resume. It's just to show the extent of his power. He wasn't just a producer, he wasn't just an actor. He was kind of everything to the industry exactly.
He was also an extremely powerful entertainment industry figure, but also a powerful business figure. He's an entrepreneur, owned many brands, invested in many labels and brands. So this is someone who, I suppose, the influence across a range of industries, and that speaks to the interest in the shock, I suppose.
And we heard these allegations definitely.
So when did it all start to shift for Sean Combs? When did we first hear about these charges?
So the first allegations to be leveled against Combs were back in twenty twenty three, and those allegations were made by his former partner, Cassandra Ventura.
She's also known as.
Cassie Singer the singer Absolutely, and she accused him of sexual assault. At the time, her lawyers described the rapper Combs as a vicious, cruel and controlling man at that time. Back in twenty twenty three, he denied those allegations, and a day after the lawsuit was filed.
The matter was settled out of court.
Then, in May of last year, CNN published footage that I'm sure a lot of our listeners will have heard about or seen.
That footage appeared to show.
Combs kicking and ragging Cassie in a hotel hallway in twenty sixteen. Now, in a video posted to Instagram later, he apologized for his quote inexcusable behavior, but he didn't name Cassie in the statement at the time. And that clip of what we can see to be Comb's assaulting Cassie has become quite a focal point of the trials opening days. So we will go back to that in a little while, because certainly in opening statements that's been
quite a point of focus. But Cassie wasn't the only person to file legal action against Sean Cone's so last year, music producer Rodney Jones he goes by Lil Rod, he also filed a lawsuit against Comb's He alleged that Combs spiked the drinks of miners and sex workers at his homes in California, New York, Florida, and the US Virgin Islands.
When those allegations were made public, Combs denied them, and then in March, US authorities raided Combs's properties in LA and Miami as part of an ongoing investigation where they uncovered firearms, ammunition, and more than a thousand bottles of lubricant.
So that brings us kind of up to speed before he was arrested and charged. I think it's interesting the Cassie story that CCTV footage. While we did get an apology from Combs at the time that didn't name her, he didn't specifically accept the allegations or the accusations against him at that point. So he has maintained his innocence throughout.
Yeah, throughout there haven't been any allegations that comes has accepted as true.
So when was he eventually arrested and charged?
That happened in September last year. At that time, he was charged with sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, ars and bribery, and obstruction of justice.
Really serious charge, big charges.
Yeah, and at the time, federal US prosecutors accused him of using his business empire to cover up decades of abuse against women to quote fulfill his sexual desires and protect his reputation. So that was a charge of racketeering, and that's, as I just said, the idea of using the resources of a business to cover up a crime. He was also accused of using his staff to coordinate and conceal these incidents, and it's alleged that the incidents were often recorded.
I remember when these charges were published last year and we covered it, and there were hundreds of pages of really extensive court documents. Was so COMPREHENI the indictment was massive.
And while perhaps he had maybe earned a reputation regarding his relationship with Cassandra Ventura and the allegations around that, I think what really shocked people or what s gripped them about this case all of the allegations about how he used his business, how he used his staff, and that really caught people off guard.
Yeah.
Absolutely, And I think that goes to the idea or the allegation rather that there were a lot of people who knew about these alleged crimes.
And that it's the accusation is that it was a very a very extensive network and operation and organized in a certain way exactly.
But again we do need to reiterate these are allegations now are currently being tested in court. But Combs has maintained his innocence. As I said, he has denied all of the chargers. He has been in jail this whole time. So when he was arrested back in September last year, he was later denied bail, and so this whole time he's been sitting in jail, and we have only seen him for the first time during this trial. And interestingly,
he does look quite different from the court reporters. We get a sense that he has graying hair and a gray beard. Again, that goes to the time that he has spent in prison so far.
Yeah, his lawyers have continued to push for him to be released on bail. But I suppose with the nature of these charges relating to so many different states across the US, there has been concern about how to navigate that. So he has pleaded not guilty. Yeah where obviously in the very early stages of this high profile trial.
Just can I just jump in there.
So he's pleaded not guilty, but he was recently offered a play deal. A plea deal is when a person pleads guilty to a lesser charge or a modified charge, often in exchange for a reduced sentence. I guess the operative term there is that you play guilty. Yes, and he didn't accept that play deal, so he rejected that very recently, which is why now the case is on trial, because had he pled guilty, it wouldn't have gone to trial.
Interesting, Yeah, so we are at that stage. He is maintaining his innocence, rejects the plea deal. What do we know about the court proceedings so far?
I'll talk to a few details on the trial itself first. So it's being held in Manhattan, as you said, in New York City.
It is going to be decided by a jury.
So there are twelve New Yorkers who will decide the outcome of this case. It's eight men and four women on the jury, with the trial expected to last for about eight weeks. And I know that we speak about this kind of every time we talk about a high profile case. But finding a jury that doesn't know or hasn't read about Sean Combs is a difficult and tall task. So there's been a lot of back and forth between the prosecution and the defense about who should.
Make up that jury, but they have settled on that jury. Now.
We'll be back with the rest of today's deep dive after this. And interestingly, in a case like this, there are spare jurors. Basically, there are extra people who have been selected. If there is misconduct or if someone is found to have previous knowledge or background knowledge that influences them unfairly in their decision making process on that jury, they will get subbed out for someone else, which I suppose the chances of that happening in a case like this are much pretty higher.
Yeah, exactly, and just on trial. There are no photos or video allowed in this trial. And I thought that was important to mention because I think we've seen not I think we have seen a lot of high profile cases play out like live streams. So I think back to the Johnny Depp and Herd case that basically became a social media trial that everyone was watching the whole time. That's not going to happen here because it's not allowed.
So we are relying now on the journos who are in the room the court reporters to bring us information and reporting on what's actually happening and what's being said during that trial.
That is really interesting information in terms of what's actually gone down so far. I know we are in the early stages, but have we heard opening arguments?
Yeah, we have, so we've heard opening arguments from both sides. I'll start first with the prosecution's case. So we heard the opening statement from prosecutor Emily Johnson, and in her opening statement, she accused Combs of threatening, drugging, and violently coercing women into sex. I will just say I don't really want to go into the specific allegations made by the prosecution because they're quite graphic and disturbing, So I'm just going to give you like a high level run
through of what we have learned. Broadly, the prosecution is alleging that Combs had this inner group of people who helped him cover up the alleged crimes, and that he used his company resources, as I said earlier, to carry out some of.
These alleged crimes.
She is quoted as saying he sometimes called himself the king, and he expected to be treated like one. She alleged he committed crime after crime after crime over twenty years. We know from the opening statement that the prosecution's case will also include accounts by three women, including Cassie, who I mentioned was in that video and is an ex partner of Combs.
So we're expecting a group of women to appear in the witness stand and kind of assume that they will paint a picture of Combs's character. Uh, what about the other side, What can we expect from the defense.
I found this to be really interesting, if I'm honest, because the defense's case is basically that comes is a deeply flawed and imperfect man, and they have been very forthcoming with that fact. Interesting They have said things like he's a complicated man, but this isn't a complicated case. Elsewhere they said, the evidence is going to show you a very flawed individual, but what it will not show you is a racketeer, a sex trafficker, or someone transporting
for prostitution. So what they're trying to say is, yes, Sean Colmes is a deeply troubled, flawed man, but that he's not guilty of the extremely serious charges that are being leveled against him. So in the opening statement from Colmes's lawyer, She argued that his relationships were consensual and that he engaged in a swinger's life style with his partners that was consensual. She said that the case is about his quote, private personal sex life, which has nothing
to do with his lawful businesses. So again trying to separate these allegations around the resourcing by the business of these alleged crimes.
It's interesting this approach. I suppose from the defense that they haven't gone down a path of trying to portray Combs as a squeaky clean character, and I think that this shows us probably reading between the lines that consent will be a really big.
Part definitely of his trial.
Definitely, And again it's only the early days, but there has been quite a focus on that video that I referred to earlier. We've had two witnesses so far testify. They've been called by the prosecution, so not by the defense, but they have had the opportunity to be cross examined. The first person to be called as a witness was an LA police officer who was working as a security guard at the hotel when that video that I mentioned
took place. He testified that he responded to a distressed woman on the sixth floor, who we now know to be Cassie, and that when he got there he found Combs seated with a quote devilish stare, and that he saw that Cassie had a black eye on that specific incident. This witness claims that Comes offered him money and said,
don't tell nobody. And he also said that Combs bought the footage from the hotel security for about one hundred thousand dollars, but that copies were made and that's why it was able to still be leaked and publicly published. When asked about this video, because as we've kind of alluded to, it was made public, it was there for
people to see. Combs's lawyers acknowledged that he was responsible for domestic violence, again going to this argument of he is responsible for some of the things that are being alleged, but they denied that this meant that he had committed any of the other crimes that he was accused.
Okay, and so that includes bribery, trying to pay off people for their silence, trying to get the video which we saw through.
CMX, trafficking, any of that. They're saying, yes, he is guilty of domestic violence, but no, that doesn't mean that he is guilty of these other charges. And then the second witness that was called was someone called Daniel Philip, and he delivered quite an explicit testimony. He said that Combs paid him to have sex with Cassie while Combs watched in a corner. Part of his testimony was that he alleged that he saw and heard Comb's assault Cassie
on numerous occasions. Again, I'm not going to get into the details. There's some pretty graphic stuff, but you can read more of his testimony online. But basically, through his testimony, the prosecution of trying to build the case of an extremely violent man in Shawn Combs.
And those original indictment documents that we touched on earlier, they do detail a lot more about these allegations of Combs paying for sex, paying male sex workers to allegedly rape women that were there under false pretenses, the prosecution argues in his home. There's plenty more details in those
indictment documents if you want to read them. So Zara, I think the biggest question, apart from you know, whether or not he is guilty, is what does the future look like for Sean Combs If he is found guilty, what happens.
Basically, he's facing life in prison. As we've kind of alluded to throughout this podcast, visa the most serious charges that someone can face, and he is facing a lot of them all at once. So prosecutors are pushing for if he is found guilty, life in prison, and that would be, you know, just a really really remarkable outcome for someone, as we said at the top of this podcast, who was until very recently at the top of the US entertainment industry.
And he's a fifty five year old man. You know, we're not talking about historic charges and someone high profile who is near the end of their life. This is, for all intents and purposes, healthy middle aged man who could stand to be behind buzz for several decades.
Super interesting and we'll be sure to bring updates as the case continues.
Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. If it raised any issues with you, help is available through one eight hundred Respect. You can contact them on one eight hundred seven three seven seven three two or head to one eight hundred respect dot org dot au. We will pop some links in the episode description.
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