Before we jump into today's deep dive, just a quick heads up that this episode deals with fairly distressing content, things like sexual assault and sex trafficking. If you do choose to listen to this episode, please listen with care. Help is always available at one eight hundred.
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This is the Daily ohs oh, now it makes sense.
Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Thursday, the twenty sixth of September.
I'm zara, I'm emma.
Earlier this month, rapper Sean Diddy Combs was denied bail after he was charged with sex trafficking and a slew of other crimes. Investigators accused Combs of using his business empire to cover up decades of abuse against women to quote.
Fulfill his sexual desires and protect his reputation.
Now, in today's deep dive, we're going to explain the timeline leading up to those child and what it could mean for the Rappernecks. But first, m what's making headlines.
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows inflation dropped to its lowest rate in three years in August, down to two point seven percent for the twelve months to August. That's down from three point five percent the month before. The category with the greatest drop was electricity, which fell by almost eighteen percent. The ABS attributed this to the government's three hundred dollars energy rebates, which came
into effect in July. Inflation is a measure of the rate at which prices rise, so lower inflation means prices arising at a slower rate than before, not that they are falling. Treasurer Jim Charmers said the figures were welcoming and encouraging, while Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said the price of services remains high.
PM Anthony Albanezi has refused to rule out chain just to tax concessions for Australians who own multiple properties. Negative gearing, as it's known, allows poemowners to claim losses on their properties, meaning they end up paying a lower rate of tax. Nine newspapers reported the government asked the Treasury Department to run a cost analysis for a negative gearing policy. Albernizi said the Treasury was considering a range of proposals, but
didn't confirm any further details. Labour promised to scrap negative gearing ahead of the twenty nineteen election, which it lost to the Coalition. The party has refused to commit to the policy ever since.
Australia's Foreign Minister, Penny Wong has met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the UN General Assemblies annual meeting in New York. It comes amid continuing efforts by the government to have China removed tariffs on Australian exports. China started imposing high input taxes on Australian goods like wine, barley and beef when tensions increased during
the pandemic under the previous government. Talks between high level Chinese and Australian officials have resulted in the tariffs mostly being dropped in recent years, although the taxes remain for rock lobster. Minister Wong said she and wog Ye discussed ways to quote progress, our interests and manage our differences.
And In today's good news, several native marsupials, including the Bilbi, have been reintroduced to a national park in northern New South Wales where they went extinct a century ago. Unsw researchers and conservation experts released a group of quoals, betongs and Bilbi's to a fenced off section of the Sturt National Park. The animals disappeared from the wild in New South Wales, mostly due to changes in the ecosystem and
the prevalence of predators like feral cats and foxes. Now a group of over one hundred individual marsupials have been released in a ten thousand hecta semi bounded area where they be protected from predators, followed successful repopulation efforts from a similar trial in South Australia.
Okay, Zara, So today we are talking about Sean Diddy Comb's akap Diddy aka paf Daddy, a string of allegations that he is currently facing. Now, this is a story that's completely rocked the music industry, the entertainment industry more broadly, and it has really far reaching implications. But let's start from the beginning. There are a lot of layers to this, as we'll get to for anyone who isn't familiar with this story, with this man who is Diddy.
Okay, So Sean Diddy Combs and you referred there to his many names. He's known as Puff Daddy, p Diddy, Puffy and Diddy. He's a rapper and a producer, and just I think for clarity, we'll just call him Diddy throughout this podcast, because I think that's how most people our age would know him and would certainly be familiar with him through that name.
So did. He founded bad.
Boy Records back in nineteen ninety three, and that was a really big music label that represented some of the world's biggest and most famous rappers, including the notorious Big. He's a three time Grammy Award winner. He's worked with people like Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Usher, and Faith Evans. He's also done a bit of acting. He starred in Monster's Ball, Get Him to the Greek and Draft Day.
And I do really just want to say here, I'm not, you know, running through his resume for any reason but to show the extent of Ditty's power. He kind of had this power that wasn't just contained, as you said, to the music industry, but more broadly, he had really shaped the foundations of the entertainment industry.
And even as a businessman.
You might know him from Sarok Vodka, like, he is an entrepreneur in many different industries.
Yes, So he was until very recently one of the most powerful figures in the entertainment industry.
So you've mentioned there very poignantly until recently. So when did we first learn of the allegations against Didty?
Yeah, So I think that it is important to go through this timeline because the news of this month didn't happen in a vacuum. There were previous allegations that kind of led to what happened earlier this month, And I'll get to that in a second, but we'll start with the first allegations that were leveled at Ditty, and they were in twenty twenty three, and they were made by former partner Cassandra Ventura.
She's known as Cassie. She is a singer.
So Cassie accused Ditty of sexual assault back then in twenty twenty three. At the time, her lawyers described him as vicious, cruel and a controlling man. Did He denied all of the allegations, and just one day after Cassie filed that lawsuit, the matter was settled out of court. Then, in May of this year, see Inn published I think what can only be labeled as very disturbing footage that appeared to show Didty kicking and dragging Cassie in a
Hope Hallway that dated back to twenty sixteen. In a video to Instagram, did he apologize for what he called his quote inexcusable behavior, but he didn't name Cassie in that statement. Cassie wasn't the only person to file legal action against Didty in recent years. Earlier this year, music producer Rodney Jones, who goes by Lil Rod, filed a lawsuit against him. Jones alleged that did He 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, did he denied all of them. And then, if we're to follow this timeline, in March of this year, US authorities raided Diddy's properties in both LA and Miami. Those were part of ongoing investigations bi
federal authorities that culminated in a lawsuit very recently. But what we've since found out is that at his homes, authorities uncovered things like firearms, ammunition, and also more than one thousand bottles of life.
Okay, so that was in March. We knew that those police raids were going on, but we didn't really hear anything in the immediate aftermath of what was found. So since then we can assume investigators have been working on this case against him, looking at the evidence recovered from those homes. And earlier this month did he was arrested and charged in New York?
Correct?
Can you talk me through the charges that are now being leveled against him?
Yeah, So, as you said, earlier this month did he was arrested. It was then a day later that the charges that had been leveled at.
Him were made public.
So Damian Williams, who's the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the charges against Ditty in a public press conference. We found out that Diddy was being charged with racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage with prostitution. Here's a little bit of that press conference when Williams announced those charges.
The indicatement alleges that between at least two thousand and eight and the present Comb's abused, threatened and coerce victims to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct as a legend. The indicatement to carry out this conduct. Shaan Colms led and participated in a racketeering conspiracy that use the business empire he controlled to carry out criminal activity.
Now, I know that there is a fair bit of legal jargon in those charges, so I think it's important to just explain what's being alleged here. Ultimately, what they're saying is that Diddy used his business empire to carry out this alleged criminal activity, things including sex, trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and the obstruction of justice.
Now, one of those charges, as you mentioned, uses the word racketeering. I think that's a word that kind of gets thrown around a lot. People don't really know what it means. But in this case, it just means making money from illegal activity. So the allegations are that did he has used his business empire for illegal activity and he makes money through that empire and through that illegal activity.
Exactly, And as you said, that's one of the charges, but one of many charges. Authorities alleged that did he use the pretense of a romantic relationship to intimidate, threaten, and law female victims into his orbit. They alleged he would eventually force victims to engage in extended and elaborate
sex acts with male commercial sex workers. And that really goes to the heart of you know, what is being alleged here, which is that did he would host I don't want to use the word events, but that's really what is used here.
He would call them freak offs.
And according to the indictment, they were these highly orchestrated performances of sexual activity that took place in hotels and other places, and they were fueled by drugs and could go on for days. And those freak offs are really at the center of these.
Allegations, and that's what's really captured the media's attention and public interest. It's also mentioned in the indictment that many of those quote unquote free COFs were filmed, and that Diddy would allegedly often film them himself. So he's observing woman that he's allegedly lew it in under false pretenses into these sexual situations, that he films them for whatever purpose. That's also a really interesting part of this.
It is and I think it's important to note that this isn't the first time that the public had learned of.
These free coffs. It was actually also.
Included in Cassie's original case that we spoke about earlier. In her civil lawsuit, she mentioned these free COFs. She alleged that during these incidents the free coffs, she was forced to have sex with male sex workers while as you said, did he watched, masturbated and took photos and videos. She claimed the drug were supplied at these events and that she took them so that she could quote disassociate
during these horrific encounters. And so in this latest indictment, we have once again heard of these same events that were echoed by Diddy's ex Cassie.
And also the indictment mentions or allegers that these freak offs date back several decades. It's alleged that there is decades of abuse at the hands of Didy or organized by Diddy.
And according to the prosecutors, this is really where the racketeering allegation comes in, because Williams, who I said led that press conference earlier this month, said did he used his business and employees of that business and other close associates to get his way. They booked the hotel rooms and stocked to them with supplies, and when those hotel rooms got damaged, they helped to clean it up.
There.
They're referring to those freakoff events, but also to the alleged role that his business associates played in those events.
So several really serious allegations in this federal indictment from these recent charges, some that have been alluded to before in other legal proceedings. Did he deny the allegations made by Cassie Ventura? How has he responded to these new charges?
Yeah, look, in much the same way he's denied these allegations too. I mentioned that earlier he was arrested, and after he was arrested, he pleaded not guilty to the chargers. That's then, you know, exposing the difference between this latest indictment and what Cassie's suit was, which was a civil suit not a criminal suit. So he was arrested in this instance. His lawyer has said that did he is innocent and that he will fight this until the end.
His legal team had a really interesting line in their statement. They said, he is an imperfect person, but he's not a criminal, right, But they have said that he's looking forward to clearing his name. Did he is currently in jail? He was denied because they believed he was too much of a flight risk and that it could happen that
he could intimidate witnesses. So he is currently sitting in jail and just an interesting, I think thing to notice that People magazine actually reported that he's in the same jail space as Sam Bankman Freed, who we've spoken about on this pod before, who was the ftx.
Founder who was convicted of fraud crimes, the crypto king. Yeah, exactly.
He's currently serving a very long sentence for the crimes that he was convicted of. But did he certainly hasn't been convicted of anything yet. It's this pre trial. He's been denied bail and he will await, you know, that next court date to see what happens next.
The bail angle of this story is really interesting because it's pretty unusual for someone so high profile, who is so wealthy on paper, we know that, to not be given an opportunity to post that bail and to go and live their life while they await a court appearance. His lawyers have alleged that did he come to New York from his home in Miami in good faith as a measure to present himself to police to be arrested
to hear these charges. Now, if that had happened, did his lawyers say that it would have been nearly impossible for a judge to deny him bail. But before did he had a chance to hand himself in again, reportedly he was arrested. He was intercepted by authorities unexpectedly or a surprise arrest. Now that apparently makes it easier for a judge to deny him bail. So his lawyers are sort of suggesting some kind of conspiracy against their client, which I think is really interesting.
And his lawyers were pushing for that bail to be at around the fifty million dollar mark, but prosecutors pushed back, and it turns out that he has been denied bail and is currently in jail.
Now.
In that press conference where we heard from Williams, who's with the US Attorney, he said specifically about the influence and the power of someone like Diddy, that prosecutors wanted to very publicly show the community that it doesn't.
Matter what comes above the rule of law.
Exactly rands above the law, no matter how wealthy or powerful you may be. Okay, So some extremely serious charges if Ditty is found guilty, what sort of sentence is he looking at?
Yeah, well, I think because there are so many charges, it can vary quite dramatically. But it's been reported that what he's looking at if he is convicted, is anywhere from fifteen years to life in prison. And you know, for someone, as we started this podcast, to go full circle as someone who was at the top of an industry, you know, across the globe, to be possibly facing life in prison, I mean, it's just it's a remarkable story.
What a lot of people are waiting to see next in this case is if there will be other celebrity names that fall with Ditty.
Yeah.
So there are these rumors of these really parties that Diddy was famous for hosting, these white parties where everyone all dressed in white. You might have seen some photos doing the rounds from the nineties and the early noughties. You know, people like j Lo, jay Z, Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, other really high profile names who have been closely associated with Diddy for decades and who are yet to say anything. So, you know, what does that silence say in and of itself?
Usha really interestingly, a close friend of Ditty has wiped all of his ex history, so all of his previous Twitter posts have disappeared. Now that move from Ussia might have meant absolutely nothing. It might be about something completely different, but there are certainly corners of the Internet really waiting with baited breath to see what comes next.
Yeah, so interesting.
It's also worth mentioning Zara that separately, another lawsuit against Ditty was launched this week by a woman who claims she was raped by the and producer and one of his security guards in the early two thousands. Her name is Tarlia Graves. She's suing Ditty for sexual assault and alleges that incident happened at the Rappers Music studios. As with Cassandra Ventura, this is a civil suit. Her lawyers said that holding those to account who had caused Graves
to suffer was long overdue. She is the eleventh person to sue Ditty for sexual abuse, and prosecutors have really reiterated calls in line with kind of the scale of these allegations. They've urged victims of Ditty's alleged abuse or anyone who knows anything about his alleged crimes to come forward and said quote this investigation is far from.
Over again some pretty distressing allegations that are being leveled against Ditty and if you do need help, it is available at one eight hundred respect You can call any time. But thank you for listening to today's episode of The Daily os. We will be back again tomorrow, but until then, take care of yourself. My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda Bunjelung Kalkudin woman from Gadighl country.
The Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and torrest Rate island and nations. We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries, both past and present,