Brian Buckmeyer
Appearances
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
In Diddy's old life, he could choose which of his many homes he wanted to spend time in. A three-story mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean and downtown LA, a compound in Miami including a nine-bedroom mansion, a New York City apartment with views of Central Park, homes in New Jersey and Atlanta, and a waterfront mansion in the Hamptons.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Now, Diddy's in the Metropolitan Detention Center, or MDC, in Brooklyn. This bland behemoth is where he'll stay as he awaits trial. So we're pulling up to MDC now. It's got like this... uncapped, unwashed, grunginess of it. There's a tall metal fence around the MDC complex, so the parking lot's as far as most reporters get.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
By the summer of 2009, Diddy had won three Grammys. He had five songs hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and three of his albums had gone platinum. He was successful and rich. Four months from turning 40, Forbes magazine put Diddy's net worth at $30 million. He'd presented himself for a long time as a champion and model of Black excellence. and he was feeling patriotic after the U.S.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
But as a defense attorney, I'm here almost every week, and I can get further than most. I walk through the gate, up the steps, and through the doors to security. I get escorted into the visitor's area, and I meet my client for about an hour or two. For the parts of the jail I can't see, my clients fill me in about how boiling hot it is in the summer, how cold it is in the winter.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
An inmate told me that at one point, when there was no heat or hot water, he couldn't go to the showers and instead was dumping hot water onto his body from the sink, washing himself and catching the water in the toilet. I had to come to MDC on that cold, gray day in January to meet with a client who was awaiting sentencing.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Getting out of my Uber, I looked up at this complex of tall, concrete buildings. And the gate before you come in, you can actually hear people. It almost sounds like they're, like, rec hour. Yeah, it sounds like they're playing a sport.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Each of MDC's buildings are 10 or more stories tall, and where the windows in a typical apartment would be, you have red brick slabs with narrow slats and big sections of metal grating that give you the impression of a locked jail cell, even from the outside.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
MDC is right on the Brooklyn waterfront, just a few blocks from a bougie converted warehouse space full of artisanal shops and upscale restaurants. But if you're part of the legal system in New York, you know that MDC is not a nice place to be. In fact, it's been described as hell on earth, known for its violence, corruption, and miserable conditions.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
It's a federal building, so you can see Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons. You see the American flag. And the building has watermarks and rust on the metal parts and things of that way. Over the years, it's housed some people you've probably heard of, like R. Kelly, Michael Cohen, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman Freed, Luigi Mangione, and Sean Diddy Combs.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Combs has been at MDC since he was arrested last September. According to his attorney, Mark Agnifilo, Diddy had flown to New York to cooperate with authorities.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Paparazzi and onlookers caught snippets of Diddy's visit to New York last September, and from those photos and videos, it looked like he was enjoying his time, talking and smiling with fans, playing hacky sack in Central Park, strolling through the city with his family. If Diddy had plans to turn himself in, he didn't do it for the first 12 days he was in New York.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
But on the night of September 16th at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, Homeland Security Investigations agents caught Diddy by surprise. You could see on the hotel security footage that Diddy walked into the front door and the agents approached him. They separated him from the group he was with, put handcuffs on him, and took him away.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
The day after Combs' arrest, the prosecutor at the time held a news conference to announce the charges.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Because of how serious and violent the alleged crimes are, Combs was ordered held without bail. ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Aaron Katursky was in the courtroom.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
It didn't surprise me that things didn't go Diddy's way with bail. The allegations and trafficking charges are very serious. And if Diddy were out on bail, the fear was he'd have the ability to reach witnesses and possibly intimidate them. I didn't think there was a chance he was getting out. But that didn't stop Diddy or his attorneys from trying.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Diddy's attorney told reporters before the start of the bail hearings, MDC was no place for his client.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
elected its first Black president. So he decided this year's white party would be held on Independence Day. He gave Marie Claire magazine a sneak peek before the party started. The pool draped in gauzy white curtains and chandeliers. Platters of shrimp, crab cakes, and barbecue were served.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Over and over again, Diddy tried to get released. He tried offering a $50 million bond. He tried offering home confinement. He tried to prove he wasn't a flight risk, attempting to sell his private plane and saying he'd surrender his passport to his attorney. He was trying to be a cooperative defendant. But no, Sean Combs was denied bail four times.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
In one of his first bail hearings, prosecutors presented calls Diddy made and texts he sent before his arrest. They said Diddy reached out to potential witnesses, telling them that he'd be taken care of financially if they stuck by his side.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
And then in November, after he'd been at MDC for about two months and was up for a third chance at bail, prosecutors alleged Combs had been paying other inmates to access their phone accounts and, according to the government, avoid law enforcement monitoring.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
And prosecutors said they caught Combs on recorded calls from jail, asking family members to reach out to potential victims and witnesses and urged them to come up with narratives to sway the jury in his favor.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Prosecutors wrote in their court filing, "...the defendant has shown repeatedly, even while in custody, that he will flagrantly and repeatedly flout rules in order to improperly impact the outcome of his case." The defendant has shown, in other words, that he cannot be trusted to abide by rules or conditions.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Diddy's attorneys responded to prosecutors' arguments by saying the nonstop drumbeat of negative publicity has destroyed Combs' reputation and will make it virtually impossible for him to receive a fair trial. So Combs isn't back in his $48 million mansion on an island in Miami Beach, where at one point he'd asked to await trial.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Instead, he's being detained far from the pools, hot tubs, cabanas, and ocean views he's used to. So what's it like being an inmate at MDC? What's it like being a celebrity and a lead sex offender in MDC, a notoriously dangerous and neglected jail? After the break, we meet someone who gives us an inside view of MDC most people don't get to see, and a window into Comza's life behind bars.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
A sommelier explained that all the wine served would be, of course, white.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Just a few weeks ago, I talked to someone who's been past the visitation area at MDC, who's really been on the inside. And I will try my best to make this not feel like a cross-examination, even though that is my typical practice. Oh, that's okay. You can ask me anything. That's Cameron Lindsay. He's worked in corrections for 25 years.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
He was a warden of five different correctional facilities, including MDC Brooklyn. And since retiring in 2014, he's continued to work in jails and prisons around the country as a consultant and also serves as an expert witness, often testifying on behalf of a plaintiff who was hurt or even killed while incarcerated. So he's seen some stuff in this country's correction system.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
And he says for anyone, going into detention is a shock to the system, but especially for someone like Sean Combs.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
It's small things, like having to wear the same beige prison-issued jumpsuit as everyone else. And it's big things, too, like where and how he's housed. Diddy's lawyer has said he's in what's called the special housing unit, which means he's separated from the general population. If it were up to retired Warden Lindsey, he'd go even further, putting Diddy in almost complete isolation.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
But that doesn't seem to be MDC's approach. Diddy reportedly has access to at least some other inmates. Convicted crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried said in an interview with Tucker Carlson that Diddy has been kind to people in the unit, and he's been, quote, kind to me. We also know Diddy's cell is small, not what he's used to.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Two of the biggest songs of 2009 were Lady Gaga's Poker Face and I Got a Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas. None of Diddy's music was at the top of the charts, but this was the year he rapped Making the Band, the show that made him a reality star. And reality shows were hot.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
They keep Diddy separated from the jail's general population to keep him safe. His wealth and notoriety could make him a target.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
It's right for MDC officials to take Diddy's safety seriously. The facility is infamously dangerous. The Associated Press reported that just in the last three years, there has been a stabbing death, a death after a brawl, and at least four deaths by suicide. And in the time Diddy's been at MDC, an inmate was charged with orchestrating a murder for hire plot from inside.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
A Southern District of New York judge said in a 2024 opinion that defendants at MDC Brooklyn complain of, quote, near perpetual lockdowns, dreadful conditions and lengthy delays in getting medical care. He and other federal judges have refused to send defendants to MDC on the grounds that conditions are so bad.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Conditions at MDC sank to their lowest in 2019 with what Lindsay calls the freeze-out, when nearly 1,700 inmates had to live in below-freezing temperatures for a week.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
There was a heat and power outage at the same time. Cells were dark. Toilets wouldn't flush. And access to food, medical care, and phone calls were cut off. Inmates sued, the Department of Justice investigated, and a settlement was reached for about $10 million. When you're incarcerated, sometimes getting the bare necessities can be a struggle.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
But what happens when your clientele includes people with means, people who are used to buying whatever they want? Lindsay doesn't know anything about Diddy specifically, but I asked him about corruption in general. So if I tell you that I've heard stories like,
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
well, people are buying cell phones inside of MDC and people are having sometimes lobster dinners or dinners brought to them that you're wondering, how are you eating like this in MDC? Are those shocking to you at all that I'm talking to you about lobster dinners and cell phones in MDC?
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Diddy's hit show was the perfect blend of American Idol, the number one TV show in America that year, and another popular show at the time, The Celebrity Apprentice. On making the ban, Diddy presented himself as a kind of Trump-like figure of the music industry, who would crown the next big pop group. Diddy had been throwing these Gatsby-esque white parties for almost a decade.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
It's hard to know the precise impact Diddy's presence has had on MDC, but retired warden Cameron Lindsay says it's reasonable to think there's been increased scrutiny on the facility from higher-ups. We do know since he's been in, there have been lockdowns and contraband sweeps involving other inmates, in which investigators have seized drugs, homemade weapons, and electronic devices.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
So we started with Diddy at his peak, the host of the party that everyone wanted to go to, the center of an industry that so many wanted to be part of, the key that could unlock success and fame for those around him. But now he's locked up and can't even control the most basic things, like when he eats or bathes. How did Diddy go from mogul to inmate?
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
How did he build not just a career, but an empire? And if the allegations against him are true, how did he get away with the violence, abuse, and manipulation for so long? Coming up on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Diddy's success comes at a price. But time and time again, he doesn't seem to be the one paying.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
In our next episode, we'll trace the path of Diddy's rising star from college dropout to the cover of Rolling Stone. And later in our series, the early signs of Diddy's alleged dark side start to emerge.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Stay with us as new episodes drop every week in the lead-up to Diddy's trial. Once it starts, we'll keep you posted with updates throughout. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love if you'd share it and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
This podcast was written and produced by Vika Aronson, Camille Peterson, and Nancy Rosenbaum. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor. Associate producer, Amira Williams. Production help from Shane McKeon. Fact checker, Audrey Mostek. Story consultant, Sweeney St. Phil. Supervising producer, Sasha Aslanian. Original music by Eben Viola. Mixing by Rick Kwan.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Arielle Chester is our social media producer. This podcast was powered by the journalists at Impact by Nightline, 2020, GMA, and the ABC News investigative unit. Thanks to those teams. And special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Liz Alessi, and Katie Dendas. Josh Cohan is ABC Audio's director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
The first was on Labor Day in 1998, when he had just bought a home in the Hamptons. He hosted a bunch of them there and then in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. One year, he took a helicopter to the party and landed holding an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. The famous writer Norman Lear loaned it to him. All of the big celebrities appeared at Diddy's white parties.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Beyonce, Jay-Z, Jonah Hill, Martha Stewart, Paris Hilton, Aretha Franklin, Al Sharpton, and Donald Trump. They all orbited the Diddy white party sphere. As a record exec, Diddy helped launch the careers of artists who would become legends. The Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Usher, and many others. So it's no surprise people wanted the invite to Diddy's parties.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
In the summer of 2009, everyone was paying attention to Sean Diddy Combs. He wasn't on the top of the Billboard charts anymore, but he had become a fixture of American pop culture. The flashiest example was his annual star-studded white party. It was an exclusive event, and everything had to be white, from the decor to the dress code. This was the early days of smartphones.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
If they had got one, then they belonged in the list of celebrities, politicians, and cultural icons who had proximity to a mogul, who knew everyone and could make things happen. You could hang out in the backyard with hundreds of guests who made it through the gates to the main party, but it still had a VIP section, an inner circle.
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Reality TV personality and podcaster Jason Lee was at the 2009 Independence Day white party. He remembers it as a good time and says it helped his career. Lee claims he never saw any darkness or any hints of the crimes Diddy would be accused of years later.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Lots of people who attended Diddy's parties never saw his alleged dark side. For decades, A-listers were eager to pose next to the mogul at a Hamptons bash. Today, many of those celebrities are actively distancing themselves from Diddy, not wanting to share that toxic spotlight. At the height of his power and influence, Diddy had complete control over his world.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
He decided who got to be an insider, controlled what happened when the lights went out, and he'd tell his guests as much.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
The curfew announcement, when kids had to disappear and lots of adults left too. It hints at a turn. Diddy foreshadows an adult world, a late-night world of secrets. And some of those secrets, they've come pouring out. Diddy's rise and fall. It's the story we'll tell you in the first six episodes of this podcast.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
How a man who was on top of the music industry and on top of the world is now confined to a cell that couldn't be less luxurious, awaiting trial. And once the trial begins, we'll take you there with twice weekly updates as the case unfolds. Two very different versions of Diddy have emerged over the years.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
The charmer that he showed the world and the predator that onlookers and alleged victims are now claiming he was all along. Which version of Diddy will win out in court? I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an attorney and an ABC News legal contributor. From ABC Audio, this is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. Episode one, party's over. Diddy's white parties were glittering displays of wealth and social capital.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
But to some, they were clues, even early on, that Diddy's world had shadows. Justin Tinsley is a culture reporter for ESPN's Anscape, which focuses on Black culture. He says there'd always been rumors about what Diddy was like behind the scenes, at parties, and in his personal and professional life.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
In November of 2023, someone did come forward. Diddy's ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, filed a civil lawsuit against him, alleging that for over a decade he trapped her in a cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking. The lawsuit was a bombshell. It alleged Cassie was forced to participate in orchestrated, elaborate sex parties Diddy called freak-offs that he would film and keep recordings of.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Imagine every celebrity worth an Us Weekly headline with a bedazzled smartphone in their hand. It was before TikTok and Instagram, when tabloid coverage claimed to break juicy celebrity stories. Compared to the prominence of video and social media today, private celebrity parties were much more private. But one bit of Diddy's 2009 white party was captured on video.
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A day after the lawsuit was filed, Diddy settled with Cassie for an undisclosed amount and no admission of guilt. But Cassie opened the floodgates. Over the next 12 months, others who had spent time with Diddy, from a music producer to a former model to a yacht stewardess, filed lawsuits too. These lawsuits alleged rape, sexual assault, and human trafficking.
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Many also alleged Diddy would spike drinks and lace marijuana with narcotics to knock people out or make it harder for them to resist assault. Some mentioned Diddy videotaping assaults to further control and humiliate his victims. Those lawsuits went from a steady drip to a rapid current. There are now dozens of them.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
In December of 2023, Diddy said in a statement that he did not do any of the, quote, awful things being alleged. He called them sickening allegations by people looking for a quick payday.
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His attorney told ABC News Combs couldn't comment on settled litigation, wouldn't comment on pending litigation, and, quote, cannot address every allegation picked up by the press from any source, no matter how unreliable, end quote. But in the fall of 2024, criminal charges were filed against Diddy by the feds.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Mansions where he'd once hosted lavish parties were raided by federal agents. In L.A., more than a dozen officers pulled up in armored vehicles, wearing fatigues, guns drawn, pointing them at Diddy's sons, who happened to be at home. In Miami, it was police officers in T-shirts driving up to Diddy's compound in vans.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Combs is now facing federal criminal charges that read a lot like those earlier civil lawsuits. Sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy. The charges accuse Diddy of decades of criminal behavior. And unlike the civil lawsuits that he faced from Cassie and now from others, these criminal charges could land him in prison for the rest of his life.
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Combs has pled not guilty to all charges. His attorney, Mark Ignifilo, called it an unjust prosecution. He said Combs was a, quote, music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the black community. He called Combs an imperfect person, but not a criminal.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Once these lawsuits and charges were filed, reporters and fans started looking at Diddy's past with more scrutiny. And up close, knowing the allegations against him, even his famed summer parties started to look very different. Like this clip from an appearance on Conan O'Brien's show in 2002.
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Conan compliments Diddy on being a legendary party host and asks him for tips on throwing a quote, killer party.
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A joke about locking doors so women can't leave lands a little differently now. I've been captivated by Diddy's rise and fall for two reasons. The first one is pretty straightforward. When I was growing up in the 90s and 2000s, Diddy was everywhere. It's hard to be a millennial and not know his music or his impact on the music industry.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
One of his most popular songs I remember playing on the radio in elementary school was his All About the Benjamins.
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Rapper and record producer Jay Blaze caught it on camera and posted it to YouTube for the world to see. Actor Ashton Kutcher grabs onto a swing strung over the pool and tarzans across it. Diddy is emceeing in a sea of white suits, dresses, linen, and sunglasses.
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And can't nobody hold me down. he marketed himself as a kingmaker in the world of hip-hop, and everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. He turned hip-hop from being a thing my mom probably didn't want me to listen to, to something that could make him into a billionaire businessman, something my mom wouldn't approve of.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
Back then, before the lawsuits, before the allegations and scrutiny, Diddy was someone you could look up to. But I'm not a culture reporter or a music journalist. I'm an attorney. I spent almost 10 years as a public defender in New York City, the last few of those in the homicide unit. Now, I litigate federal civil and criminal cases.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
And to be clear, I am not an attorney on Diddy's case, but I have represented people who have been accused of the kind of crimes he's being accused of, and people who were victims of those types of crimes. And even with all of my experience, when I read through some of the lawsuits from the people who had sued Diddy, I had to stop myself sometimes. The photos and details were jaw-dropping.
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Bad Rap: Party's Over
They were a shock to my system. And the federal indictment is sweeping and disturbing. Diddy is accused of running a vast criminal enterprise that abused, threatened, and coerced his alleged victims and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and cover up his conduct for decades. Diddy maintains his innocence. His trial is set to start in May.
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Until then, he's locked up, stuck in a place that couldn't be more different from the luxury he's used to. A place he doesn't want to be. A place that no amount of money can get him out of. A place I know well. More after the break.
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The story included allegations of physical abuse going back to the late 1980s, when Diddy was a college student at Howard. This was years before he started Bad Boy Records. Soon, Diddy faced crushing blowback. He was like a distressed asset. Organizations and brands that once celebrated him and wanted to be associated with him were now publicly distancing themselves.
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This reporting is from local TV outlet DC News Now. Nearly two weeks later, Howard University announced it was revoking his honorary degree, returning his million-dollar donation, and canceling a scholarship that had been set up in his name. Then, the mayor of New York asked Diddy to return his key to the city.
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Even the Miami Beach Commission joined the pilot by canceling its annual Sean Diddy Combs Day, as reported by NBC6 South Florida.
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This all happened in less than a month. And those forces that were turning against Diddy? Well, that pileup was growing bigger and more powerful, because now the feds were getting closer to an arrest. That's after the break.
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The feds, they weren't looking to arrest Diddy. Not yet. First, they were looking for evidence.
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In September of 2024, Diddy returned to the place where his life and career began, New York City. He was spotted around town, posing for photos with his children in Harlem. Diddy looked casual in Tim's in a black t-shirt. The T-shirt looked simple enough, but it appeared to be a designer vintage item that can retail for over $1,000.
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While Diddy may have appeared relaxed, this wasn't a family getaway or even a business trip. Here's ABC chief investigative correspondent Aaron Katursky.
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His lawyer said he planned to turn himself in, but the feds didn't wait for that to happen. Instead, on September 16th of 2024, they made a surprise move in a hotel lobby in Midtown Manhattan. Here's Aaron Katursky on ABC News again.
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Remember, Diddy wasn't home at the time of the raids. TMZ caught him on video pacing outside a Miami airport in blue sweatpants and a white T-shirt. Back in L.A., agents swarmed past a white Range Rover in the driveway, guns drawn. One agent turned a security camera away as he passed, blocking its view of the raid.
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Standing at a podium, flanked by two American flags, then-U.S. Attorney Damian Williams looked serious, formal. He wore tortoiseshell glasses, a dark suit, and a navy maroon tie with gold stripes.
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Williams has the cred the SDNY is known for. He's an alum of Harvard, also Yale Law School. He was the first Black person to leave the SDNY. If Diddy went around pronouncing how he represented Black excellence, Damian Williams' presence and accomplishments were the embodiment of that excellence.
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There were three counts against Diddy laid out in order of severity. The first count is racketeering conspiracy, or RICO. That's the most serious count, because it carries a maximum sentence of up to life in prison. This count alleges that Diddy ran a criminal enterprise that exploited and abused women. The freak-offs were allegedly a manifestation of that abuse.
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The indictment says Diddy's criminal enterprise engaged in crimes like arson, bribery, forced labor, and obstruction of justice, just to name a few.
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The other charges? Two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. They also come with stiff prison sentences. Sex trafficking might catch some people off guard. We'll get more into this in a later episode. But for now, here's what the SDNY is alleging.
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Diddy used force, fraud, or coercion to compel his victims to participate in sexual acts against their will. It's a federal crime because Diddy's alleged victims were moved across state lines for those freak-offs.
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If the sex trafficking had only happened in, say, California, with people who were already in the state and weren't compelled to travel, well, then it'd likely be a state issue, not a federal one. As former U.S.
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Attorney Damian Williams explained the finer points of the indictment, he mentioned some of the corroborating evidence law enforcement allegedly found during those home raids six months earlier.
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After the initial intensity, the raid seemed to downshift to a calmer, slower search. In media footage, you can see agents strolling through French doors, past low manicured bushes, and a sculpture of a headless woman. Two agents in blue rubber gloves carried a white cooler through the Miami yard. Others loaded a big cardboard box into a van.
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Industrial quantities of baby oil aside, we're going to learn a lot more about all of the alleged evidence once Diddy's trial starts. That's scheduled to happen in May. Again, Didi has been unwavering in denying all of these allegations, and he's entered a plea of not guilty. Here's his lawyer, Mark Ignifilo, speaking to reporters.
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After the federal indictment, the number of civil lawsuits really picked up. You might ask what one has to do with the other, criminal indictment versus civil lawsuits. Well, in my experience, when the feds get involved, victims are more willing to come forward. Think about it. When you know the feds are going after someone, then you might say, OK, this person could get locked up.
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You might be able to get witness protection or even volunteer yourself to the feds as a witness. There's also strength and safety in numbers.
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In early October 2024, a trial lawyer out of Houston named Tony Busby held his own press conference. Busby stood in front of a podium in a dark suit and pink tie. His brown hair was slicked back. Behind him, a sign read SEXUAL ASSAULT HOTLINE in all caps. Below it, a 1-800 number in bright red font. Apparently, a lot of people have called this number.
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ABC reached out to the company tracking the calls. In April 2025, they told us they'd been contacted about 26,000 times.
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Busby reportedly filed nearly 40 civil lawsuits against Combs before he had to remove himself from the federal cases last month. That's because he's not admitted to practice in the Southern District of New York. But more than a dozen of his lawsuits are still moving forward without him, and Busby is still active on a couple lawsuits filed in New York State Court.
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Busby told reporters these lawsuits have some common denominators. For example, a lot of the alleged incidents happened at parties.
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Third, some victims allege they were threatened, including threats of physical violence or threats of financial consequences for speaking out. Busby promised the day would come when he would name names of other powerful people who were allegedly involved. A couple months after his press conference, Busby did name a name, a big one, Jay-Z.
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By watching the footage, we can't see much of what they're up to inside the homes. But I can tell you, a raid by the feds is never a pleasant experience. As a criminal defense attorney, I've represented clients who have been targets of these kinds of raids. We're talking beds flipped over, mattresses cut open. Law enforcement isn't handling people's stuff gently.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
He was listed as Diddy's co-defendant in an alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl in 2000 after the MTV Video Music Awards. Jay-Z fired back on Instagram, where he described the allegations against him as frivolous, fictitious, and appalling.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
ABC obtained a recording of the Jane Doe who made those allegations, telling private investigators for Jay-Z that the rapper had been present, but not involved in the sexual assault. And she said that Tony Busby had pressured her to name Jay-Z in the suit, an allegation Busby has called a blatant lie.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Despite the recording, the Jane Doe said in a sworn declaration she stands by her initial claims and dropped her lawsuit because of fear of intimidation and retaliation from Jay-Z and his fans. But her lawsuit against both men has been withdrawn with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. Now, Jay-Z is countersuing Busby and the Jane Doe for defamation.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Still, as Diddy prepares for his federal criminal trial, he faces over 60 pending civil lawsuits.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Adriana Alcalde is a victim's rights attorney who specializes in sex abuse cases. She represents a client who recently filed a civil lawsuit against Sean Combs. Her client is a John Doe, a former sex worker Diddy allegedly hired over a decade ago. This was back in 2012. He's decided to remain anonymous publicly, but Alcalde says Diddy's legal team knows his identity.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The John Doe victim Alcalde represents alleges he traveled from Florida to a hotel in New York City, where Diddy instructed him to have sex with a woman. He described the sex acts as, quote, degrading. But the allegations in this John Doe's complaint mostly focus on what happened after the prearranged hotel sex. That's when Diddy allegedly cornered him in the bathroom and raped him.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Diddy also allegedly threatened the John Doe with violence if he told anyone what happened. According to the complaint, John Doe alleges that Diddy told him, I'm not effing playing with you.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in 1996. Diddy has always denied any involvement in his death. And in fact, someone else is currently facing charges in connection to Tupac's murder. But according to John Doe's lawsuit, Diddy used Tupac's death to intimidate him. ABC reached out to Diddy's legal team for their response to these John Doe allegations.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
And they said, quote, these are just more examples of false claims being filed against Mr. Combs. No matter how many lawsuits are filed, especially by individuals who refuse to put their own names behind their claims, it won't change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone, man or woman, adult or minor. Mr. Combs remains confident he will prevail in court.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Alcalde said her client is still somewhat fearful of what could happen to him, and that's one of the reasons why he decided to file his lawsuit anonymously.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
This episode contains descriptions of violence and sexual assault. Please take care when listening. Toward the end of March 2024, Sean Diddy Combs was at an airport in Miami, Florida. He was getting ready to board his Love Air private jet for a spring break trip to the Caribbean with his 17-year-old twin girls.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Alcalde points out there's this other layer of stigma for her client because he's a former sex worker. Sex workers, she says, are more vulnerable to these kinds of alleged crimes, and they're less likely to be believed when they do come forward. In Alcalde's experience, there's a fundamental motivation driving the kinds of sex crimes her client allegedly experienced.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
If you connect the dots across all the allegations swirling around Diddy, unchecked power is a common thread.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Lisa Bloom is an attorney representing another alleged victim, a singer named Don Rashard. In the 2000s, Rashard was in a group called Danity Kane, as well as Diddy Dirty Money. She first came into Diddy's orbit through the MTV reality show Making the Band. In the fall of 2024, Richard filed a civil lawsuit against Diddy, which was amended in March of 2025.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
She alleges sexual assault and intimidation. She describes him in her lawsuit as having a, quote, vicious temper, and alleges she witnessed him beating his then-girlfriend, Cassie, including striking, choking, and strangling her.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Attorneys for Combs said Richard had, quote, manufactured a series of false claims, all in the hopes of trying to get a payday, and they're expected to file a motion to dismiss her suit by mid-May. Attorney Lisa Bloom wouldn't comment on the specific allegations in Richard's suit, but she did tell ABC News about some of the larger forces she sees at play in this case.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The whole point of a coordinated surprise search like this is to find corroborating evidence of alleged crimes and to make sure evidence isn't moved, tampered with, or destroyed before law enforcement can get to it.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
ABC Entertainment contributor Kelly Carter agrees. She says the allegations against Diddy amount to something much bigger than the actions of one powerful mogul.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
After the break, we tackle complicated questions about Diddy's legacy and how one woman who helped promote him early on now feels about her role in his rise.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Why couldn't you just act right? In the mid-1990s, LaJoyce Brookshire oversaw PR for Arista Records, which was then Bad Boy's parent label. These days, she teaches at City College, and she's the author of the book Women Behind the Mic, Curators of Pop Culture. Back in the day, she and Diddy worked hand-in-hand to promote Bad Boy artists, including Diddy, or Puffy, as he was known then.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
If I was to ask you to finish this sentence, how would you finish it? Sean Puffycombe's legacy is... Sean Puffycombe's legacy is... Finished. Combs' legacy might not be the really important thing here, especially compared to the harm his alleged victim suffered. But the fallout from the allegations against him have had ripple effects.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
LaJoyce Brookshire says she used to think of Puffy as a creative genius. She used to be proud of the work she did with him, whenever she caught a glimpse of him performing or getting an award. Wow, we did that.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
She reminded me of how back in the day, people thought hip-hop was just a passing fad, nothing bankable or worthy. Decades later, the music, the culture, it's still a phenomenon. She was part of building that foundation, along with so many other people. She says this is the legacy that's been tarnished.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
When I heard law enforcement seized electronic devices from Diddy's homes, I immediately thought back to the lawsuits. How Cassie, Rodney Jones, and others alleged Diddy had recorded their sexual encounters. And when I heard they'd seized guns, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, I thought about how Rodney Jones alleged Diddy kept and displayed guns in his bedroom closet.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
We started this series with a portrait of Sean Combs as the ultimate host. He staged elaborate, over-the-top parties everyone wanted to go to. He was the hitmaker, the kingmaker that everyone wanted to be near. Back in early November, Diddy celebrated his 55th birthday with a very different kind of party. This was not a lavish, star-studded affair. Diddy was on a speakerphone from jail.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
His kids gathered to sing him happy birthday, including his youngest, a two-year-old named Love.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
This moment has been memorialized on Diddy's Instagram. It's just one of a handful of posts you can still find in his feed. His kids reposted it too. The comments are a mix of free Diddy and send him to jail for life. The Bare Bones Party has all the trappings of a staged moment, at least according to prosecutors.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
In court documents arguing against bail, they allege this video is actually part of a campaign Diddy planned around his birthday to influence potential jurors, and that Diddy monitored how this post was performing on social media from jail. However you interpret this video,
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Whether you see it as simply a small family gathering or a carefully curated PR stunt, there's no denying how different Diddy's reality is today from the freedom, luxury, and power that defined him for so long. This is how it will be until his trial, until a jury decides to send him to prison or set him free. Next time on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
We'll game out strategies the prosecution and defense might use at Diddy's upcoming trial with a reporter who's been covering this case from the beginning.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
That's next time on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-HOPE. Or go to rainn.org. If you like this podcast, please share it and give it a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thanks for listening. Bad Route, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
This podcast was written and produced by Nancy Rosenbaum, Vika Aronson, and Camille Peterson. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor. Associate producer, Amira Williams. Production help from Shane McKeon and Meg Fierro. Fact checker, Audrey Mostek. Story consultant, Sweeney St. Phil. Supervising producer, Sasha Aslanian. Original music by Evan Viola. Mixing by Rick Kwan.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Again, I wondered whether these lawsuits had given law enforcement a roadmap to find what they were looking for. And I wasn't the only one glued to the coverage of the raids of Diddy's homes. People couldn't look away. Here's DJ and ABC News contributor Megan Wright.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Ariel Chester is our social media producer. This podcast was powered by the journalists at Impact by Nightline, 2020, GMA, and the ABC News Investigative Unit. Thanks to those teams. And special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Liz Alessi, and Katie Dendas. Josh Cohan is ABC Audio's Director of Podcast Programming. Laura Mayer is the executive producer.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
For decades, Diddy had brushes with the law. But this didn't stop him from living large and flying around the world in his private jet. The way he dressed, the way he traveled, the way he partied, few could compare. But this day, back in March of 2024, was a turning point. The walls were closing in.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The raid by federal agents spilled Diddy's criminal investigation into public view for the first time. And soon, what started as a trickle of allegations swelled into a tsunami no one could ignore. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an attorney and ABC News legal contributor. From ABC Audio, this is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. Episode five, Downfall.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Diddy's attorney released a statement saying Diddy was innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name. But Diddy and his team are up against one of the toughest U.S. attorney's offices in the country, the Southern District of New York, or SDNY. This office has a ridiculously high conviction rate, like around 90 to 95%. Chances are you've heard about the SDNY in the news.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
They prosecute some of the country's highest profile cases. Think cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried. And let's not forget Ghislaine Maxwell. She was convicted of conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse minors. And now the SDNY is after Diddy. Two months after the SDNY executed the raids on Diddy's homes, Diddy's world was rocked again.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
What he likely didn't know was that federal law enforcement agents were getting ready to execute parallel searches on his homes in Miami Beach and Los Angeles. In Miami, news footage shows a big police van tucked under a row of palm trees. In L.A., Homeland Security officers rolled in with armored vehicles, military rifles, bulletproof vests, and drones.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The surveillance footage is from eight years earlier, back when Diddy and Cassie were still together. They were staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles. The video CNN published includes a handful of short clips. There's no sound. Here's what you see. Cassie Ventura walks down a hotel hallway barefoot. She wears an oversized hoodie and carries a large purse.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
In another shot, you see Diddy running down the hallway, shirtless, a towel wrapped around his waist. He runs up to Cassie as she bends to put her shoes on by the elevator. Diddy grabs her by the back of the head and throws her to the ground. He kicks her in the back and she just lies there, doesn't try to get up. He kicks her again, then starts to drag her back down the hall by her sleeve.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Elizabeth Wagmeister is an entertainment reporter for CNN. She's the one who broke the story about this video. Cassie's 2023 lawsuit includes a pretty detailed account of this very incident. She claims Diddy punched her in the eye during one of those freak-offs, and that after he fell asleep, she tried to escape.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
The suit mentions how Diddy woke up and followed her into the hall of this very hotel. She alleged he dragged her and threw glass vases that crashed around her. Cassie also alleged Diddy paid the hotel $50,000 for the surveillance video.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
When Cassie's lawsuit came out in 2023, Diddy's attorney issued a statement saying Cassie's allegations were baseless and that her suit was, quote, riddled with outrageous lies aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs' reputation and seeking a payday. And Diddy's attorneys have since alleged that CNN altered the video.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
They called it a misleading piece of evidence, alleging the footage was sped up and reordered and that CNN destroyed the original recording. A spokesperson for CNN denied these allegations, saying the network never altered the video and that their source kept the original footage. When Cassie and Diddy reached a settlement, Diddy's lawyer was quick to point out Diddy's innocence.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Just so we're clear, his lawyer said in a statement, a decision to settle a lawsuit is in no way an omission of wrongdoing. And Diddy's lawyers didn't just deny Cassie's claims. They also refuted other allegations that started rolling in after Cassie came forward.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
By the time CNN published their story in May of 2024, there were a handful of active civil lawsuits on the books against Diddy, several alleging sex trafficking and sexual abuse.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
In the video, Diddy looks a little haggard, dressed down in a plain beige t-shirt, no logos, no flashy jewelry. He appears to be somewhere tropical on a balcony with a tidy thatched roof.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
He follows the typical apology video script. He says that he's been to therapy and to rehab and that he's been asking God for mercy.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
But then, it ends. What's missing from this apology video? An actual apology? Or any mention of Cassie? People definitely took notice. Here's how the hosts of ABC's The View reacted. Does his confession change anything?
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Bad Rap: Downfall
a federal investigation into human trafficking. In the months leading up to this raid, Diddy had been hit with a bunch of bombshell civil lawsuits, including ones alleging rape and sex trafficking, all of which he's denied. But this was the day the public found out that the feds were looking into Diddy. Civil lawsuits can lead to financial penalties, but criminal charges can lead to prison time.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
It's one thing to read a lawsuit like Cassie's that alleges abuse. It's another to see video footage that appears to corroborate those allegations. I'd argue the surveillance video was actually far more damning to Diddy than Cassie's lawsuit was, or any lawsuit for that matter. The video tarnished Diddy's image, an image he had kept such a tight hold on for decades.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
When I saw Diddy's video on Instagram, I had a lot of questions. As an attorney, I generally advise my clients to let their lawyer do the talking for them. So Diddy putting out this video, it made me wonder, had this been part of an improved strategy or was it something more spontaneous? Here's CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
So according to Wagmeister, Diddy couldn't deliver a full apology for legal reasons, which leaves him with a few options. stay silent, deliver what some considered a weak apology, or break the terms of the settlement agreement and risk the consequences.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
Author Justin Tinsley writes about Black culture on ESPN's Anscape. And by that video, he's referring to the surveillance footage of Diddy attacking Cassie, the one that CNN published.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
After the fallout from the CNN story and his Instagram apology, Diddy appeared to shrink away from public life. In May, he was reportedly MIA from his eldest daughter's high school graduation. In June, Revolt, the media company Diddy had started in 2013, announced he'd sold his majority stake and was no longer involved with the company. Then, he deleted all of his Instagram posts.
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Bad Rap: Downfall
For someone who had spent years posting videos of himself living his best life on social media, Diddy's digital silence was noticeable. Even though Diddy was laying low, he was still very much on other people's radars, including the media's. In May of 2024, Rolling Stone published an investigation into Diddy and his alleged history of violence.
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Bad Romance: Barefoot Witness
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power.
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Bad Romance: Barefoot Witness
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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Unholy Matrimony
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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The After Show: Family Lies?
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power.
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The After Show: Family Lies?
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power.
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The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
In the video released by CNN, and just a little shameful plug here, we talk about this in the podcast. We actually have Elizabeth Wagmeister who comes on and describes the process by which they obtained the video and the releasing of it. In the video, you have Sean Combs in LA, chasing down Cassie, beating her, kicking her. She's on the ground, curled up.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
It appears that she had left a room and went towards the elevators from the positioning of the cameras. Sean Combs seems to assault her, go back, come back, assault her again, throw a vase at her, kick her. You can see like running down the hall, him wearing a towel around his waist, half naked, her kind of like running out.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So something happened in the room, but you can't see what happened in the room. You can only see what's happening in the hallway. and just outside the elevator, because as people who go to hotels can tell, there's a lot of cameras where the elevators are, and there's often cameras kind of pointing down the hallways and things of that nature. And this video got to me for a number of reasons.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Now, full context, I'm a former public defender here in Brooklyn. I think my last two or three years at the Brooklyn Legal Aid Society, I was in their homicide defense task force. I've represented 55 to about 6,000 cases. I've had to walk to the DA's office because they can't send certain video across email because they're so bad.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
I've seen bad videos of rapes, assaults, homicides, but this one took me back because this was truly, as it appeared to me, an individual who saw another individual as not being human. It reeked of vileness when you watched it.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yes, there was an absolute public reaction. I think the conversations before this video got released were... Maybe she's lying. Maybe this didn't happen. Maybe all these lawsuits are people just trying to get money. Sean Combs is not that person. I mean, he made Biggie. Like he made Mace. He made all that. Like he's not that person. And then that video came out and everyone's like, I was wrong.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah. So first, thanks for having me here. And I think you got to go back to when he started with Uptown Records with Mr. Harrell and then left to start Bad Boy Records. And he was the producer for Notorious B.I.G. And then he had his own kind of music that influenced as well and started with other rappers and creating careers.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
I think people publicly came out and apologized to Cassie because not only did we see this video, but this video was directly referenced in Cassie's lawsuit. She mentioned this assault. And so now you get the situation of, all right, Sean Combs, you settled the civil lawsuit. You said all of this was a lie.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You said there was no admission of guilt, but a thing in this civil lawsuit is now seen by us all. And it's not like a small thing like, Oh, you had an argument. Like, no, this was a beating. How did Combs respond to that? So Sean Combs comes out talking about how he was in a dark place, how he has gone to therapy, how he has changed, how he was disgusted by what he did at the time.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And that's pretty much it. And you can go back and you can see people's public responses. It's not too different from mine. I know the women at The View had their response as to this is a non-apology apology. He's not mentioning who he's sorry to. He's not mentioning what he's sorry for. Social media, everyone blasted him about this response, we'll call it, rather than an apology.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
The reason why this response was like this is because in large part, and I would have told, well, I would have told Sean Combs something very different to do here, but any lawyer would have told him, abide by the rules of that civil lawsuit when you settled it. Part of that civil lawsuit, I believe, are that both parties cannot reference or speak of each other.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And so he's abiding by that lawsuit in a sense by doing that, but And if he didn't, he could have faced civil litigation. He could have been sued for violating that. That could have opened up the case in a way that he didn't want. So smart. Don't mention her name. Legally. Legally. But probably smarter is don't apologize. Because if you're going to do something halfway, it's not enough.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So September comes around and we all see that Sean Combs is in New York, his native home, because he's born in Harlem. He's at Central Park hanging out. I think he's like playing hacky sack, doing things that people do in Central Park. A couple hours later, he gets arrested in the lobby of his hotel.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And we find out that there's an indictment and the indictment gets released when he is in the Southern District of New York. and he's pleading not guilty. Within the indictment, the original first indictment, we see there are three charges.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Racketeering conspiracy, which most people would hear about as RICO, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, as well as transportation for the purpose of prostitution. Three counts. The most serious of the counts has a possible sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And so these are serious, these are wide-ranging allegations because within that racketeering charge, and you'll hear it as there being a criminal enterprise, there are underlying crimes within that criminal enterprise. Sex trafficking, forced labor, arson.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
When you talk about a RICO case, what you're really saying is that this person has a criminal enterprise, and that criminal enterprise is moving towards a singular goal. In Diddy's case, the allegations are the freak-offs, right? The thousand bottles of baby oil, the elaborate recording of sex acts that allegedly lasted for days, where people had to get IVs, where...
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Sex workers were flown in to have sex with individuals who were drugged. There was allegedly GHB in the baby oil. But in order to maintain that criminal enterprise, certain things need to allegedly have been done.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
The arson is a big one for me, and I think also is a connective thread throughout a lot of the allegations, because if you go to Cassie's lawsuit, she says that at one point in time, her and Sean Combs were on a break. And during that break, she was talking to, dating, whatever vernacular you want to use, Kid Cudi, another rapper in the industry.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And her allegations is that Sean Combs threatened Cassie to make him go away. And he, according to Cassie's allegations, said, I will make sure that his car blows up and that his friends or people around him are there to see it, to show the extent of power that he has in order, as the allegations in the indictment would be, to control Cassie.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Because in order to keep her doing the freak-offs, which is what the criminal enterprise does, he needs to control her through means of threats and force. That's how the arson plays into the racketeering conspiracy.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
To make sure that that criminal enterprise still works. That's why when you read the racketeering charge and you see or hear all these little allegations underneath it, it's not that he's being charged with all those little allegations. It's that he did these crimes to make the enterprise work. That's the allegation behind it.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So now, again, you're hearing the feds almost are pretty much corroborate an allegation from Cassie's civil lawsuit that was settled. You now know that Cassie must be a part of this federal indictment, even though the name wasn't released when the indictment happened. And now, at least for me, we travel into a different territory because there are people who sexually assault people.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
There are people who rape people. There are people who have criminal enterprises that feed into that. If you wanna think of the allegations or now the conviction against Harvey Weinstein or R. Kelly. But there's a very unique type of person who blows up cars in order to keep the rape going. To me, it ratcheted up another level.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah, that's within the indictment. The sex trafficking, that's, I think, pretty self-explanatory. Because it's a federal crime, it's an allegation that the person compelled an individual to participate in sexual acts through force, so like blowing up someone's car, fraud, or coercion. You have to stay a bad boy or keep doing this.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And then transportation for purpose of prostitution, that's self-explanatory.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah. So the very definition of a RICO is where two or more people conspire. You can't have a RICO by yourself. And that has had some pushback as well as to why is Sean Combs the only defendant? There has to be, by definition of a RICO, someone else who participated in it. The person who...
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
traveled to go get the sex workers at the airport and brought them to the freak-offs, the person who set up the bed and the room knowing that the freak-offs was going to happen, the person who cleaned up afterwards to hide the allegations that a freak-off was happening, the person who supplied the drugs. All of this is, in essence, a criminal enterprise, so there has to be more people.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And I agree with people when they criticize us and say, well, why aren't there more defendants? And I said, well, the more accurate thing to say is, Why are there not more charged defendants? Because you can be a cooperating suspect or defendant who's not charged. You can be a person who got a deal.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah, because at the end of the day, and again, I always give this as a disclaimer because TV often gets it wrong, but this is one where they get it right. If you can go after the big fish, why are you looking at tadpoles?
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So what happens next is jury selection. It's the process by which both the defense and the government or prosecutor have the opportunity to question prospective jurors about whether or not they're right for this case. And I know oftentimes with cases like this, people say, well, how can you find a juror? Like everyone's heard about Diddy. Everyone's heard about this case.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Everyone's heard about this allegations. Everyone's going to be biased to some degree. Well, the standard actually is, regardless of whether or not you've heard this information, can you put that information aside and listen and only judge based on the information that you have? Now, is it still a difficult thing to do, finding those people in the Southern District of New York?
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
That's going to be difficult. So you find 12 and potentially, I would imagine you've got to find at least four or five alternates because this is scheduled to be an eight-week-long trial. And if the trial does begin, because there's always 11th hour stuff that happens that could push it back.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
If the trial does begin with jury selection on May 5th and then starts on May 12th, which I think is very ambitious to find a jury in five days, don't forget, like... There's Memorial Day. There's the 4th of July. You've got to ask people to miss out a lot of these potential dates and sit for this trial makes it that much more difficult.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And it wasn't just about the music. Bad Boys artists had an era-defining style, a look, baggy, bold, flashy clothes.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah, so the governor or the prosecutor is going to position this as the facts speak for themselves. They're going to put up witnesses who say, I was told to go pick up this person. I was told to bring this person here. Did you know that this person was a sex worker? Yes, I did. It was very clear from where I went.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
I mean, even looking at Rodney Jones's lawsuit where he alleges that he was told to go to strip clubs with a specific hat, that people knew that it was like a bad boy hat.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah, he's here. I know I'm going to go to this party. I'm going to get paid. Like, I need to go. Ronnie Jones tells us about this recruiting process through his allegations. Whether or not they're true, that's going to be up for the government to prove. But that's how the government's going to work this out.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Then they're going to say, well, these people could not have consented because, again, as the headlines were, look at the baby oil. Look at the GHB within the baby oil. You cannot consent when you are intoxicated. Look at how this... traversed over state lines, making it a federal case because it affected interstate commerce. Look at people being forced into this through fraud or coercion.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
All of that is the government's position. For the defense, they're taking the standard of Well, everyone was asking for it. Everyone was in on it. The government are just very much prudes. They like to have sex like a very prudish way.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
If everyone shows up to a sex party and we all say, hey, everyone's of age, we all want to do drugs before this. Is everyone OK with that? We're good. Then, yeah, whatever you do in the privacy of your home is not a crime. And that's what the defense is arguing. And that's not an argument that works when you have dozens of people saying otherwise.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah, so since the original indictment, there have been what we call superseding indictments. And what superseding means is just like this one replaces or takes over the other one, right? And so as those indictments have come up, it's evolved the case in the sense of
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
First indictment, or the indictment, sorry, only three charges, and we only believe to be one alleged victim, and who we believe to be Cassie, from the way you can kind of like... It's like she's not named, but all the details would match with her. Yeah, like going in, going back to the arson, like arson in the indictment, arson in her civil lawsuit, it seems like allegations.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And then as the superseding indictments came out, there were... More allegations within the RICO or the racketeering conspiracy. There is forced labor in there. We went from one alleged victim to four alleged victims. We went from a three-count indictment to a five-count indictment because now we have two sex trafficking charges and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And so I would say... the highway in the mind of the government, the highway towards a conviction is moving in the same direction at the same pace, but there are more lanes now. It's kind of expanded. Is it still moving forward with the same type of charges, racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, Transportation. Yeah. Is it still women and potentially men going to talk about freak ops? Yeah.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
But now instead of one, there are four. And instead of three counts, there are five.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Step one, ask my wife if I can be at ABC like 24-7 to cover this. Step two is for the podcast. So we have an episode, and I think an episode just dropped now. I believe it would be the fifth episode called Downfall. And so we've had one episode come out every week on Tuesday, kind of following the case. But when the trial starts, we're going to do two episodes a week to give you the updates.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
What I love about ABC Audio, aside from the people and everything that they do, is that they facilitate my craziness. And what we're doing is not only reporting about the case, but we're giving about like, oh, this person testified and this is what happened. But we're also going to give you that analysis of...
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Remember when so this person said this statement, this is how it connects to the indictment This is how it connects to the the civil lawsuit that came from here.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
This is how it's gonna come together This is how the defense is gonna potentially cross-examine on this This is how it's gonna like play into the I want that and an ABC is doing a great job of this as well And I think they want it as well. We want that after you listen to one of our episodes that You get to go to the water cooler at work and be like the greatest expert of this case.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You're going to know this as best, if not better than most, because you know better than anyone else. We can't put cameras everywhere. And so unfortunately, we just have to sometimes use our voice to tell a story to reach the most amount of people possible.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
My pleasure. I know I've made it because I'm here with you now. So thank you for having me.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
I mean, not to be the lawyer here, but I would argue he wasn't at the forefront. He was the forefront, right? And I have a brother and sister who were in their early twenties. And so when I talked to them about hip hop and rap, they're like, no, it was always a thing. That genre of music has always been popular. And I'm like, no, there was a time where you weren't supposed to listen to this music.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
It was underground. There was a time that it wasn't mainstream, that it wasn't cool. It was considered a fad that it would come and go and be gone in the next day. And then all of a sudden, you have this guy named Puffy, and I'm still getting used to calling him Diddy. But you have this guy named Puffy who's making it not only cool, but making it into an industry.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Not just through his music and his catalog of music and his artists, but also through getting into the liquor industry and getting into MTV. I mean, MTV was huge, making the band, 106 and Park, his artists, like they shaped our culture and our music in a massive way.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So you can go through the small stuff like the allegations of Sean Combs hitting his son's UCLA football coach with a kettle belt, right? That kind of popped up and we touched more about it in the podcast and then just kind of went away. You can talk about the City College stampede where he is accused of civilly, not criminally, of overpacking this area.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You heard whispers about keeping people's catalog of music and not giving it to them. And that's maybe more so in the business and criminal and civil side. But you also heard about Puffy. And I always find this astounding when people hear, why is his name Puffy? His name is Puffy because he supposedly had a temper, and supposedly still does, and he would puff out his chest and get angry.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So even that, like the name that we've been calling him literally talks about his potential anger issues. And then now we're all like, oh, okay, that dot's been connected. It makes sense now. But it's always been there and glaring. But I think we look past it in light of... He was, in many ways, a representation of Black excellence.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
He was, in many ways, a person who could take something that was very much of the culture of Black and African American people and bring it to the forefront of being rich in culture, but also rich in the sense of how to take yourself from rags to riches to achieve that American dream. And I think everyone, regardless of social status, race, ethnicity, religion, looked at it and admired it.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So I think the first major thing that changed those whispers would be the lawsuit from Cassie Ventura. Cassie Ventura, she's often referred to as Cassie just by the single name as an artist and also a model. And a long time, as we understood it, but are learning a little bit more, I think, through these lawsuits and these criminal cases,
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
A girlfriend of Sean Combs, but now we are hearing allegations that she was, in fact, a victim of Sean Combs. This was, I think, like a 35-page complaint where Cassie did two things that I think were very interesting from a legal and also storytelling standpoint. Mm-hmm.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
She looked at her relationship with Sean Combs and was able to highlight things that we saw in the public eye, things that we saw her at the VMAs. And she said, you might not have seen it, but I was covering up bruises because I was assaulted two days before that. Right.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You may have seen me where I had this record deal for, for 10 albums, which was massive because when she came out with me and you, we were all over that. And that was a song that was not produced by Sean Cohen, but in fact, draw his attention to Cassie. And we thought she was going to blow up. But there was never that blow up. There were no further albums that came out.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And she alleged in that complaint that it was almost as if that deal was held over her head. That she had to commit to these sexual acts. She had to have sex with male sex workers in order to please Sean Combs. That she would be assaulted and transported to different states at his whim. And there was always this... You have to prove yourself.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And again, the juxtaposition of us seeing it in interviews where she had talked to radio stations of saying, my album's coming out. I just have to prove myself to bad boy. And at the time you thought about it as like, yeah, you got to prove yourself to like show how great you are as an artist. And that's how you really make it in this industry. But now we're like, your boyfriend was Sean Combs.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Like, what do you have to prove to him? You had an absolute banger in me and you. We know that you kind of flopped to some degree in the 106 and Park live performance. But what's the missing piece? And I think for many people, Cassie's lawsuit provided that missing piece in the context of this is why this all happened. And here are the allegations she put forward.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Like really quickly by any standards, literally here today, gone tomorrow, because it was filed, I think on a Thursday or Friday. And this is in 2023. In 2023, I think in November of 2023. And then the very next day it was settled. And for people who don't follow a lot of civil lawsuits, we often as a community or a public don't hear the details of the lawsuits.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
who had admitted to what, what the dollar amount was, what was negotiated, what was argued, what agreements go on going forward. And so all we heard was from Sean Combs' legal team, we have settled this amicably and there's no admission of guilt. And that was it.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
the answer is we don't know no one's ever going to know in large part because likely a part of that negotiated settlement is that the parties do not discuss but as a defense attorney and someone who also does a little bit of civil work i can speculate and this is absolute speculation you don't want to go through the process of litigating this type of case
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You don't want to have to sit down for depositions and potential evidence where Cassie is... Because it's one thing to read a 34-page complaint. It's another thing for Cassie to sit down for hours on end and be deposed. It's a very other thing for Sean Combs to be compelled to sit down and be deposed.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You do not want... any of that and when your brand is so attached to your livelihood allegations like that against Sean Combs would destroy him and so I think there's a different calculus for someone like him that says I pay the money I make it go away and I try to just move on and cover this up
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah. Just to give the full breadth and the full context. New York, along with California, has created these laws that allow for a look-back window, is the best non-legal way to describe it. Because for sexual assault and other sexual cases, from a civil standpoint, there's what's called a statute of limitations.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
You cannot bring, typically, allegations of sexual assault, harassment, things of that nature, civilly, if it's more than 10, 15, 20 years. But because of these lawsuits that have a window that closes—I think the window is open only for a year—
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yeah, so we saw, as that window closed, both Cassie's lawsuit and about three or four other lawsuits just before that deadline. And so to some degree, we anticipated it, I think, in the legal community and a little bit for those at ABC who follow this type of stuff. But for the most part, it was like, okay, they're going to get settled. They're going to figure something out.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
I don't think this is going to be a thing where Brad and I are sitting down and talking about this at a podcast because they'll just get resolved and the next big thing will catch people's eyes.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
But that didn't happen, because in those lawsuits, we saw similar allegations of sex trafficking, forced labor, allegations that they observed what happened to Cassian, and even corroborations of some of her allegations as well. And going to the phrase of where there's smoke, there's fire, I wouldn't say at this point we saw any fire, but we started seeing a lot more smoke.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Rodney Jones, he was one of the people in this litany of civil lawsuits who files a lawsuit. And I think like Cassie's lawsuit, if Cassie's lawsuit is considered the spark to create this all, Rodney Jones's lawsuit is the roadmap because in his lawsuit, he says, I saw this, I saw that, this happened to other people. I was forced to recruit these people. This happened to me. Here are still shots.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Yes. So I am by trade a defense attorney. I do criminal work. Do I do civil work? Yeah, but that's not my bread and butter. Although it does be a lot of bread and butter. When I read Cassie's lawsuit, I'm like, oh, this is your standard civil lawsuit. This is about damages to me, allegations about what this person did to me. Rodney Jones's lawsuit read like a criminal indictment. It read like...
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And I'm like backing up a little from the microphone so you don't hear me yelling, hey, SDNY, over here, look at these places because you can't start a criminal case. Like I read that and I think that's when I pitched the podcast to ABC and I said, something's gonna happen.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
DHS and the federal government end up raiding Sean Combs' Miami home and his LA home. They went exactly where Rodney Jones said the alleged material would be, and they did it simultaneously. Why does any law enforcement do raids simultaneously? Why do they do raids without people knowing? And from my understanding, Sean Combs is standing on a tarmac in Miami, about to fly off somewhere.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
He's not at these homes, because they know he's not at the homes, and they say, go, go, go,
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
And the reason why they do this, number one, safety, right? Law enforcement's going in and they don't want to come across someone who allegedly has guns in their homes and they fire at law enforcement. So safety is a big thing. The other major issues are the preservation of evidence.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
They want to make sure that as they're bursting through the homes, and this is one of the few times that I say TV sometimes gets it right when it comes to these legal cases, they don't want people flushing things down the toilet, swallowing things, bleaching them, throwing them, destroying them, whatever. They want to catch people off guard so they can collect as much evidence as possible.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
So if you have someone who's accusing someone of rape and it happens in the same day, same week, the person goes, gets a rape kit. There are certain tangible evidence that you can say, hey, look, look, there's a rape kit. We can tell that this happened. But when you say it happened years ago, there's not that tangible evidence to prove it. It becomes a he said, she said.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
But then the video comes out. And any kind of reasonable doubt that people were willing to give Sean Combs of, I know Sean Combs. I've worked with him. He's not that type of guy. You know what? Maybe she really is just after his money. You know what? She was dating him. So maybe this is buyer's remorse.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
All those kind of explanations and excuses that people give when you have these he said, she said situations, that video silenced them.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power.
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The Crime Scene: Diddy on Trial
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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The Crime Scene: Tupac Murder Suspect Speaks Out
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power.
20/20
The Crime Scene: Tupac Murder Suspect Speaks Out
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio coming March 25th, wherever you get your podcasts.
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The Crime Scene: Tupac Murder Suspect Speaks Out
We're interviewing the new housekeeper. It's been a minute since we've been out in the wild. It might take some time. We have all weekend to find... See you back at the house.
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The Crime Scene: Tupac Murder Suspect Speaks Out
All episodes streaming March 28th. And for a limited time, get Disney Plus and Hulu for just $2.99 a month.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Now, Diddy's in the Metropolitan Detention Center, or MDC, in Brooklyn. This bland behemoth is where he'll stay as he awaits trial. So we're pulling up to MDC now. It's got like this... uncapped, unwashed, grungy-ness of it. There's a tall metal fence around the MDC complex, so the parking lot's as far as most reporters get.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
But as a defense attorney, I'm here almost every week, and I can get further than most. I walk through the gate, up the steps, and through the doors to security. I get escorted into the visitor's area, and I meet my client for about an hour or two. For the parts of the jail I can't see, my clients fill me in about how boiling hot it is in the summer, how cold it is in the winter.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
An inmate told me that at one point, when there was no heat or hot water, he couldn't go to the showers and instead was dumping hot water onto his body from the sink, washing himself and catching the water in the toilet. I had to come to MDC on that cold, gray day in January to meet with a client who was awaiting sentencing.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Getting out of my Uber, I looked up at this complex of tall, concrete buildings. And the gate before you come in, you can actually hear people. It almost sounds like they're, like, rec hour. Yeah, it sounds like they're playing a sport.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Each of MDC's buildings are 10 or more stories tall, and where the windows in a typical apartment would be, you have red brick slabs with narrow slats and big sections of metal grating that give you the impression of a locked jail cell, even from the outside.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
MDC is right on the Brooklyn waterfront, just a few blocks from a bougie converted warehouse space full of artisanal shops and upscale restaurants. But if you're part of the legal system in New York, you know that MDC is not a nice place to be. In fact, it's been described as hell on earth, known for its violence, corruption, and miserable conditions.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
So he decided this year's white party would be held on Independence Day. He gave Marie Claire magazine a sneak peek before the party started. The pool, draped in gauzy white curtains and chandeliers, platters of shrimp, crab cakes, and barbecue were served.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
It's a federal building, so you can see Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons. You see the American flag. And the building has watermarks and rust on the metal parts and things of that way. Over the years, it's housed some people you've probably heard of, like R. Kelly, Michael Cohen, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman Freed, Luigi Mangione, and Sean Diddy Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Combs has been at MDC since he was arrested last September. According to his attorney, Mark Agnifilo, Diddy had flown to New York to cooperate with authorities.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Paparazzi and onlookers caught snippets of Diddy's visit to New York last September, and from those photos and videos, it looked like he was enjoying his time, talking and smiling with fans, playing hacky sack in Central Park, strolling through the city with his family. If Diddy had plans to turn himself in, he didn't do it for the first 12 days he was in New York.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
But on the night of September 16th at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, Homeland Security Investigations agents caught Diddy by surprise. You could see on the hotel security footage that Diddy walked into the front door and the agents approached him. They separated him from the group he was with, put handcuffs on him, and took him away.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
The day after Combs' arrest, the prosecutor at the time held a news conference to announce the charges.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Because of how serious and violent the alleged crimes are, Combs was ordered held without bail. ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Aaron Katursky was in the courtroom.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
It didn't surprise me that things didn't go Diddy's way with bail. The allegations and trafficking charges are very serious. And if Diddy were out on bail, the fear was he'd have the ability to reach witnesses and possibly intimidate them. I didn't think there was a chance he was getting out. But that didn't stop Diddy or his attorneys from trying.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Diddy's attorney told reporters before the start of the bail hearings, MDC was no place for his client.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Over and over again, Diddy tried to get released. He tried offering a $50 million bond. He tried offering home confinement. He tried to prove he wasn't a flight risk, attempting to sell his private plane and saying he'd surrender his passport to his attorney. He was trying to be a cooperative defendant. But no, Sean Combs was denied bail four times.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
A sommelier explained that all the wine served would be, of course, white.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
That last part, witness intimidation, has become a big issue in Combs' case in recent months. In one of his first bail hearings, prosecutors presented calls Diddy made and texts he sent before his arrest. They said Diddy reached out to potential witnesses, telling them they'd be taken care of financially if they stuck by his side.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
And then in November, after he'd been at MDC for about two months and was up for a third chance at bail, prosecutors alleged Combs had been paying other inmates to access their phone accounts and, according to the government, avoid law enforcement monitoring.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
And prosecutors said they caught Combs on recorded calls from jail, asking family members to reach out to potential victims and witnesses and urged them to come up with narratives to sway the jury in his favor.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Prosecutors wrote in their court filing, the defendant has shown repeatedly, even while in custody, that he will flagrantly and repeatedly flout rules in order to improperly impact the outcome of his case. The defendant has shown, in other words, that he cannot be trusted to abide by rules or conditions.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Diddy's attorneys responded to prosecutors' arguments by saying the nonstop drumbeat of negative publicity has destroyed Combs' reputation and will make it virtually impossible for him to receive a fair trial. So Combs isn't back in his $48 million mansion on an island in Miami Beach, where at one point he'd asked to await trial.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Instead, he's being detained far from the pools, hot tubs, cabanas, and ocean views he's used to. So what's it like being an inmate at MDC? What's it like being a celebrity and a lead sex offender in MDC, a notoriously dangerous and neglected jail? After the break, we meet someone who gives us an inside view of MDC most people don't get to see, and a window into Combs' life behind bars.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Two of the biggest songs of 2009 were Lady Gaga's Poker Face and I Got a Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas. None of Diddy's music was at the top of the charts, but this was the year he rapped Making the Band, the show that made him a reality star. And reality shows were hot.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Just a few weeks ago, I talked to someone who's been past the visitation area at MDC, who's really been on the inside. And I will try my best to make this not feel like a cross-examination, even though that is my typical practice. Oh, that's okay. You can ask me anything. That's Cameron Lindsay. He's worked in corrections for 25 years.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
He was a warden of five different correctional facilities, including MDC Brooklyn. And since retiring in 2014, he's continued to work in jails and prisons around the country as a consultant and also serves as an expert witness, often testifying on behalf of a plaintiff who was hurt or even killed while incarcerated. So he's seen some stuff in this country's correction system.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
And he says for anyone, going into detention is a shock to the system, but especially for someone like Sean Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
It's small things, like having to wear the same beige prison-issued jumpsuit as everyone else. And it's big things, too, like where and how he's housed. Diddy's lawyer has said he's in what's called the special housing unit, which means he's separated from the general population. If it were up to retired Warden Lindsey, he'd go even further, putting Diddy in almost complete isolation.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
But that doesn't seem to be MDC's approach. Diddy reportedly has access to at least some other inmates. Convicted crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried said in an interview with Tucker Carlson that Diddy has been kind to people in the unit, and he's been, quote, kind to me. We also know Diddy's cell is small, not what he's used to.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Diddy's hit show was the perfect blend of American Idol, the number one TV show in America that year, and another popular show at the time, The Celebrity Apprentice. On making the ban, Diddy presented himself as a kind of Trump-like figure of the music industry, who would crown the next big pop group. Diddy had been throwing these Gatsby-esque white parties for almost a decade.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
They keep Diddy separated from the jail's general population to keep him safe. His wealth and notoriety could make him a target.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
It's right for MDC officials to take Diddy's safety seriously. The facility is infamously dangerous. The Associated Press reported that just in the last three years, there has been a stabbing death, a death after a brawl, and at least four deaths by suicide. And in the time Diddy's been at MDC, an inmate was charged with orchestrating a murder for hire plot from inside.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
A Southern District of New York judge said in a 2024 opinion that defendants at MDC Brooklyn complain of, quote, near perpetual lockdowns, dreadful conditions and lengthy delays in getting medical care. He and other federal judges have refused to send defendants to MDC on the grounds that conditions are so bad.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Conditions at MDC sank to their lowest in 2019 with what Lindsay calls the freeze-out, when nearly 1,700 inmates had to live in below-freezing temperatures for a week.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
There was a heat and power outage at the same time. Cells were dark. Toilets wouldn't flush. And access to food, medical care, and phone calls were cut off. Inmates sued, the Department of Justice investigated, and a settlement was reached for about $10 million. When you're incarcerated, sometimes getting the bare necessities can be a struggle.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
But what happens when your clientele includes people with means, people who are used to buying whatever they want? Lindsay doesn't know anything about Diddy specifically, but I asked him about corruption in general. So if I tell you that I've heard stories like,
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
well, people are buying cell phones inside of MDC and people are having sometimes lobster dinners or dinners brought to them that you're wondering, how are you eating like this in MDC? Are those shocking to you at all that I'm talking to you about lobster dinners and cell phones in MDC?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
It's hard to know the precise impact Diddy's presence has had on MDC, but retired warden Cameron Lindsay says it's reasonable to think there's been increased scrutiny on the facility from higher-ups. We do know since he's been in, there have been lockdowns and contraband sweeps involving other inmates, in which investigators have seized drugs, homemade weapons, and electronic devices.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
The first was on Labor Day in 1998, when he had just bought a home in the Hamptons. He hosted a bunch of them there and then in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. One year, he took a helicopter to the party and landed holding an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. The famous writer Norman Lear loaned it to him. All of the big celebrities appeared at Diddy's white parties.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
So we started with Diddy at his peak, the host of the party that everyone wanted to go to, the center of an industry that so many wanted to be part of, the key that could unlock success and fame for those around him. But now he's locked up and can't even control the most basic things, like when he eats or bathes. How did Diddy go from mogul to inmate?
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
How did he build not just a career, but an empire? And if the allegations against him are true, how did he get away with the violence, abuse, and manipulation for so long? Coming up on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Diddy's success comes at a price. But time and time again, he doesn't seem to be the one paying.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
In our next episode, we'll trace the path of Diddy's rising star from college dropout to the cover of Rolling Stone. And later in our series, the early signs of Diddy's alleged dark side start to emerge.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Stay with us as new episodes drop every week in the lead-up to Diddy's trial. Once it starts, we'll keep you posted with updates throughout. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love if you'd share it and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
This podcast was written and produced by Vika Aronson, Camille Peterson, and Nancy Rosenbaum. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor. Associate producer, Amira Williams. Production help from Shane McKeon. Fact checker, Audrey Mostek. Story consultant, Sweeney St. Phil. Supervising producer, Sasha Aslanian. Original music by Eben Viola. Mixing by Rick Kwan.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Arielle Chester is our social media producer. This podcast was powered by the journalists at Impact by Nightline, 2020, GMA, and the ABC News investigative unit. Thanks to those teams. And special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Liz Alessi, and Katie Dendas. Josh Cohan is ABC Audio's director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Beyonce, Jay-Z, Jonah Hill, Martha Stewart, Paris Hilton, Aretha Franklin, Al Sharpton, and Donald Trump. They all orbited the Diddy white party sphere. As a record exec, Diddy helped launch the careers of artists who would become legends. The Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Usher, and many others. So it's no surprise people wanted the invite to Diddy's parties.
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If they had got one, then they belonged in the list of celebrities, politicians, and cultural icons who had proximity to a mogul, who knew everyone and could make things happen. You could hang out in the backyard with hundreds of guests who made it through the gates to the main party, but it still had a VIP section, an inner circle.
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Imagine every celebrity worth an Us Weekly headline with a bedazzled smartphone in their hand. It was before TikTok and Instagram, when tabloid coverage claimed to break juicy celebrity stories. Compared to the prominence of video and social media today, private celebrity parties were much more private. But one bit of Diddy's 2009 white party was captured on video.
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Reality TV personality and podcaster Jason Lee was at the 2009 Independence Day white party. He remembers it as a good time and says it helped his career. Lee claims he never saw any darkness or any hints of the crimes Diddy would be accused of years later.
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In the summer of 2009, everyone was paying attention to Sean Diddy Combs. He wasn't on the top of the Billboard charts anymore, but he had become a fixture of American pop culture. The flashiest example was his annual star-studded white party. It was an exclusive event and everything had to be white, from the decor to the dress code. This was the early days of smartphones.
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Lots of people who attended Diddy's parties never saw his alleged dark side. For decades, A-listers were eager to pose next to the mogul at a Hamptons bash. Today, many of those celebrities are actively distancing themselves from Diddy, not wanting to share that toxic spotlight. At the height of his power and influence, Diddy had complete control over his world.
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He decided who got to be an insider, controlled what happened when the lights went out, and he'd tell his guests as much.
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The curfew announcement, when kids had to disappear and lots of adults left too. It hints at a turn. Diddy foreshadows an adult world, a late-night world of secrets. And some of those secrets, they've come pouring out. Diddy's Rise and Fall. It's the story we'll tell you in the first six episodes of this podcast.
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How a man who was on top of the music industry and on top of the world is now confined to a cell that couldn't be less luxurious, awaiting trial. And once the trial begins, we'll take you there with twice weekly updates as the case unfolds. Two very different versions of Diddy have emerged over the years.
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The charmer that he showed the world and the predator that onlookers and alleged victims are now claiming he was all along. Which version of Diddy will win out in court? I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an attorney and an ABC News legal contributor. From ABC Audio, this is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. Episode one, party's over.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Party's Over
Diddy's white parties were glittering displays of wealth and social capital, but to some, they were clues, even early on, that Diddy's world had shadows. Justin Tinsley is a culture reporter for ESPN's Anscape, which focuses on Black culture. He says there'd always been rumors about what Diddy was like behind the scenes, at parties, and in his personal and professional life.
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In November of 2023, someone did come forward. Diddy's ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, filed a civil lawsuit against him, alleging that for over a decade he trapped her in a cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking. The lawsuit was a bombshell. It alleged Cassie was forced to participate in orchestrated, elaborate sex parties Diddy called freak-offs that he would film and keep recordings of.
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A day after the lawsuit was filed, Diddy settled with Cassie for an undisclosed amount and no admission of guilt. But Cassie opened the floodgates. Over the next 12 months, others who had spent time with Diddy, from a music producer to a former model to a yacht stewardess, filed lawsuits too. These lawsuits alleged rape, sexual assault, and human trafficking.
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Many also alleged Diddy would spike drinks and lace marijuana with narcotics to knock people out or make it harder for them to resist assault. Some mentioned Diddy videotaping assaults to further control and humiliate his victims. Those lawsuits went from a steady drip to a rapid current. There are now dozens of them.
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Rapper and record producer Jay Blaze caught it on camera and posted it to YouTube for the world to see. Actor Ashton Kutcher grabs onto a swing strung over the pool and tarzans across it. Diddy is emceeing in a sea of white suits, dresses, linen, and sunglasses. By the summer of 2009, Diddy had won three Grammys.
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In December of 2023, Diddy said in a statement that he did not do any of the, quote, awful things being alleged. He called them sickening allegations by people looking for a quick payday.
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His attorney told ABC News Combs couldn't comment on settled litigation, wouldn't comment on pending litigation, and, quote, cannot address every allegation picked up by the press from any source, no matter how unreliable, end quote. But in the fall of 2024, criminal charges were filed against Diddy by the feds.
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Mansions where he'd once hosted lavish parties were raided by federal agents. In L.A., more than a dozen officers pulled up in armored vehicles, wearing fatigues, guns drawn, pointing them at Diddy's sons, who happened to be at home. In Miami, it was police officers in T-shirts driving up to Diddy's compound in vans.
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Combs is now facing federal criminal charges that read a lot like those earlier civil lawsuits. Sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy. The charges accuse Diddy of decades of criminal behavior. And unlike the civil lawsuits that he faced from Cassie and now from others, these criminal charges could land him in prison for the rest of his life.
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Combs has pled not guilty to all charges. His attorney, Mark Ignifilo, called it an unjust prosecution. He said Combs was a, quote, music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the black community. He called Combs an imperfect person, but not a criminal.
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Once these lawsuits and charges were filed, reporters and fans started looking at Diddy's past with more scrutiny. And up close, knowing the allegations against him, even his famed summer parties started to look very different. Like this clip from an appearance on Conan O'Brien's show in 2002.
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Conan compliments Diddy on being a legendary party host and asks him for tips on throwing a quote, killer party.
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A joke about locking doors so women can't leave lands a little differently now. I've been captivated by Diddy's rise and fall for two reasons. The first one is pretty straightforward. When I was growing up in the 90s and 2000s, Diddy was everywhere. It's hard to be a millennial and not know his music or his impact on the music industry.
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One of his most popular songs I remember playing on the radio in elementary school was his All About the Benjamins. And Can't Nobody Hold Me Down. he marketed himself as a kingmaker in the world of hip-hop, and everything he touched seemed to turn to gold.
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He turned hip-hop from being a thing my mom probably didn't want me to listen to, to something that could make him into a billionaire businessman, something my mom wouldn't approve of. Back then, before the lawsuits, before the allegations and scrutiny, Diddy was someone you could look up to. But I'm not a culture reporter or a music journalist. I'm an attorney.
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I spent almost 10 years as a public defender in New York City, the last few of those in the homicide unit. Now, I litigate federal civil and criminal cases, And to be clear, I am not an attorney on Diddy's case, but I have represented people who have been accused of the kind of crimes he's being accused of, and people who were victims of those types of crimes.
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And even with all of my experience, when I read through some of the lawsuits from the people who had sued Diddy, I had to stop myself sometimes. The photos and details were jaw-dropping. They were a shock to my system. And the federal indictment is sweeping and disturbing.
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Diddy is accused of running a vast criminal enterprise that abused, threatened, and coerced his alleged victims and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and cover up his conduct for decades. Diddy maintains his innocence. His trial is set to start in May. Until then, he's locked up, stuck in a place that couldn't be more different from the luxury he's used to.
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He had five songs hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and three of his albums had gone platinum. He was successful and rich. Four months from turning 40, Forbes magazine put Diddy's net worth at $30 million. He'd presented himself for a long time as a champion and model of black excellence. and he was feeling patriotic after the U.S. elected its first Black president.
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A place he doesn't want to be. A place that no amount of money can get him out of. A place I know well. More after the break.
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In Diddy's old life, he could choose which of his many homes he wanted to spend time in. A three-story mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean and downtown LA, a compound in Miami including a nine-bedroom mansion, a New York City apartment with views of Central Park, homes in New Jersey and Atlanta, and a waterfront mansion in the Hamptons.
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This episode contains descriptions of violence and sexual assault. Please take care when listening. Toward the end of March 2024, Sean Diddy Combs was at an airport in Miami, Florida. He was getting ready to board his Love Air private jet for a spring break trip to the Caribbean with his 17-year-old twin girls.
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The story included allegations of physical abuse going back to the late 1980s, when Diddy was a college student at Howard. This was years before he started Bad Boy Records. Soon, Diddy faced crushing blowback. He was like a distressed asset. Organizations and brands that once celebrated him and wanted to be associated with him were now publicly distancing themselves.
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This reporting is from local TV outlet DC News Now. Nearly two weeks later, Howard University announced it was revoking his honorary degree, returning his million-dollar donation, and canceling a scholarship that had been set up in his name. Then, the mayor of New York asked Diddy to return his key to the city.
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Even the Miami Beach Commission joined the pilot by canceling its annual Sean Diddy Combs Day, as reported by NBC6 South Florida.
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This all happened in less than a month. And those forces that were turning against Diddy? Well, that pileup was growing bigger and more powerful because now the feds were getting closer to an arrest. That's after the break.
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Remember, Diddy wasn't home at the time of the raids. TMZ caught him on video pacing outside a Miami airport in blue sweatpants and a white T-shirt. Back in LA, agents swarmed past a white Range Rover in the driveway, guns drawn. One agent turned a security camera away as he passed, blocking its view of the raid. After the initial intensity, the raid seemed to downshift to a calmer, slower search.
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In September of 2024, Diddy returned to the place where his life and career began, New York City. He was spotted around town, posing for photos with his children in Harlem. Diddy looked casual in Tim's in a black t-shirt. The T-shirt looked simple enough, but it appeared to be a designer vintage item that can retail for over $1,000.
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While Diddy may have appeared relaxed, this wasn't a family getaway or even a business trip. Here's ABC chief investigative correspondent Aaron Katursky.
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His lawyer said he planned to turn himself in, but the feds didn't wait for that to happen. Instead, on September 16th of 2024, they made a surprise move in a hotel lobby in Midtown Manhattan. Here's Aaron Katursky on ABC News again.
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Standing at a podium, flanked by two American flags, then-U.S. Attorney Damian Williams looked serious, formal. He wore tortoiseshell glasses, a dark suit, and a navy maroon tie with gold stripes.
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Williams has the cred the SDNY is known for. He's an alum of Harvard, also Yale Law School. He was the first Black person to leave the SDNY. If Diddy went around pronouncing how he represented Black excellence, Damian Williams' presence and accomplishments were the embodiment of that excellence.
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There were three counts against Diddy laid out in order of severity. The first count is racketeering conspiracy, or RICO. That's the most serious count, because it carries a maximum sentence of up to life in prison. This count alleges that Diddy ran a criminal enterprise that exploited and abused women. The freak-offs were allegedly a manifestation of that abuse.
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The indictment says Diddy's criminal enterprise engaged in crimes like arson, bribery, forced labor, and obstruction of justice, just to name a few.
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In media footage, you can see agents strolling through French doors, past low manicured bushes, and a sculpture of a headless woman. Two agents in blue rubber gloves carried a white cooler through the Miami yard. Others loaded a big cardboard box into a van. By watching the footage, we can't see much of what they're up to inside the homes.
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The other charges? Two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. They also come with stiff prison sentences. Sex trafficking might catch some people off guard. We'll get more into this in a later episode. But for now, here's what the SDNY is alleging.
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Diddy used force, fraud, or coercion to compel his victims to participate in sexual acts against their will. It's a federal crime because Diddy's alleged victims were moved across state lines for those freak-offs.
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If the sex trafficking had only happened in, say, California, with people who were already in the state and weren't compelled to travel, well, then it'd likely be a state issue, not a federal one. As former U.S.
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Attorney Damian Williams explained the finer points of the indictment, he mentioned some of the corroborating evidence law enforcement allegedly found during those home raids six months earlier.
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Industrial quantities of baby oil aside, we're going to learn a lot more about all of the alleged evidence once Diddy's trial starts. That's scheduled to happen in May. Again, Didi has been unwavering in denying all of these allegations, and he's entered a plea of not guilty. Here's his lawyer, Mark Agnifilo, speaking to reporters.
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After the federal indictment, the number of civil lawsuits really picked up. You might ask what one has to do with the other, criminal indictment versus civil lawsuits. Well, in my experience, when the feds get involved, victims are more willing to come forward. Think about it. When you know the feds are going after someone, then you might say, OK, this person could get locked up.
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You might be able to get witness protection or even volunteer yourself to the feds as a witness. There's also strength and safety in numbers.
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In early October 2024, a trial lawyer out of Houston named Tony Busby held his own press conference. Busby stood in front of a podium in a dark suit and pink tie. His brown hair was slicked back. Behind him, a sign read SEXUAL ASSAULT HOTLINE in all caps. Below it, a 1-800 number in bright red font. Apparently, a lot of people have called this number.
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But I can tell you, a raid by the feds is never a pleasant experience. As a criminal defense attorney, I've represented clients who have been targets of these kinds of raids. We're talking beds flipped over, mattresses cut open. Law enforcement isn't handling people's stuff gently. It's also standard procedure for people at the scene to be detained.
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ABC reached out to the company tracking the calls. In April 2025, they told us they'd been contacted about 26,000 times.
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Busby reportedly filed nearly 40 civil lawsuits against Combs before he had to remove himself from the federal cases last month. That's because he's not admitted to practice in the Southern District of New York. But more than a dozen of his lawsuits are still moving forward without him, and Busby is still active on a couple lawsuits filed in New York State Court.
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Busby told reporters these lawsuits have some common denominators. For example, a lot of the alleged incidents happened at parties.
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Third, some victims allege they were threatened, including threats of physical violence or threats of financial consequences for speaking out. Busby promised the day would come when he would name names of other powerful people who were allegedly involved. A couple months after his press conference, Busby did name a name, a big one, Jay-Z.
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He was listed as Diddy's co-defendant in an alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl in 2000 after the MTV Video Music Awards. Jay-Z fired back on Instagram, where he described the allegations against him as frivolous, fictitious, and appalling.
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ABC obtained a recording of the Jane Doe who made those allegations, telling private investigators for Jay-Z that the rapper had been present, but not involved in the sexual assault. And she said that Tony Busby had pressured her to name Jay-Z in the suit, an allegation Busby has called a blatant lie.
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Despite the recording, the Jane Doe said in a sworn declaration she stands by her initial claims and dropped her lawsuit because of fear of intimidation and retaliation from Jay-Z and his fans. But her lawsuit against both men has been withdrawn with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. Now, Jay-Z is countersuing Busby and the Jane Doe for defamation.
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Still, as Diddy prepares for his federal criminal trial, he faces over 60 pending civil lawsuits.
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Adriana Alcalde is a victim's rights attorney who specializes in sex abuse cases. She represents a client who recently filed a civil lawsuit against Sean Combs. Her client is a John Doe, a former sex worker Diddy allegedly hired over a decade ago. This was back in 2012. He's decided to remain anonymous publicly, but Alcalde says Diddy's legal team knows his identity.
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The John Doe victim Alcalde represents alleges he traveled from Florida to a hotel in New York City, where Diddy instructed him to have sex with a woman. He described the sex acts as, quote, degrading. But the allegations in this John Doe's complaint mostly focus on what happened after the prearranged hotel sex. That's when Diddy allegedly cornered him in the bathroom and raped him.
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Diddy also allegedly threatened the John Doe with violence if he told anyone what happened. According to the complaint, John Doe alleges that Diddy told him, I'm not effing playing with you.
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Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in 1996. Diddy has always denied any involvement in his death. And in fact, someone else is currently facing charges in connection to Tupac's murder. But according to John Doe's lawsuit, Diddy used Tupac's death to intimidate him. ABC reached out to Diddy's legal team for their response to these John Doe allegations.
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The whole point of a coordinated surprise search like this is to find corroborating evidence of alleged crimes and to make sure evidence isn't moved, tampered with, or destroyed before law enforcement can get to it.
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And they said, quote, these are just more examples of false claims being filed against Mr. Combs. No matter how many lawsuits are filed, especially by individuals who refuse to put their own names behind their claims, it won't change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone, man or woman, adult or minor. Mr. Combs remains confident he will prevail in court.
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Alcalde said her client is still somewhat fearful of what could happen to him, and that's one of the reasons why he decided to file his lawsuit anonymously.
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Alcalde points out there's this other layer of stigma for her client because he's a former sex worker. Sex workers, she says, are more vulnerable to these kinds of alleged crimes, and they're less likely to be believed when they do come forward. In Alcalde's experience, there's a fundamental motivation driving the kinds of sex crimes her client allegedly experienced.
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If you connect the dots across all the allegations swirling around Diddy, unchecked power is a common thread.
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Lisa Bloom is an attorney representing another alleged victim, a singer named Don Rashard. In the 2000s, Richard was in a group called Danity Kane, as well as Diddy Dirty Money. She first came into Diddy's orbit through the MTV reality show Making the Band. In the fall of 2024, Richard filed a civil lawsuit against Diddy, which was amended in March of 2025.
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She alleges sexual assault and intimidation. She describes him in her lawsuit as having a, quote, vicious temper and alleges she witnessed him beating his then-girlfriend, Cassie, including striking, choking, and strangling her.
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Attorneys for Combs said Richard had, quote, manufactured a series of false claims, all in the hopes of trying to get a payday, and they're expected to file a motion to dismiss her suit by mid-May. Attorney Lisa Bloom wouldn't comment on the specific allegations in Richard's suit, but she did tell ABC News about some of the larger forces she sees at play in this case.
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ABC Entertainment contributor Kelly Carter agrees. She says the allegations against Diddy amount to something much bigger than the actions of one powerful mogul.
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When I heard law enforcement seized electronic devices from Diddy's homes, I immediately thought back to the lawsuits. How Cassie, Rodney Jones, and others alleged Diddy had recorded their sexual encounters. And when I heard they'd seized guns, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, I thought about how Rodney Jones alleged Diddy kept and displayed guns in his bedroom closet.
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After the break, we tackle complicated questions about Diddy's legacy and how one woman who helped promote him early on now feels about her role in his rise.
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Why couldn't you just act right? In the mid-1990s, LaJoyce Brookshire oversaw PR for Arista Records, which was then Bad Boy's parent label. These days, she teaches at City College, and she's the author of the book Women Behind the Mic, Curators of Pop Culture. Back in the day, she and Diddy worked hand-in-hand to promote Bad Boy artists, including Diddy, or Puffy, as he was known then.
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If I was to ask you to finish this sentence, how would you finish it? Sean Puffycombe's legacy is... Sean Puffycombe's legacy is... finished. Combs' legacy might not be the really important thing here, especially compared to the harm his alleged victim suffered. But the fallout from the allegations against him have had ripple effects.
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What he likely didn't know was that federal law enforcement agents were getting ready to execute parallel searches on his homes in Miami Beach and Los Angeles. In Miami, news footage shows a big police van tucked under a row of palm trees. In LA, Homeland Security officers rolled in with armored vehicles, military rifles, bulletproof vests, and drones.
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LaJoyce Brookshire says she used to think of Puffy as a creative genius. She used to be proud of the work she did with him, whenever she caught a glimpse of him performing or getting an award. Wow, we did that.
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She reminded me of how back in the day, people thought hip-hop was just a passing fad, nothing bankable or worthy. Decades later, the music, the culture, it's still a phenomenon. She was part of building that foundation, along with so many other people. She says this is the legacy that's been tarnished.
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We started this series with a portrait of Sean Combs as the ultimate host. He staged elaborate, over-the-top parties everyone wanted to go to. He was the hitmaker, the kingmaker that everyone wanted to be near. Back in early November, Diddy celebrated his 55th birthday with a very different kind of party. This was not a lavish, star-studded affair. Diddy was on a speakerphone from jail.
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Again, I wondered whether these lawsuits had given law enforcement a roadmap to find what they were looking for. And I wasn't the only one glued to the coverage of the raids of Diddy's homes. People couldn't look away. Here's DJ and ABC News contributor Megan Wright.
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His kids gathered to sing him happy birthday, including his youngest, a two-year-old named Love.
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This moment has been memorialized on Diddy's Instagram. It's just one of a handful of posts you can still find in his feed. His kids reposted it too. The comments are a mix of free Diddy and send him to jail for life. The Bare Bones Party has all the trappings of a staged moment, at least according to prosecutors.
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In court documents arguing against bail, they allege this video is actually part of a campaign Diddy planned around his birthday to influence potential jurors, and that Diddy monitored how this post was performing on social media from jail. However you interpret this video,
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Whether you see it as simply a small family gathering or a carefully curated PR stunt, there's no denying how different Diddy's reality is today from the freedom, luxury, and power that defined him for so long. This is how it will be until his trial, until a jury decides to send him to prison or set him free. Next time on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy.
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We'll game out strategies the prosecution and defense might use at Diddy's upcoming trial with a reporter who's been covering this case from the beginning.
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That's next time on Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-HOPE. Or go to rainn.org. If you like this podcast, please share it and give it a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thanks for listening. Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy is a production of ABC Audio. I'm Brian Buckmeyer.
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This podcast was written and produced by Nancy Rosenbaum, Vika Aronson, and Camille Peterson. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor. Associate producer, Amira Williams. Production help from Shane McKeon and Meg Fierro. Fact checker, Audrey Mostek. Story consultant, Sweeney St. Phil. Supervising producer, Sasha Aslanian. Original music by Evan Viola. Mixing by Rick Kwan.
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Ariel Chester is our social media producer. This podcast was powered by the journalists at Impact by Nightline, 2020, GMA, and the ABC News Investigative Unit. Thanks to those teams. And special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Liz Alessi, and Katie Dendas. Josh Cohan is ABC Audio's Director of Podcast Programming. Laura Mayer is the executive producer.
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For decades, Diddy had brushes with the law. But this didn't stop him from living large and flying around the world in his private jet. The way he dressed, the way he traveled, the way he partied, few could compare. But this day, back in March of 2024, was a turning point. The walls were closing in.
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The raid by federal agents spilled Diddy's criminal investigation into public view for the first time. And soon, what started as a trickle of allegations swelled into a tsunami no one could ignore. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an attorney and ABC News legal contributor. From ABC Audio, this is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. Episode five, Downfall.
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The day after his homes were raided, Diddy and his legal team fired back.
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Diddy's attorney released a statement saying Diddy was innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name. But Diddy and his team are up against one of the toughest U.S. attorney's offices in the country, the Southern District of New York, or SDNY. This office has a ridiculously high conviction rate, like around 90 to 95%. Chances are you've heard about the SDNY in the news.
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They prosecute some of the country's highest profile cases. Think cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried. And let's not forget Ghislaine Maxwell. She was convicted of conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse minors. And now the SDNY is after Diddy. Two months after the SDNY executed the raids on Diddy's homes, Diddy's world was rocked again.
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The surveillance footage is from eight years earlier, back when Diddy and Cassie were still together. They were staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles. The video CNN published includes a handful of short clips. There's no sound. Here's what you see. Cassie Ventura walks down a hotel hallway barefoot. She wears an oversized hoodie and carries a large purse.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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In another shot, you see Diddy running down the hallway, shirtless, a towel wrapped around his waist. He runs up to Cassie as she bends to put her shoes on by the elevator. Diddy grabs her by the back of the head and throws her to the ground. He kicks her in the back and she just lies there, doesn't try to get up. He kicks her again, then starts to drag her back down the hall by her sleeve.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Elizabeth Wagmeister is an entertainment reporter for CNN. She's the one who broke the story about this video. Cassie's 2023 lawsuit includes a pretty detailed account of this very incident. She claims Diddy punched her in the eye during one of those freak-offs, and that after he fell asleep, she tried to escape.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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The suit mentions how Diddy woke up and followed her into the hall of this very hotel. She alleged he dragged her and threw glass vases that crashed around her. Cassie also alleged Diddy paid the hotel $50,000 for the surveillance video.
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a federal investigation into human trafficking. In the months leading up to this raid, Diddy had been hit with a bunch of bombshell civil lawsuits, including ones alleging rape and sex trafficking, all of which he's denied. But this was the day the public found out that the feds were looking into Diddy. Civil lawsuits can lead to financial penalties, but criminal charges can lead to prison time.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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When Cassie's lawsuit came out in 2023, Diddy's attorney issued a statement saying Cassie's allegations were baseless and that her suit was, quote, riddled with outrageous lies aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs' reputation and seeking a payday. Andini's attorneys have since alleged that CNN altered the video.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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They called it a misleading piece of evidence, alleging the footage was sped up and reordered and that CNN destroyed the original recording. A spokesperson for CNN denied these allegations, saying the network never altered the video and that their source kept the original footage. When Cassie and Diddy reached a settlement, Diddy's lawyer was quick to point out Diddy's innocence.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Just so we're clear, his lawyer said in a statement, a decision to settle a lawsuit is in no way an omission of wrongdoing. And Diddy's lawyers didn't just deny Cassie's claims. They also refuted other allegations that started rolling in after Cassie came forward.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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By the time CNN published their story in May of 2024, there were a handful of active civil lawsuits on the books against Diddy, several alleging sex trafficking and sexual abuse.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Within a couple of days, Diddy posted his own video to Instagram.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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In the video, Diddy looks a little haggard, dressed down in a plain beige t-shirt, no logos, no flashy jewelry. He appears to be somewhere tropical on a balcony with a tidy thatched roof.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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He follows the typical apology video script. He says that he's been to therapy and to rehab and that he's been asking God for mercy.
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But then, it ends. What's missing from this apology video? An actual apology? Or any mention of Cassie? People definitely took notice. Here's how the hosts of ABC's The View reacted. Does his confession change anything?
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It's one thing to read a lawsuit like Cassie's that alleges abuse. It's another to see video footage that appears to corroborate those allegations. I'd argue the surveillance video was actually far more damning to Diddy than Cassie's lawsuit was, or any lawsuit for that matter. The video tarnished Diddy's image, an image he had kept such a tight hold on for decades.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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When I saw Diddy's video on Instagram, I had a lot of questions. As an attorney, I generally advise my clients to let their lawyer do the talking for them. So Diddy putting out this video, it made me wonder, had this been part of an improved strategy or was it something more spontaneous? Here's CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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So according to Wagmeister, Diddy couldn't deliver a full apology for legal reasons, which leaves him with a few options. Stay silent, deliver what some considered a weak apology, or break the terms of the settlement agreement and risk the consequences.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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Author Justin Tinsley writes about Black culture on ESPN's Anscape. And by that video, he's referring to the surveillance footage of Diddy attacking Cassie, the one that CNN published.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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After the fallout from the CNN story and his Instagram apology, Diddy appeared to shrink away from public life. In May, he was reportedly MIA from his eldest daughter's high school graduation. In June, Revolt, the media company Diddy had started in 2013, announced he'd sold his majority stake and was no longer involved with the company. Then, he deleted all of his Instagram posts.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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For someone who had spent years posting videos of himself living his best life on social media, Diddy's digital silence was noticeable. Even though Diddy was laying low, he was still very much on other people's radars, including the media's. In May of 2024, Rolling Stone published an investigation into Diddy and his alleged history of violence.
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The feds, they weren't looking to arrest Diddy. Not yet. First, they were looking for evidence.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
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A warning, this episode includes discussion of sexual violence and abuse, so please take care when listening. In 2006, more than a dozen people sat around a long conference table scattered with water bottles and shiny folders emblazoned with a bad boy logo.
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In September of 2007, Cassie threw a party to celebrate her 21st birthday. The party was at a hotel in Las Vegas. In photos, you can see her wearing shimmery pants and a white tank top. She's smiling, holding a glass of bubbly. According to Cassie's lawsuit, Combs showed up to the party uninvited. He brought some of his celebrity friends along too, including Britney Spears.
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Combs and his longtime girlfriend, Kim Porter, had reportedly broken up. They were together on and off for about 13 years and raised four children together. In her lawsuit, Cassie alleged that Combs forcibly kissed her in a bathroom that night of her birthday party and that she did not consent to his unwanted contact.
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That fall, according to Cassie's lawsuit, Combs invited her to come to Miami by herself under the pretense of a work obligation. She says he hired a party promoter to make fake flyers for an event that she was supposed to host. But Cassie's lawsuit claims there was no party. It was all a sham.
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The suit says Cassie was, quote, stunned at how easily Mr. Combs was able to recruit others to lie for him. Alone with Combs at his Miami home, Cassie alleged he pressured her to take drugs. She felt she couldn't say no because it might hurt her career. And after she took the drugs, the lawsuit says, she became more intoxicated than she ever had been before.
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And that's when she alleges Combs had sex with her. Then, Cassie alleges, Combs used his wealth, power, and influence to take control of different parts of her life. First, renting her an apartment in New York within walking distance of his, then doing the same in LA. He paid for her car, and when she went to events, he paid for her clothes and makeup too.
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She alleged he used drugs to keep her complacent and compliant. Cassie alleges that she became increasingly isolated and frightened as her relationship with Combs escalated into sexual and physical violence. As the years ticked by, she says she was, quote, unable to see a pathway out of Mr. Combs' abusive hold on her life. Sean Combs categorically denies these allegations.
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In 2008, Cassie released a new single with Bad Boy called Official Girl, featuring Lil Wayne. As Cassie promoted the track on radio stations across the country, she kept getting asked, when are we going to see your next album?
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For me, this song brings back memories of being 18 years old and driving around with my friends in my mom's car. It was the kind of song where if you heard it on the radio, you'd tell your friends, yo, turn that up. It was this song that caught Diddy's attention.
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Now it's 2009. A few years have passed since Cassie's first album came out. That summer, Cassie does an interview on a hip-hop station near Albany, New York.
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Cassie says the album was pretty much done, that it was being mixed, and that she even had a title for it.
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But by the fall, Cassie's sophomore album was still M.I.A., About a month after that radio interview, Cassie made an appearance at Diddy's white party for the first time. It's the same party that we told you about in episode one, where Ashton Kutcher swung across the pool Tarzan style.
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Cassie wasn't officially Diddy's girlfriend at this point, but the young artist caught the attention of the cameras.
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Cassie looked radiant in a white mini dress and gold strappy heels. Her image had changed from the Me & You debut single days. Now, she was in her early 20s. She'd recently shaved one side of her head, giving her an edgy look that made her seem older and kind of punk rock. This was a daring hairstyle that got Cassie a lot of attention.
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But years later, stories start emerging to suggest that bold look wasn't Cassie's choice. In 2022, rapper Young Jock told YouTuber and music journalist DJ Vlad about the time he says he was hanging out with Cassie and Diddy in Miami. He says they were partying at a club when Diddy saw a woman with one side of her head shaved. The way Young Jock recalled it, Diddy rushed over to Cassie.
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We searched, but it doesn't appear Diddy or Cassie responded publicly to Young Jock's account. But back in 2009, Cassie said in interviews that she'd been thinking about shaving her head for a while. It would be several more years before Cassie and Combs hard launched their relationship in a public way. In 2012, they started appearing together at glitzy events like Paris Fashion Week.
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They were both always dressed to the nines, but it was clear who the bigger star was. At the 2017 Met Gala, the couple was photographed wearing couture. Diddy talked to Vogue's Andre Leon Talley about what he was wearing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is it. This is fearlessness. Cassie waited a few steps behind until Andre motioned her to come over.
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He told everyone gathered at the conference table that the song had been haunting him in nightclubs and that he thought Cassie had a personality that, quote, the whole world could fall in love with. Before Bad Boy released a remix, Me and You was already an underground hit, even without the backing of a big record label. Cassie Ventura had built up a fan base DIY style.
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Here's ABC News entertainment contributor Kelly Carter talking about Cassie's shift from musician to girlfriend.
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Cassie's new role as Combs' official girlfriend starts to redefine how she was treated and also perceived. And Combs had a hand in shaping that perception. Like in 2015, he came out with a new fragrance called 3AM. He produced a risque video starring him and Cassie to promote it. The scenes of them embracing and kissing are intercut with the suggestion of violence.
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Cassie slaps and shoves, combs his hands, and circle her neck. The minute-long ad was so explicit that some television networks reportedly refused to air it. This was the same year the movie version of Fifty Shades of Grey came out, and this ad was compared to that. Combs went on Andy Cohen's Bravo talk show, Watch What Happens Live, to show him the video. Now that's your real girlfriend.
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Oh, she is fully naked. In the video, Cassie is straddling Combs, her body naked and exposed. Combs doesn't say anything in this interview with Andy Cohen about Cassie being a recording artist on his label. For the purposes of this conversation, she's his girlfriend and a model. Remember, Cassie had been modeling on and off since she was 12.
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Side note, Cassie's not from Europe. She grew up in Connecticut. Anyways, what stands out to me here is that Cassie, the recording artist, she's no longer in the frame. It's like she's become more of an accessory, an extension of Combs and his brand. In 2015, Bad Boy Records celebrated its 20th anniversary. The next year, Diddy organized a 24-city family reunion tour to celebrate.
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He was the headliner, and he invited legacy bad boy artists like Lil' Kim, Mase, and Faith Evans to share the stage. Some of the shows included special guest appearances from artists like Jay-Z, Usher, Snoop Dogg, and Mary J. Blige. Cassie performed at some of these concerts, but she wasn't a headliner, and she doesn't show up in the press release. And if you look for her, you can find her.
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She's there, at least at some of the shows. But she's not out front and she's not being promoted. She's clearly part of the supporting cast. So maybe that makes sense. After all, she hasn't had another hit song in 10 years. She's sort of a one-hit wonder at this point. At least that's one interpretation. But maybe she's not out front because she's being stifled.
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The secret ingredient was early social media. Remember Myspace? Myspace was only about three years old at the time. It was the beginning of social media for millennials like me who grew up in the 90s and early 2000s. My profile had posts about soccer players I liked, like Ronaldinho, Zizou, and Henri, and some of my favorite music.
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People like DJ and culture critic Megan Wright began to wonder if Cassie's career was being held back intentionally.
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But she was still recording music. Back in 2012, an anonymous fan posted 66 unreleased Cassie tracks on a social media site called Tumblr that was popular at the time. It isn't clear how the fan got these songs or why some of them had never been released by Bad Boy. The collection was titled The Cassie Trilogy.
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And if you search around the internet, you can still find a link with all of the leaked recordings, including this track titled Sound of Love. We don't know if this collection of leaked songs put pressure on Bad Boy, but a year later, in 2013, the label released a Cassie mixtape called Rockabye Baby. A mixtape isn't the same as a commercial studio album.
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It might be less formally produced, with songs meant to please the fans or offer tracks that don't make the cut for an album. A lot of times you can download it for free, and that was the case for Cassie's mixtape. Even so, the online music magazine Pitchfork gave Cassie's mixtape a glowing review, saying that now Cassie is more than a singer. Now she's got flow and a remarkable range.
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Here's one of the singles from Cassie's mixtape. It's called Numb. When Cassie's mixtape dropped, she did interviews on television and local radio shows to promote it. And she was asked the same question people have been asking her for years. When is her actual album coming out? Here's Cassie in an interview with a radio host named DJ Ski in May of 2013. How long has it been since the last album?
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Cassie explains that over the years, she put out some songs here and there, but they didn't really take off. And the reason she never released a new album was because she needed to prove herself more. She needed to earn the respect of her label. Remember, this label she needed to prove herself to, it was controlled by her boyfriend, Sean Combs.
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Coming up, Cassie starts working with a new and talented producer who tells us what she glimpsed of Cassie's troubled relationship with Diddy.
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I probably posted a picture of me working my after-school retail job at Hollister. I hope to God that picture doesn't still exist. Today, it's pretty common for artists and influencers to get famous off of social media alone. But when Cassie was starting out, it was pretty new to release music without a label, to build connections directly with fans without going through a gatekeeper.
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In 2015, Cassie started working with a Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter named Tiffany Redd. She and Cassie are around the same age. As they collaborated in the studio, they became friends. Tiffany was one of the first people with access to Cassie and Diddy's world who spoke out publicly about the alleged abuse after Cassie settled her lawsuit.
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Tiffany remembers this one night she was out with Cassie in Miami. They were celebrating Cassie's birthday at a club, and then they decided to go to McDonald's. As they were driving, she says Cassie's phone lit up. It was Diddy.
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This was the era of flip phones and DVDs, so people glanced at paper handouts inside their folders as they scribbled down notes in actual notebooks. Sean Diddy Combs had gathered everyone to tell them about a new artist he'd signed to his Bad Boy Records label.
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Tiffany says it was the first time she witnessed this kind of dynamic firsthand. she found it shocking and disturbing.
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When asked to comment on Tiffany Redd's account, Combs' attorney in a statement to ABC News said, Mr. Combs cannot comment on settled litigation, will not comment on pending litigation, and cannot address every allegation picked up by the press from any source, no matter how unreliable.
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Tiffany says there was one night, actually another of Cassie's birthdays, where she saw a particularly menacing and controlling side of Combs that alarmed her. Cassie also described this incident in her lawsuit. It was her 29th birthday, and Diddy was throwing her a surprise party. As the party was winding down, Cassie told Tiffany and some other friends that she wanted to leave to go do karaoke.
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Soon, Tiffany says, people from Diddy's team circled around them.
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Despite the pressure to stay, Cassie and Tiffany made their way to the karaoke club. Later, Diddy showed up with his security detail and Tiffany says they zeroed in on Cassie again. She says all of a sudden, things got really tense when Diddy showed up.
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Here's Cassie and the producer she'd been working with, named Ryan Leslie, talking about this in a video blog.
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At around three or four in the morning, Tiffany says Cassie and Diddy returned to Cassie's house. Tiffany was sleeping over that night, and she says Cassie seemed sluggish and sedated.
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Cassie's lawsuit includes allegations that Combs supplied her with excessive amounts of drugs and coerced her into sexual encounters that he orchestrated, directed, and also allegedly filmed. These encounters are described in the lawsuit as freak-offs or FOs, and they often involved one or more male sex workers. Sex workers he allegedly instructed Cassie to hire.
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The lawsuit describes how Combs treated these forced encounters as a kind of personal art project. He controlled the lighting and the camera shots in the videos he took. He allegedly told Cassie what to say and what to wear, even down to the shade of her nail polish. Sometimes, these events allegedly lasted for multiple days at a time.
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Cassie allegedly often got IV fluids afterwards so she could recover. Combs' defense attorneys claim in a court filing that videos depicting sexual activity between the rapper, Cassie, and male sex workers confirm Mr. Combs' innocence because they show sexual activity among consenting adults. To Cassie, the videos had another purpose.
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She alleges that Combs used them to remind her that he was the one in control. According to the lawsuit, there was one time when they were on a flight and he showed her a video of a freak-off she thought had been deleted. Seeing that video, it underscored how trapped she was. He had this collateral, something that he could use to enforce his power and keep her compliant. Here's Tiffany Redd again.
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Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for watching.
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And that's when the major labels came knocking, including Bad Boy Records, Sean Combs' company. As an attorney, I can tell you that the terms of any deal like this are usually private. We later find out Bad Boy reportedly offered Cassie a contract to make 10 albums. That was huge and also pretty unusual for a new artist without a proven track record.
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I could only find a couple of examples like this, including the 10-album deal a teenage LL Cool J reportedly got in the 1980s with Def Jam Records. Just think about it. Here's Cassie. She's at the very beginning of her career, only a couple years out of high school. And one of the biggest record labels in hip hop and R&B offers her a chance to make not just one, but 10 albums? That's crazy.
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Cassie was pumped and talked about it in an interview with Fun Radio France.
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But those 10 albums, they never happened. It's hard to watch some of these early videos of Cassie before everything changed, because now we know her dreams got derailed. And this legendary label she was so excited to join, she alleges the person who ran it became her tormentor and abuser. That's according to a lawsuit Cassie filed against Combs and his company in 2023.
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The lawsuit describes in excruciating detail how she allegedly got trapped in a toxic relationship with Combs that lasted for more than a decade.
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Cassie's allegations include disturbing accounts of abuse that lasted for years, that Combs forced her to use drugs and have sex with male sex workers, that he was controlling, even at times having her medical records sent directly to him, and that he was prone to rage and frequently beat her.
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When Cassie filed her lawsuit, Combs' attorneys issued a statement saying he vehemently denied these offensive and outrageous allegations and that Cassie's lawsuit was riddled with baseless and outrageous lies aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs' reputation and seeking a payday.
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Diddy was in the middle of a successful run with Danny Kane on his MTV show Making the Band, and he was getting ready to release the debut album of Atlanta rapper Young Jock. But Diddy wasn't happy with the label's recent performance. He said publicly that he was trying to get things back on track. So now he had another up-and-coming artist he wanted everyone in the room to meet. Cassie Ventura.
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But within a day of filing her suit, Cassie Ventura and Sean Combs reached an undisclosed settlement agreement with no admission of guilt. Combs issued a statement saying, we have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best.
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I think it's fair to say that Cassie's lawsuit was the first domino to fall in the complicated web of civil and criminal allegations that Combs is now facing. And if he's convicted, some of those charges could put him behind bars for the rest of his life. For his part, Combs denies all allegations and has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges he's about to be tried for.
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But if we go back 20 years to when Cassie and Combs first met, what can we learn about how we got here? In this episode, we're going to focus on Cassie. We'll retrace the steps of her relationship with Combs and how some people we spoke with say dating him seemed to hurt her career more than it helped him.
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We'll speak to a friend who claims she witnessed Combs abusing Cassie, and we'll ask, what are the mechanisms and forces that fuel the kind of abuse that's been alleged and allow it to stay hidden for so long? Because to be clear, the abuse Cassie alleged in her lawsuit, it's much bigger than one powerful person. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, and you're listening to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy.
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Episode 3, Me and You. Cassie Ventura grew up in a small city in Connecticut that sits about halfway between New York City and Boston. Her family is a mix of cultures. She's described her mom as having Mexican, Black, and West Indian roots. Her dad's side of the family is Filipino. Cassie started modeling when she was 12.
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As a teenager, she attended a performing arts school where she studied ballet and jazz. Cassie moved to New York City in the fall of 2004 with her best friend. At first, she found work as a model. But Cassie wanted to be something more. She looked up to artists like Sade, Janet Jackson, and Aaliyah. She wanted to be an artist too. And not just that, she wanted to be famous.
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She said as much in a 2006 documentary on YouTube called Cassie Ventura, The Beginning.
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Once her deal with Bad Boy was finalized in 2006, Cassie started working on her debut album. The album cover is a close-up of Cassie's face. She's staring straight at the camera with a serious and mysterious expression. Her hair is parted on the side and falls in loose waves over one eye.
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The day of the launch, Cassie and her producer, Ryan Leslie, drove to Virgin Records, a big music store in Times Square, to celebrate. They were greeted by a crowd of fans holding up CDs they had just bought.
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Now that she was a bad boy artist with a hit single, Cassie was becoming more visible on a national stage. She had a big moment in the spotlight in 2006 when she performed in front of a live audience for the popular TV show 106 and Park on Black Entertainment Television, or BET. Both the cable network and the show were a really big deal at the time. Here's DJ and ABC News contributor Megan Wright.
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That day, she wore her long, dark hair tucked behind her ears and big gold hoop earrings. She dressed casually, with little to no makeup. Combs was in his late 30s. He sat at the head of the conference table while 19-year-old Cassie was at the other end. She was there with a producer she'd been working with. They'd released a song you've probably heard of called Me and You.
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As a teenager in the late 90s and early 2000s, 106 & Park was the place to see my favorite performers and check out up-and-coming artists. The show brought hip-hop to the forefront in a way that was mainstream, big, and just cool. Everyone watched it. So if you missed it and showed up to school the next day, you'd be lost in the conversation.
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Cassie appearing on 106 & Park meant she had made it onto one of the biggest and coolest stages there was. The day of Cassie's big debut on 106 & Park, she looked nervous.
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Her voice sounded shaky, tentative. You could see her eyes dart across the audience.
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At one point, the camera pulls back to show the crowd, and there's only a few people dancing. The whole thing feels very low energy.
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Jamila Lemieux is a writer and cultural critic. She remembers Cassie's BET debut.
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Some fans didn't think Cassie met those high standards for Bad Boy. I found an online petition to get Cassie kicked off the label that referenced both this BET performance and another one on MTV. The petition got over 3,000 signatures, so not tons considering she had hundreds of thousands of followers on MySpace, but still, it was pretty vicious.
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The petition was titled, We Prefer Lassie Over Cassie, and whoever started it complained of Cassie's penguin-moaning vocals. But after the BET performance, Diddy seemed to stand by Cassie. He told MTV, It just made me appreciate that she got nervous, and it was kind of cute to me, to be honest. He said he told her, It's like riding a bike. You're gonna fall down. You gotta keep on getting on it.
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At the time, that might have seemed like a label exec defending his artist, standing by her. Maybe even a bit of fatherly advice. But those comments to MTV, where he described Cassie as cute, actually showed up in Cassie's 2023 lawsuit against Combs.
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The suit said that by pointing out how young and naive Cassie was, Combs was actually laying the groundwork for his, quote, manipulative and course of romantic relationship with a woman nearly two decades his junior. A lot of what we've learned about Cassie's experience of her relationship with Sean Combs comes from this lawsuit, allegations that he, again, vehemently denies.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
But because the lawsuit was settled quickly and the details of the settlement were sealed, all we have is her 35-page complaint to share her side of the story, her account of how their relationship started, what the alleged abuse was like for her, and how she says it impacted her life and her career. Cassie hasn't spoken about the alleged abuse since the settlement.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
It's common in settlements like this for the two sides to agree not to say bad things about each other. So all we've heard from Cassie is an Instagram post where she thanked fans for their support, but didn't mention Diddy by name.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
So what happens if we take the accounts of hidden abuse Cassie alleges in her lawsuit and compare them with the parts of her life that were visible to the public these last 20 years? what picture emerges? That's coming up after the break.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
Me & U
To this day, Me and You is the track Cassie is best known for. A song that would go on to peak at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. A song that stayed on the charts for about six months. In other words, back in 2006, Cassie's song was one of the country's most popular singles.