Daniel Bates
Appearances
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
So Didi was in court for a pretrial hearing, which takes place just over a month before the trial is due to start. And it was to deal with a number of matters that kind of, you know, crop up before these kind of, you know, trials take place, housekeeping, documents and so forth. But the big news was Didi's appearance.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
In previous hearings, he's had dark colored hair and, you know, it looked very much like he dyed his hair. But this time, it was a shock of white hair with some gray bits. He was noticeably heavier. And yeah, he seems to have just given up on dying his hair. So Diddy's rocking a new look.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
And I'm not sure if he's going to stick with this for the trial, but he looked significantly older, significantly heavier set. So dramatic change in his appearance, you know, with just weeks to go until the trial.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Did he look stressed or did he look... Well, in court, Diddy's a performer. I mean, I've seen him in court a few times now. You know, he comes into court and he smiles at everyone. You know, it's like a light goes on and he's a completely different person. You know, he was waving at one of his sons and daughters who were in the public gallery.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
The biggest secret in the entertainment industry that really wasn't a secret at all has finally been revealed to the world.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
And at the end of the hearing, his mum came in a bit late and he saw her. He blew her a kiss. He sort of put his hand on his heart and she blew a kiss back to him.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
You know, he's hugging his lawyers. He's saying hi to people. You know, it's like he's in the club. You know, he's just he's everybody's friend, you know, and it's like, I mean, you know, you could argue that this is a bit of PR on his behalf, but there's no jury there yet. So, I mean, he's he puts on a show every time. And today was no different.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Yeah, I think there's going to be about two weeks of jury selection. And then the question of whether the jury is going to be sequestered came up. I wasn't quite clear as to whether or not, you know, that was actually going to happen. But it looks like we're going to have quite a lengthy jury selection process. I mean, you know, two weeks for a federal case is quite long.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
But with a high profile case like this, you know, it sometimes can take that long. I mean, you can expect Diddy to hire jury consultants, you know, to ask extensive questions about You know, feelings towards him, whether or not they know anyone related to him, different locations. You know, it's going to be a long, lengthy process.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
And, you know, given the high profile of the case, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few hiccups as well. But it seems that we're going to get weeks of jury selection before the trial even starts, you know, sometime in mid-May.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Well, again, it wasn't quite clear. I think it was just during voir dire. I mean, I don't think the jury are going to be sequestered for the whole trial, but it's possible it may be for voir dire. So, I mean, it's an unusual move for a judge to do that, if indeed that is what happens. I mean, but I think it reflects the... the extremely, you know, high profile nature of this case.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
I mean, I've seen plenty of juries who are anonymous. I remember, you know, multiple Trump cases and, you know, so it's not unusual. But if the jury is indeed sequestered, then that would be quite unusual.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Yeah, like I said, I think it sort of remains to be seen what has actually decided on that. But, you know, it would indeed be unusual.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Yeah, I think right at the end, Mark Agnifilo talked about, you know, voluminous amount of medical records that they'd obtained. And that's something they're going to be working through. And there was also a discussion about the... You know, the recording obtained by CNN of Didi attacking Cassie Ventura, his ex-girlfriend, in 2016 at a hotel.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
You know, the judge didn't make a decision as to sort of whether or not that's going to be admitted. But Agnifilo said that the recording was deceptive and that it had been manipulated by CNN. He said that it had been made to look faster than it actually was and it was out of sequence. The prosecution described it as a critical piece of evidence.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Both sides said that they're going to try and work things out as to whether or not it's admitted. But, I mean, you know, what's clear is that it's a much disputed piece of evidence that is central to the case. Prosecutors said that they're going to have witnesses testifying about it. You know, we may see Cassie herself give evidence. That's not clear yet.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
But it seems like there's going to have to be a major ruling from the judge at some point as to whether or not that comes in. The other thing that caught my ear was a mention by the prosecutor of disclosing witnesses' names to the prosecution, sorry, to the defense, which they haven't done yet. And the prosecutor said that these witnesses are understandably terrified of
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
about the prospect of their name becoming public or being disclosed to the defense. So it seems that those names are going to go over to the defense, but for attorney's eyes only and not for the public at this stage.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Yeah, I mean, I think it's, I don't even know if anything's going to be entered, anything that will be entered onto the docket would be sealed. And attorney's eyes only is a sort of special category that judges can impose to add an extra layer of security to ensure that these things don't leak out.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, they can be a little boring, you know, and it's often administrative and, you know, sort of dealing with, like, the kind of logistics and, you know, timings for stuff. But, you know, you get nuggets. You get an insight into what's coming later. And obviously, like I said, Diddy's appearance was a real shock. I mean, he, you know...
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
You know, I don't know if it's a ploy to look like an elder statesman or sort of look, you know, more, you know, kind of, you know, sort of to have a different vibe to him. But it was it was a change and it's quite close to the trial. So we'll have to see what happens next time. You know, there is a there is actually dye available in the federal prison system in the in the commissary.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Prisoners can actually buy dye. So if you didn't want to reverse it and go back to his old look, you could do so.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
I think there's a barber. There's a barber there, you know. So, yeah. So, you know, I mean, prisoners need haircuts, too. So, yeah.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Yeah, I was going to say that was the other thing. It was new claims were made about under the racketeering charge and allegations of forced labour and threatening staff. And, you know, when someone is hit with new charges, they have to formally plead to them, you know. And Diddy stood up and he was asked by the judge if he'd read the document. He said yes.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
He asked if he was asked if he understood it and he said yes. And he entered a plea and said in a loud voice, not guilty. You know, and then he sat down again and he didn't really speak for the rest of the hearing and just sat sort of sitting next to his lawyers on the on the on the bench. But, yeah, it was a sort of formal plea of not guilty to these updated or superseding allegations.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Yeah, the only other thing was his mother came into court a bit later. She walked out of court. She didn't comment. She didn't say anything, and neither did his son and daughter as they left.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
But, you know, it seemed like someone from Diddy's family has been in court every time, and I think it was a real boost for Diddy to see his mum because she wasn't there when the hearing started, and she came in late. And when he turned around at the end, he saw her and, you know, was sort of tapping his heart and blowing her kisses. So that seemed to give him a boost.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Noticeably heavier. I would say noticeably heavier. His weight's gone up and down over the years, but compared to last time, his stomach and his chest, he was noticeably heavier around there.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, the NBC is a tough, tough prison. I mean, I remember when Ghislaine Maxwell was in there and her lawyers were filing complaints every week about the horrible food. You know, the fact that, you know, the microwave meals were melting into the plastic. Her hair was falling out because she was so stressed. She was getting a light shone into her face every 15 minutes.
The Trial of Diddy
BONUS EPISODE - On the courtsteps for Diddy's grey appearance!
You know, and it's, I mean, it's, you know, this is a guy who's used to living in, you know, multi-million dollar mega mansions, you know, in this jet set, you know, private jet lifestyle with private chefs. And now he's eating, you know, the kind of