Today, we're bringing you episode five of the latest podcast from 20/20 and ABC Audio, "Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy." As the wave of civil lawsuits against Diddy continues to grow, in March of 2024, federal agents raid two of his properties in connection to a human trafficking investigation. Just a couple months later, an old video of Diddy beating, kicking and dragging his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in the hallway of a hotel surfaces, with devastating consequences. He publicly apologizes for his behavior and says he went to therapy. By September 2024, he’s arrested and indicted on federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleads not guilty to all charges. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE or go to rainn.org. Remember, you can catch new episodes of "Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy" early by following the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is Sean Diddy Combs and what legal troubles is he facing?
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.
Chapter 2: What happened during the federal raids on Diddy's properties?
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.
It's all happening right there behind me. Now, the searches are being carried out at Diddy's properties as part of a federal investigation into human trafficking.
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.
So this was a big escalation.
And again, you can see a lot of activity here, a lot of law enforcement. Again, Homeland Security out of New York is handling this, and they're being assisted by Homeland Security here in Los Angeles.
The feds, they weren't looking to arrest Diddy. Not yet. First, they were looking for evidence.
Now, all they're saying is that the investigation has been ongoing for several months. Right now, they're not saying anything about any arrests or imminent, so we're waiting for them to give us more information.
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.
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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Chapter 3: What evidence was seized and what does it imply about the allegations?
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.
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.
We begin this hour with disturbing video. It's truly disturbing when you see it. This is exclusively obtained by CNN, and it really seems to support at least some of the abuse claims against Sean Diddy Combs.
It's graphic surveillance footage that appears to show Combs repeatedly hitting his then-girlfriend Cassie inside of a hotel. This is back in 2016, and we do want to warn you, what you're about to see is very disturbing.
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.
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.
In another shot, he appears to throw a vase at her.
The first time that I heard about the incident that is portrayed in this video was from Cassie's lawsuit.
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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Chapter 4: What is the significance of the surveillance video involving Cassie Ventura?
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.
I mean, I hit rock bottom, but I'm committed to be a better man each and every day.
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.
I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm truly sorry.
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?
Well, it wasn't a confession. It was an apology.
The apology was lacking as he didn't even name Cassie. There was no message to young men. There was no saying he's going to donate his millions to a domestic violence shelter. And an entire community stood by knowing this about this man, continuing to support him as long as it was financially and socially beneficial. Abusers don't act alone.
There are other folks who need to be held accountable who knew this was happening and didn't say it.
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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Chapter 5: How did Sean Diddy Combs respond to the allegations and the video?
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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I don't know what's going on. How old are you?
You should get a lawyer. You have no idea how those people hurt this girl.
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Hey, I'm Brad Milkey. You may know me as the host of ABC Audio's daily news podcast, Start Here, but I'd like to add aspiring true crime expert to my resume. And here's how I'm going to make it happen. Every week, I'm going to unpack the biggest true crime story that everyone is talking about.
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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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Chapter 6: What has been the public and institutional reaction to the allegations against Diddy?
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.
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.
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.
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.
They seized firearms and ammunition, including three defaced AR-15s and a large-capacity drum magazine. They also seized evidence of the freak-offs, electronic devices that contained images and videos of the freak-offs with multiple victims. And they seized cases and cases of the kinds of personal lubricant and baby oil that Combs' staff allegedly used to stock hotel rooms for the freak-offs.
More than 1,000 bottles altogether.
I don't think people were in the least bit shocked that they found guns. I don't think they were shocked that they found substances that they believed to be drugs. Like, none of that was shocking.
DJ and cultural commentator Megan Wright.
What took social media by storm was the 1,000 bottles of baby oil. Diddy's lawyer then says that the baby oil came from Costco, and then Costco makes a statement and says, we don't sell baby oil. It's like, Costco is like, keep me out of this.
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Chapter 7: What led to Sean Diddy Combs' arrest and what were the circumstances?
Chapter 8: Who are the key legal and media figures involved in reporting and commenting on the case?
It's Deborah Roberts here to bring you another weekly episode of Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy. Remember, you can catch new episodes a day early if you follow Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And now, here's our next episode.
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.
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.
It's all happening right there behind me. Now, the searches are being carried out at Diddy's properties as part of a federal investigation into human trafficking.
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.
So this was a big escalation.
And again, you can see a lot of activity here, a lot of law enforcement. Again, Homeland Security out of New York is handling this, and they're being assisted by Homeland Security here in Los Angeles.
The feds, they weren't looking to arrest Diddy. Not yet. First, they were looking for evidence.
Now, all they're saying is that the investigation has been ongoing for several months. Right now, they're not saying anything about any arrests or imminent, so we're waiting for them to give us more information.
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