From Cassie to Kid Cudi, firebombs to designer scarves, Sean "Diddy" Combs’ ongoing court case has been filled with surreal and disturbing testimony. We talk to Complex reporter Shawn Setaro to find out what’s been going on in the courtroom at USA v. Sean Combs. What’s the most shocking thing his victims have alleged, and how has Diddy reacted? Follow Shawn Setaro on X at @SameOldShawn, and read his work at Complex.com Click ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Infamous show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Read Vanessa’s book, Blurred Lines: Sex, Power and Consent on Campus, and check out Natalie on Instagram at @natrobe To connect with Infamous's creative team, join the community at Campsidemedia.com/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the significance of USA v. Sean Combs?
Right now, in a courtroom in downtown Manhattan, one of the biggest and darkest celebrity court cases of our time is underway. USA v. Sean Combs.
Today I'm announcing the unsealing of a three-count indictment. Charging Sean Combs with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, interstate transportation for prostitution.
Sean Combs, aka Diddy or Puff Daddy, has been a permanent fixture in pop culture for the last 30 years, first as a rapper and record executive, and then as an entrepreneur, with business endeavors in liquor and TV. At one time, back in 2022, he was declared a billionaire. But all of that changed in 2023, when Diddy was accused of sexual misconduct.
Two of his homes were subsequently raided by the government, and he was later indicted. And now he's standing trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
The first week of testimony in the high-profile sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial against Sean Diddy Combs coming to a close after four days on the stand. Cassie Ventura, Diddy's ex. The testimony, again, graphic.
This case centers largely on the testimony of his ex-girlfriend, Cassie, and the horrific abuse she suffered. Cassie's a singer in her own right, best known for the song, Me and You, which was a huge hit when I was younger.
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Chapter 2: What allegations have been made against Diddy?
I wanna give it to you I can see you want me too Now it's me and you It seems that Diddy
washed her career and made her his servant, controlling every part of her life, right down to the color nail polish she wore. It's really so horrible to hear.
Chapter 3: Who is Cassie and what did she testify?
There are so many other vivid, unbelievable details coming out of this trial, including the allegation that Diddy orchestrated firebombing the car of Cassie's ex-boyfriend, singer Kid Cudi, using a malt liquor bottle called an Old English 40 and a designer scarf. It's really intense stuff.
And to figure out what's really going on with this trial, I spoke to Sean Sotaro, a reporter at Complex, who is actually down in the courtroom every day covering USA v. Sean Curbs. And by the way, I definitely laugh as a coping mechanism when I get uncomfortable. So you're going to hear some of that here.
So for those who haven't been following the trial so far, just bless you, you're living your great life. Yeah, probably sleeping better than you are. I mean, broad strokes, what has happened so far? What have we heard?
Sure. The biggest thing so far has been Cassie took up most of the first week of the trial, talking about being in this relationship with Diddy for almost 11 years, during which she says she was coerced Hundreds of times into participating in sexual encounters involving escorts.
These are the freak off.
These are the freak offs. Yes, yes. They were internally by both of them called freak offs or FOs. This was a name they they actually used. The government is alleging Diddy used his power, his businesses, the people who worked at his businesses to basically do a bunch of crimes to fulfill his sexual desires.
Not only the freak offs and the sex trafficking and prostitution, but also stuff like kidnapping and arson and forced labor.
Right. And that's kind of where the Rico of it all comes in, right? Because those are charges that I, in my head, most associate with like organized crime or like the mafia or something.
Yes. This is why we've heard from multiple former assistants, people who are on the ground and can say, oh, the security team were the people who gave him money to pay the escorts and I carried his drugs and This is sort of the story that the government is laying out via its witnesses.
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Chapter 4: How has Kid Cudi been involved in this trial?
I mean, one of the most indelible moments was they did spend a lot of time on the video that CNN eventually got of the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles.
So that's her, that kind of that we all saw of her sort of getting dragged down. Combs can be seen grabbing Ventura and throwing her to the ground. as Ventura lies on the ground, combs, then kicks her twice and attempts to drag her on the floor back to the hotel room.
Yes. Cassie on the stand watching it and being asked questions about it. And it really was just a very intense, emotional thing, more even just for the experience of watching it than her reaction, right? She, I think, had been pretty well coached on what to expect. And so it wasn't a watch it and burst into tears reaction. necessarily, right?
What were they asking her?
Chapter 5: What does Cassie's testimony reveal about Diddy's control?
It was a lot of verification. Who is this? This is you. Who is this? This is Sean Combs. What was he doing here? Just kind of beat by beat. Yes. What's the juror's reaction during this? By and large, they're turned away. So it's hard a lot of times to get a beat. But ultimately, as the trial went on, you heard about the same alleged assault from different people. Right.
I think in one case, you know, there was a time where Didi supposedly pushed Cassie down on the floor into the corner of a bed frame that caused a gash on her eyebrow that she said she still has a scar from. And, you know, so far we've heard about that event from three different people.
Like bodyguards or assistants?
Yeah, assistants, basically. The stylist and the assistant slash friend, right? And Cassie herself.
I mean, I think that's what was so startling about that video is that so rarely in domestic violence cases are there any witnesses because they happen in the home. And it's so rare that other people see that. So seeing that footage was... shocking and horrifying. And then I'm sure also like, yeah, these other instances, assistants talking about them is also further confirmation.
What are the other core parts of her allegations?
Yeah. So the core parts basically have to do with coercion, right? This idea that she was coerced into stuff and control, right? So this idea that by being not only her boyfriend, but her label boss, she's saying Diddy exercised almost complete control over her life, right? Where, what she was doing day to day, who she was spending time with, where she could go, what she could do.
And it was via a bunch of means, including financial control, right? That he had control over her record contract, a one assistant contract, testified to a conversation with Cassie where she talked about how she got an allowance from Diddy. She and other people have said if he got mad at her, he would take away her phone and her car and he paid for her apartment. And so there was leverage there.
People have testified that he often threatened to release sex tapes of her, which, you know, he wouldn't be in because they were with escorts. So he would be protected.
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Chapter 6: What is the reaction from the courtroom during testimonies?
It's not a family show, but yeah. Let's just say details of who to touch, who, when, and what to do when.
And what to do with various fluids afterwards as well, which was a notable and horrific detail.
Oh, I mean, it's just so disgusting. I think it's worth reminding listeners, like, how did Diddy arrive in her life?
So this is another thing that is sort of being painted two different ways by each side, right? In Cassie's telling, she was young, I think about 19 when they met and 21 when they started dating and relatively naive to the larger record business and the entertainment industry, right? When she met him and, you know, began dating him and fell in love and then sort of all of this followed from that.
The defense has spent a lot of time talking about her modeling career as a teenager. You know, she was in catalogs and this and that, you know, starting around like 14, 15. And so they're they're saying, look, you already had some money from modeling. And oh, before you met Diddy, didn't you date this producer and musician Ryan Leslie for three years? And wasn't he 10 years older than you?
So maybe you weren't so intimidated by a man 17 years older than you because you already had dated an older man for a while. And like, maybe you weren't quite as naive as you were getting out.
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Chapter 7: What is the defense's strategy in this trial?
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So another major detail in this case has been the Kid Cudi part of it, who's another artist and he also testified, right?
He did. I was honestly a little, you know, we found out I think the day before that he was testifying and I was honestly a little surprised, you know, knowing the sort of. anti-snitching prohibitions and all of this kind of stuff in his milieu, I actually was a little bit surprised.
Oh, like it could be seen as snitching for him to testify against Diddy?
Right.
Oh, got it. Okay. So tell me what the kind of allegations to do with Kid Cudi are.
So Cudi and Cassie in, you know, again, the government's telling, began dating in 2011 during a period at which Cassie and Diddy were broken up. And Even then, it was so secretive and Diddy was so controlling that Cassie went and got a burner phone at the urging of a friend slash assistant. She's dating Kid Cudi, trying to somewhat do it on the sly.
Diddy discovers this and gets extremely mad and violent towards her. And... The way the government tells it is he breaks into Cuddy's house while Cuddy is not there. And then maybe a week and a half later, two weeks later, Cuddy's car is firebombed.
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Chapter 8: What are the implications of this trial for Diddy?
So he came home and he saw that some Christmas presents were that he had wrapped had been opened and that his dog, who normally has free reign of the house, had been locked in the bathroom.
So the allegation is that Diddy broke into Kid Cudi's house.
Yes, went into Cudi's house uninvited. They had a phone conversation while Diddy was there. Cudi drove home. What did they, what was that conversation? Just like, you're in my house. Yes, I am. Get here and, you know, we're getting some tough, tough talk basically back and forth. And Cuddy drove home fully intending to fight Diddy.
At some point along the line, in his testimony, wondered if Diddy was armed, thought the better of it, ended up calling the police. By the time they got there, Diddy was gone. And then, you know, I think that happened on December 22nd of 2011. He spends the holidays with Cassie. They break up. And then January 9th of the following year, I believe, is when the car bombing happens.
So that's Kid Cudi's testimony. And then after that, the court heard from this anonymous victim.
We can call her Mia. Okay, Mia. That's the pseudonym she's using, yeah.
So what's the deal with Mia and what are the allegations around her?
So Mia is a woman who started out as J.D. 's assistant and then by the end was working also with a sort of nascent side of his business called Revolt Films. She was forced to work basically around the clock.
And in fact, she talked about one time being on the clock for five days straight and not literally not allowed to sleep to the point where she was basically hysterically crying and hallucinating.
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