Maureen Callahan suggests Diddy 'could have conspired with jurors' in explosive new Daily Mail podcast
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Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Diddy throws down $50M in desperate bid for freedom... offering his passport and private security to monitor him at luxury Star Island mansion
Diddy has made an audacious request to be freed from prison before his sentencing with a $50million bail package. The hip hop mogul claims he doesn't pose a danger to the community and should be released ahead of October 3, when he will learn his fate after being found guilty of two prostitution offenses. In order to be freed, Diddy is willing to file a $50million bond with the court, surrender his passport, limit his travel, undergo mental health and substance treatment and go under electronic surveillance with private security watching him at all times. In a court filing, Diddy's lawyers said that the 'jury gave him his life back and he will not squander his second chance' by being violent. The convictions mean that 'at worst' Diddy 'might be analogous to a 'John'' who engaged in a swinger's lifestyle, the document stated. 'Sean Combs should not be in jail for this conduct,' the filing states. 'In fact, he may be the only person currently in a United States jail for being any sort of john.' Earlier this month, Diddy was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution after a blockbuster, nine-week trial in New York. The jury found he arranged for male escorts to have sex with his ex-girlfriends, Cassandra Ventura and 'Jane', who testified anonymously, at sexual performances known as 'Freak Offs'. Diddy was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution earlier this month due to arranging for male escorts to have sex with his ex-girlfriends, Cassandra Ventura (left) and 'Jane' (right), who testified anonymously But in a huge upset, Diddy was acquitted of the more serious counts, conspiracy racketeering and two counts of sex trafficking, which could have seen him jailed for life. Diddy, 55, whose real name is Sean Combs, still faces up to 20 years in jail, though prosecutors have said that the guideline amount for a man like him with no criminal record should be closer to five. The bail package will include the $50million bond secured by Diddy's home on Star Island, an exclusive celebrity enclave in Miami, his lawyers state. Diddy will live there and only travel to New York for meetings with his lawyers, as well as to report to all his trial meetings. The document states Diddy will surrender his passport and submit to any other rules the court decides to impose, such as home detention, private security, drug and mental health treatment and security watching over him. According to Diddy's lawyers, there are 'several exceptional reasons' why he should be freed, starting with the law under which he was found guilty, the Mann Act of 1910. The filing states that Diddy's case is 'unique' and that there has 'literally never been a case like this one, where a person and his girlfriend arranged for adult men to have consensual sexual relations with the adult long-term girlfriend as part of a demonstrated 'swingers' lifestyle.' 'It may not have been common on June 25, 1910, when the Mann Act, or as it was originally called, the White-Slave Traffic Act, was passed,' Diddy's lawyers argue. Diddy (center) reacts after hearing his verdict in court on July 2. He avoided the worst of the charges that could have seen him locked up behind bars for life when he was found not guilty of conspiracy racketeering and two counts of sex trafficking 'But attitudes about sex and morality have come a long way in the last 115 years. 'In the lifestyle that he and other adults voluntarily chose, Mr. Combs would be called a swinger. 'But in the vocabulary of the Mann Act or of prostitution generally, he might - at worst - be somewhat analogous to a 'john', someone who pays to have sex with a sex worker, in this case a male sex worker'. If Diddy were to be released, he 'will not be violent to anyone', the filing states. During the trial, there were only two instances of violence mentioned in relation to Jane, and Diddy admitted to his history of domestic violence against Ventura. He would never 'do anything to further jeopardize his seven children not having a father, and four of his children not having a parent at all', his lawyers claim. Diddy has been detained at the grim Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest last September, and his lawyers say that the conditions there are 'dreadful'. 'We are aware of ongoing threats of violence and actual violence in the facility, such that Mr. Combs' safety is constantly at risk', the document states. At the core of the case were claims from Ventura and Jane, who both said they were forced to take part in 'Freak Offs' - sex acts with a male escort while covered in baby oil (pictured) - as Diddy watched, masturbated and directed them under staged lighting Judge Arun Subramanian, who is overseeing the case, has already denied Diddy bail before his trial and denied him bail after his conviction, in part because of his admissions about domestic violence. Prosecutors are now likely to respond to the request; previously, they have highlighted Diddy's efforts at witness tampering as reasons to keep him in jail. The trial had promised to expose some of Hollywood's darkest secrets, and prosecutors painted a picture of a mob-like figure who threatened to kill people if they spoke out against him - and ran a 'criminal enterprise' that covered it up. Diddy was accused of firebombing a love rival's car, dangling one of his ex-girlfriend's friends over a balcony and forcing a personal assistant to do five days of lie detector tests when some jewels went missing. Had the woman failed, she would have been thrown in the East River off the coast of Manhattan, she claimed to have been told. The core of the case was the claims from Ventura and Jane, who both claimed they were forced to take part in 'Freak Offs', where they had sex with a male escort while covered in baby oil, as Diddy would masturbate while directing them on what to do. The jury was shown multiple clips of the Freak Offs, and one black female juror grimaced, while another put her hand to her face. The X-rated material was not released to the public. There were pieces of AR-15 assault rifles, which had the serial numbers removed, a handgun and boxes of 7-inch stiletto heels, which were apparently used during Freak Offs Until the trial, Diddy had been one of the biggest names in R&B and hip hop and won three Grammys during his decades-long career. Among the artists that he helped to launch were Mary J Blige, Christopher Wallace - aka The Notorious B.I.G. - Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez, whom Diddy once dated. Diddy also had an empire outside of his music, including a deal with drinks giant Diageo to promote the French vodka brand Ciroc. He released his fifth album in 2023 under the name 'Love' called 'The Love Album: Off the Grid' - Diddy won his first solo nomination for it at the Grammy Awards that year.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Report: Blackstone executive identified as victim in NYC shooting
The shooting took place at a skyscraper that is home to the headquarters of both the NFL and Blackstone, one of the world's largest investment firms, as well as other tenants. After spraying bullets in the lobby, the gunman took the elevator to the 33rd floor, where real-estate management firm Rudin Management is based, and killed another person before turning the gun on himself. The Rudin family - a New York real estate dynasty - owns the building. 'We lost four souls to another senseless act of gun violence,' said Mayor Eric Adams . The gunman had a 'documented mental health history,' according to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, but his motive was still unknown. The rampage happened at the end of the workday in the same part of Manhattan where the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare was gunned down outside a hotel late last year. Tamura's motive for the massacre remains unclear as of Tuesday morning. Blackstone employees shared messages during the rampage saying there was a shooter in the lobby and warning not to go downstairs, an employee told the WSJ. Some started barricading themselves in their offices and bathrooms. One of those injured is an NFL employee, commissioner Roger Goodell said in a letter to staff. The employee was reportedly seriously injured but is in stable condition at the hospital. Surveillance video showed the man exiting a double-parked BMW just before 6.30pm carrying an M4 rifle, then marching across a public plaza into the building. Then, he started firing. Slain NYPD officer Islam (pictured), 36, was an immigrant from Bangladesh who had served as a police officer in New York City for 3 1/2 years, Tisch said at a news conference. He was one of two NYPD officers working paid detail at the building. 'He was doing the job that we asked him to do. He put himself in harm's way. He made the ultimate sacrifice,' Tisch said. 'He died as he lived. A hero.' Tisch said an initial investigation shows the gunman's vehicle traveled across the country, passing through Colorado on July 26, then Nebraska and Iowa on July 27. The car was in Columbia, New Jersey, as recently as 4.24pm Monday. He drove into New York City shortly thereafter, she said.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Hollywood nepo baby is the spitting image of her heartthrob dad... but do you know who she is?
She's the daughter of one of Hollywood's most famous heartthrobs, and fans can't get over just how much she looks like him. Ella Bleu Travolta, 25, is the only daughter of Grease and Pulp Fiction star John Travolta, and her resemblance to her famous father has only grown more striking with age. From her piercing blue eyes to that signature Travolta smile, Ella is the spitting image of John during his leading man heyday. But Ella isn't just another celebrity nepo child riding on her parents' fame. She's carving out a career of her own in music, film and fashion. Born in April 2000 to John and the late actress Kelly Preston, Ella grew up in the spotlight alongside older brother Jett and younger brother Benjamin. Tragically, Jett passed away in 2009 following a seizure during a family holiday in the Bahamas. Ella started acting when she was just a kid, and she made her big screen debut in 2009's Old Dogs, starring opposite both her parents. She later appeared in The Poison Rose in 2019 and recently wrapped filming Get Lost, a modern-day reimagining of Alice in Wonderland. However, it's music where she seems to have really found her niche. In 2022, she released her debut single Dizzy, followed by tracks No Thank You and Little Bird. The latter song is a moving tribute to her mother, who passed away in 2020 after battling breast cancer. 'Little Bird is about holding onto those pure relationships that you have with people that you lost and really just listening to yourself and staying true to that relationship with that person,' Ella told People. 'It's sort of the viewpoint of a mama bird talking to a baby bird and just not letting any other interference get in between it, because your true instincts were there all along.' She continued: 'It had been a couple years, obviously, since my mom's passing, so I could look at the whole situation and take a step back from it and see what I wanted to communicate on it and what I wanted to communicate to her and what I was feeling in general.' She's also made waves in the fashion world, landing the cover of Hunger Magazine in 2024, wearing a vintage Chanel look previously worn by Taylor Swift at a Kansas City Chiefs game, per Page Six. Since then, Ella has been spotted in front rows at fashion week in Madrid and Milan, appearing alongside European royalty like Princess Diana's niece, Lady Kitty Spencer, and Princess Alexandra of Hanover, per Hola. Ella remains close with her dad as John often shares sweet birthday tributes and throwback videos with her on social media. In a recent birthday post, he called his daughter 'gracious, generous, funny, beautiful, kind, and deeply talented.' The actor also loves to celebrate Ella's accomplishments and often posts about her magazine covers and song releases.
