Latest news with #IWillKillYouandHideYou
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Diddy Brought Guns to Confront Suge Knight at a Diner, Ex-Assistant Testifies: ‘My Life Was in Danger'
One of Sean 'Diddy' Combs' former personal assistants testified at his criminal trial on Tuesday and detailed a terrifying incident involving Combs and his rival, Suge Knight. According to David James, who worked for Combs from 2007 to 2009, Combs once took three handguns into the car around the end of his tenure and instructed James to drive to Mel's Diner in Los Angeles, where they believed Knight to be. More from Variety Diddy Trial: Dawn Richard Faces Tough Cross-Examination as Sean Combs' Lawyer Reveals Inconsistencies in Her Testimony Cassie Expects $10 Million Settlement From InterContinental for Diddy Hotel Assault Cassie Threatened Man in 2014 Over Fears of Leaked 'Freak-Off' Video: 'I Will Kill You and Hide You' Just before that, at around 4 a.m., James had driven to the diner with one of Combs' security guards, Damion Butler (aka D-Roc), to pick up food for Combs and members of his entourage. As they parked the car, a silver Lincoln Navigator, Butler recognized Knight in a car parked a few spots away. Per James, Butler approached Knight and said, 'It's me, D-Roc, Biggie's boy,' referring to the late rapper the Notorious B.I.G., who was signed to Combs' Bad Boy Records. (Knight, who is now serving time in prison for a fatal hit-and-run, ran the rival label Death Row Records. While there is no definitive proof, Knight is often speculated to have been involved with the murder of Notorious B.I.G. in 1997. That murder remains unsolved.) Knight apparently responded to Butler by saying, 'What are you doing in my city?,' to which Butler said, 'Getting money, you know what it is.' The two then engaged in a friendly handshake. James said he and Butler then went inside Mel's Diner to order takeout food, when James noticed four black SUVs pull into the parking lot, and a man handed Knight a gun. Per James, Butler said, 'We got to fucking go,' and the two of them managed to get in the car and escape back to Combs' house in the Hollywood Hills. When they arrived, Combs told James and Butler to get into a different car, a black Escalade, and instructed James to drive back to the diner. At one point, James looked back and saw Combs in the backseat with three handguns in his lap. 'I had a weird sense of calm,' James said. Because they had switched cars, he thought Knight might not see them coming. But he also realized that Combs had brought three guns, and there were three of them in the car. 'It was the first time I realized my life was in danger,' James said. When they arrived at Mel's Diner about 10 minutes later, Knight was gone. Combs told James to drive around the block, but Knight was nowhere to be found. A few days later, James resigned as Combs' personal assistant, giving six months' notice. Asked by Combs' attorney why he went along with what he presumed to be a potential shooting, James said, 'I didn't think I had the option to say something.' James spoke at length about his two-year stint as Combs' personal assistant, saying it was an intense job with 20-hour days. 'There were definitely times where I worked 21 days straight,' he said. He recalled a joke often repeated by Combs' security detail: 'Do you know what rhymes with 'tired'? 'Fired.'' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cassie Expects $10 Million Settlement From InterContinental for Diddy Hotel Assault
Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura revealed Friday that she is expecting a $10 million settlement from InterContinental in relation to the 2016 hotel incident at the heart of the Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial. Surveillance footage from the Century City hotel that was first published by CNN in May 2024 and is now being shown in court depicts Combs violently assaulting Ventura in a hallway and dragging her across the floor by her hair. The footage has been used by federal prosecutors as evidence of Combs' physical abuse. More from Variety Cassie Threatened Man in 2014 Over Fears of Leaked 'Freak-Off' Video: 'I Will Kill You and Hide You' Diddy Overdosed on Painkillers in 2012, His Lawyer Reveals Cassie Reveals $20 Million Diddy Settlement, Alleges Rape and Breaks Down in Tears During Final Testimony: 'I Didn't Want to Be Alive Anymore' During the final day of Ventura's cross-examination, Combs' lawyers asked if she had any pending lawsuits. (Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against Combs in 2023, revealing yesterday that she received a $20 million settlement.) Ventura said no, later clarifying that she is expected to receive a settlement from InterContinental after filing a demand against the hotel. She said she has reached the end of settlement discussions and has not yet received the settlement, which she estimated at $10 million. Ventura said the settlement discussions concluded sometime this month, but emphasized that she has no financial stake in the results of Combs' criminal trial. Asked on Thursday why she chose to testify against her longtime ex-boyfriend, Ventura said, 'I'm here to do the right thing. I can't carry this anymore … the shame, the guilt.' The news of Ventura's settlement with InterContinental came as a shock to the courtroom, with many people in the overflow room audibly gasping and wondering why the prosecution did not introduce the settlement in their initial questioning. The 2016 hotel assault has been referred to by Combs' lawyers as 'indefensible' and 'dehumanizing.' They do not, however, believe it is evidence that Combs engaged in sex trafficking and racketeering, which is what he is charged with. Recounting the events of that day, Ventura said she was in a hotel room with Combs and a male escort participating in a 'freak-off,' one of Combs' drug-fueled sex parties that could last days on end. Attempting to leave the 'freak-off' before Combs decided it was over, Ventura grabbed her bags and headed to the elevator. Combs then followed her out of the room wearing only a towel and began beating her, before he returned to his room and Ventura exited the property. On Monday the court heard testimony from Israel Florez, a security guard at the InterContinental in Century City who witnessed Combs' assault on Ventura. Florez said that when he arrived at the scene of the attack, he escorted Combs back to the room and asked Ventura if she wanted him to call the police. Florez testified that Ventura said no and 'I just want to leave' without pressing charges or notifying the authorities. He filed an incident report that seemingly omitted important details of the assault, as revealed in the defense's cross-examination. And, later, Florez took a video of the surveillance footage with his cell phone, showing it to other staff members, who also did not call the police. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
