Latest news with #Racketeering
Fox News
23-05-2025
- Fox News
Can Diddy prosecutors make their case? Music mogul trial poses major challenges
The much-anticipated Sean "Diddy" Combs trial has officially begun in New York City. Combs is charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution and faces a sentence of 15 years to a lifetime in prison if convicted. Because of his celebrity status, there has been a lot of speculation leading up to his court date about who will be called as witnesses. The first full week of testimony centered around Combs' ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, who took the stand for several days. In 2023, Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against Combs, claiming allegations of abuse and sexual assault that he and his team quickly denied. At the time, the settlement amount was undisclosed, though Venture confirmed in court that the case was settled for $20 million. Her lawsuit laid the foundation of several others to follow from alleged victims throughout the years, as well as the eventual federal indictment brought forth by the U.S. Department of Justice. The trial is expected to last well into summer, totaling at least eight to ten weeks. What The Prosecution Is Saying Prosecutors allege Combs operated his businesses as a way to cover up a number of crimes, including but not limited to those he is charged with. Among the offenses named, attorneys say Combs used his status to violently force two ex-girlfriends into non-consensual sexual acts, plus victimized multiple employees through threats and sexual assault. In addition to Ventura, the prosecution has called government witnesses who spoke about the alleged violent behavior against Ventura, including a notable instance which was made public online ahead of the trial. In this 2016 incident, taking place in a Los Angeles hotel, surveillance shows Combs dragging Ventura and kicking her. Days later, the prosecution called Ventura to the stand to testify, and she detailed this incident, as well as the alleged repeated abuse carried out by Combs over the years of their relationship against her and others. Defense Claims Allegations Equal A "Money Grab" As for the defense, Combs' attorneys call the accusations a "money grab" and admit to Combs' temper and physicality, though they argue the alleged crimes involving the two ex-girlfriends were consensual. However, several others have come forward with allegations against Combs that have ranged from sexual assault to physical abuse and other crimes. As the trial continues and more evidence and testimony are presented, the jury will have to decide if it's enough to convict Combs of all the crimes he's charged with. Members of Danity Kane, the girl band that Combs formed nearly 20 years ago, were also called to the witness stand to discuss alleged sexual misconduct and abuse against them by Combs. Ventura's mother is also expected to take the stand for the prosecution within the coming days. What To Expect Next To prove Combs guilty of the sex trafficking charge, the prosecution must show the jury that Ventura and other alleged victims didn't consent to the sexual activities and were either coerced or forced by Combs. In addition, there must be proof these illegal activities were part of a bigger money-making scheme to convict Combs of the associated racketeering charges. Regarding the charges, the DOJ indictment states: "Among other things, COMBS' sexual abuse of women included causing them to engage in frequent, days-long sexual activity with male commercial sex workers, some of whom were transported over state lines. These events, which COMBS referred to as "Freak Offs," were elaborate sex performances that COMBS arranged, directed, and often electronically recorded. To ensure participation in Freak Offs, COMBS used violence and intimidation, and leveraged his power over victims—power he obtained through obtaining and distributing narcotics to them, exploiting his financial support to them, and threatening to cut off the same, and controlling their careers." Allegations against Combs as they relate to this case go back to the early 1990s, which lay out a pattern of control and abuse through physical and sexual violence. Though Combs denies all allegations against him, it's difficult to believe that nothing in the accusations from any of the alleged victims holds some truth. However, the jury must focus on the case at hand and let the evidence guide them to a decision. Even though Combs' temper and position of power heavily play a factor, there is a lot more necessary to secure a conviction.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Diddy's former protégé Aubrey O'Day calls him 'selfish' for having his kids sit through graphic trial testimonies
One of Sean ' Diddy ' Combs' previous protégés is slamming her former boss and sparing no words in her assessment of his actions. Aubrey O'Day, 41, who was part of the girl group Danity Kane, called out Combs, 55, for making his children sit through sexually explicit testimony in his federal racketeering and sexual trafficking trail in New York City. The Wrecking Ball singer, who will not be testifying in the media mogul's trial, condemned her former boss on the Amy Robach and TJ Holmes Present podcast on Friday. 'The fact that the kids are marching up to that court, praying over everything and walking in with a bunch of women also that are encouraging it,' she said of the rapper's kids. The women she referred to seemed to be Comb's mother Janice and perhaps an assistant. Six of Combs' seven children; Quincy, 33, Justin, 31, Christian, 27, Chance 19, and 18-year-old twins Jessie and D'Lila, have been stoically trying to listen to the graphic descriptions of their father's alleged sexual fetishes. His youngest child, Love, is two-and-a half. 'I don't know any father that would want their children to sit through testimony about how much their daddy liked to watch people [get] lubricated, f**king, getting pissed on and urinated in their mouths, having his girlfriend come in the other room and rub their c*m all over his nipples,' she told the interviewers. 'Would you want your children to know about it?' she asked rhetorically. She called it a ploy to appeal the the jury, saying, 'It's concerning to me, that the optics of them being there and supporting [their] father are obviously a very strong play for the defense.' It became too much for the twins and sister Chance during testimony on May 12. The three reportedly left the courtroom twice as a male escort testified about an alleged paid sexual encounter between himself and Combs' ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, 38. The escort claimed Combs watched them while masturbating. O'Day criticized the Bad Boy Records founder as selfish, and narcissistic. 'It's telling to me. It means that daddy's being selfish and he needs — in my opinion — it feels like, "Daddy needs you in court because daddy needs all the optics to look in his favor, and I don't really care what you have to sit through."' Combs has pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges; Pictured in London in 2023 The rapper's six adult children have been sitting behind him in court during the explicit testimony. Twins Jessie and D'Lila and sister Chance left court twice during testimony on May 12 She accused Combs of using the same kinds of tactics on his offspring that he is accused of using against his reported victims. 'And that, to me, is just showing that same narcissism and ego and dare I say coercion that we're discussing about this man. You know, his needs come first. What he wants comes first.' While on the stand, Ventura spoke about the painful urinary tract infections she got as a result of the 'freak offs', the mogul allegedly favored. She also testified he raped her in 2018. O'Day revealed on the Call Her Daddy podcast in December 2022 that she was fired by Combs because she wouldn't do things he requested 'in other areas' besides music. She also claimed on the Only Stans podcast in September of that year that she chose not to receive the publishing rights to her songs, alleging Combs' and his attorneys wanted her to sign a nondisclosure agreement which included a clause that she would never 'disparage' the rapper or Bad Boy Records. The trial will resume on Monday at 9am. If you or someone you know is struggling with intimate partner violence you can find help and resources at the National Domestic Violence Hotline by texting 88788 or calling 1-800-799-7233.
CNN
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Takeaways so far Cassie Ventura's 2nd day of cross-examination in Sean ‘Diddy' Combs trial
People in entertainment Sean 'Diddy' CombsFacebookTweetLink Follow The cross-examination of Cassie Ventura continued midday Friday as her time on the stand moved toward its end in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' racketeering and sex-trafficking trial. Ventura, Combs' former longtime girlfriend, who is the star witness in the case and is testifying for the fourth straight day Combs physically and sexually abused her and used violence and blackmail to make her participate in drug-fueled sex parties known as 'Freak Offs' over more than a decade. Under cross-examination, defense attorneys have asked about her own explicit messages with Combs about the 'Freak Offs,' whether Combs' staffers knew about the liaisons, and the role of jealousy and drugs in their relationship. The defense has acknowledged Combs has been violent with romantic partners and has a 'different' sex life. However, they have argued the women consented to these sexual arrangements and have attempted to portray Combs as a jealous man with a drug problem as opposed to the head of a criminal enterprise. Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He could face up to life in prison. Judge Arun Subramanian has announced plans to have Ventura's testimony fully finished before the weekend. Ventura is pregnant with her third child due next month, and prosecutors have expressed concern she could have the baby as soon as this weekend. Here's what we learned in her testimony Friday. Ventura testified that she saw Combs voluntarily at a friend's birthday a month after she says he raped her in August 2018. She said she still had feelings for him then and did not hate him at the time – or even now. 'I don't hate him,' Ventura testified. 'Do you still have love for him?' defense attorney Anna Estevao asked. 'I have love for the past and what it was,' Ventura said. To begin Friday, Estevao picked back up where she left off Thursday in questioning Ventura about the March 5, 2016, incident at a Los Angeles hotel in which Combs grabbed, kicked and dragged Ventura in an elevator lobby. Estevao asked Ventura if she told investigators in previous interviews that Combs was 'black out' during the incident. 'I believe he was intoxicated,' she testified, adding that everyone's perception of a 'black out' is different. The jury saw a message Ventura sent Combs five days after the assault describing the abuse and his state of mind. 'When you get f**ked up the wrong way you always want to show me that you have the power, and you knock me around. I'm not a rag doll, I'm someone's child,' she wrote in the message read aloud in court. Surveillance video of that assault has been the central evidence in this trial so far. CNN first published video of the incident last year. Ventura testified earlier this week that the hotel assault came after she tried to leave a 'Freak Off' before it was 'over.' Afterward, she had a 'black eye and a fat lip' and spoke to the police about the incident but 'wasn't ready' to name Combs, according to her testimony. The jury heard a recording Ventura captured of a conversation she had with a man in Atlantic City in March 2014 after the man said he'd seen a sexually explicit video of her. In the recording, she threatened the man multiple times. 'I will cut you up and put you in the f**king dirt right now if you have it,' she said. 'I'm going to kill you and then he's gonna kill you again.' 'I'm going to f**k you up, and it's not going to be my hands and it's not going to be blood on my hands. Someone else is going to do it,' she said in the recording. Ventura has previously told the jury that Combs pushed her to get to the bottom of the situation. Whether there actually was an explicit video of her or how the situation was resolved was not established in Ventura's testimony. Ventura also testified that she believed a man had secretly taken a video of her and Combs at a 'Freak Off.' She was concerned about it and told Combs, who responded that he'd 'take care of it,' she testified. Ventura and Combs dated on and off from 2007 to 2018, and Ventura offered her view on the end of the relationship. After the death of Kim Porter, the late model and actress who shared three children with Combs, Combs posted on social media that he and Porter were 'more than soulmates.' Around the time of her memorial service, Ventura texted Combs that it hurt her feelings. 'Then you posted that Kim was your soulmate, What was the 11 years all about,' she wrote. Porter's memorial service was the last time Ventura and Combs saw each other in person. 'He let you go?' Estevao asked her to confirm. 'I never saw him again. I don't know about letting me go,' she testified. Combs has tried to get in touch with her over the years since then, including through other people, Ventura said.
