Latest news with #TheFallOfDiddy
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sean 'Diddy' Combs Admits Rejecting Feds' Sex Trafficking Plea Deal Just Before Trial; Jury Selection Begins Next Week
Days before jury selection is set to start in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial, a federal judge today sought confirmation from the Bad Boys Records founder that prosecutors put forth a plea deal and that he rebuffed it 'Yes, I did,' a glasses wearing Combs said in court in Manhattan Thursday before Judge Arun Subramanian. Offering a reduction in time served if Combs took the deal and entered a guilty plea, the agreement put before the 'All About the Benjamins' performer seems to have been on the table in the last few weeks More from Deadline As Sean Combs Faces Trial, 'The Fall Of Diddy' Uncovers Alleged Shocking Pattern Of Abuse - Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety Sean "Diddy" Combs Fails To Have Cassie Ventura 2016 Hotel Beating Footage Excluded From Sex Trafficking Trial; Rejected Plea Deal Revealed Shannon Sharpe To Be Benched By ESPN's 'First Take' Amid Rape Lawsuit, $10M Settlement Offer Beyond that, no details are known about the written offer. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York are keeping it that way. In the legal ether for months, the plea deal was made public in an almost casual manner by an assistant U.S. attorney at an April 25 hearing. Looking at likely life behind bars if found guilty on the racketeering, sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and more, the not guiltily pleading 55-year-old Combs (a.k.a .inmate 37452-054) has been held in one of the more low-key units of Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center since he was arrest last September. A defendant not just in this criminal case, but in dozens and dozens of civil cases alleging assaults and abuse, Diddy has always sworn he is innocent, and all the interactions were consensual. A major element in Combs' rejection of the plea deal appears to be he truly wants his day in court to prove his innocence and beat the charges, well-placed sources tell us. The rest of today's hearing dealt with jury selection questionnaires and procedure, including what will and will not happen in open court Determined to keep the sometimes-wayward case on track, Judge Subramanian once again made it clear to Combs, prosecutors and the defense Thursday that he wants jury selection to begin on May 5. A panel needs to be seated for opening statements on May 12 in the Manhattan courtroom, the judge has insisted. At the end of the less than one hour hearing Judge Subramanian told everyone he looked forward to seeing them on Monday morning. Of course, a spanner in the works of that could be the quickly settled ($30 million) assault and abuse suit and more from Victim-1, a.k.a former Combs girlfriend Cassie Ventura Unlike many such high-profile cases and the other accusations against Combs, there is visual evidence of the violence and attacks Ventura says she endure from Diddy for years. Judge Subramanian ruled last week that 2016 LA hotel security footage of the couple, that CNN aired last spring, will be shown to the jury. The video, which Combs apologized for on social media when it became public, shows a half-naked Combs chasing an escaping Ventura down a corridor hitting and kicking her and dragging her back to his room where allegedly one of his so-called freak offs was happening. Having deleted his seemingly forced Instagram apology now, Combs and his lawyers have tried almost every trick in the book to undermine or dispute the footage – footage that Combs almost immediately bought for $50,000 the day after the apparent attack occurred Add to that, among four victims id'd by the feds, Ventura has said she will testify in open court in this trial under her own name. Prosecutors allege that Combs and his aides coerced Ventura, other women and men into marathon debauched sexual encounters called 'freak-offs.' The sessions included male and female prostitutes, drug use, threats of violence and imprisonment in the hotel rooms where the acts were staged and videotaped. At asserted today, direct questioning of about 150 jury candidates starts on Monday morning. Judge Subramanian intends to bring each prospect into his courtroom, one at a time, to ask them about their backgrounds and potential biases, with none of the other jury candidates present. The judge called it 'sequestered questioning,' designed to protect juror privacy around sensitive personal matters in a case dealing with sex trafficking. Prospective jurors will also be allowed to answer some questions in sidebar conferences with the judge and lawyers, out of earshot of reporters, if they consider the information to be too personal to discuss in open court, the judge said. If all goes as scheduled, it will take three days of sequestered questioning to whittle the field down to 45 jury and alternate candidates, who will then undergo voir dire questioning on bias, etc by the lawyers for both sides. The aim is to seat the 12 jurors and handful of alternates who will hear the case beginning the following week. Emphasizing that 'time is of the essence,' Judge Subramanian today wondered aloud whether they can stay on schedule if sequestered questioning leads to a lot of breaks in the action for privacy sidebars. No one in court Thursday could promise him it wouldn't be an issue. In what will likely be major tenet of the soon to expand Marc Agnifilo- and Teny Geragos-led legal team's approach against SDNY, the defense has repeatedly complained the feds are using 'racist' laws against Combs and seeking to 'police non-conforming sexual activity.' Back on February 24, the defense took a swipe at 'unconstitutionally broad' search warrants that had been used on Combs as part of spring 2024 raids of his Los Angeles and Miami homes, devices, digital storage and more. After coming up short over and over in bail and keeping certain evidence out of the case, this week saw a small but significant notch in the defense's belt. One time mini-mogul Combs received permission on Wednesday from the court to wear 'non-prison clothing' during his six-week estimated trial. To that, the April 30 order say that starting next week, the past and present Sean John owner is allowed 'up to five button down shirts, up to five pairs of pants, up to five sweaters, up to five pairs of socks, and up to two pairs of shoes without laces to wear to court.' No mention of hair dye, so the prospective jurors will see Combs with the white hair he has had since being arrested last September. Unlike almost all the past hearings in this case, no blood members of Combs' family appeared to be in court Thursday offering their support. A self-declared 'godbrother' was there and Combs waved to him from the defense table. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 So Far 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More 'Ginny & Georgia' Season 3: Everything We Know So Far
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Seth Meyers Warns Emmy Voters Not To Turn ‘Late Night's ‘Corrections' Into '‘The Wire' Of Short-Form Digital Content' – Contenders TV: Docs, Unscripted & Variety
HBO's The Wire never won an Emmy, was only nominated twice in the writing categories and never received a single nod in any of the major categories including acting. Seth Meyers wants Emmy voters not to make another mistake like that when it comes to Corrections, the digital shortform spinoff of his NBC talk show Late Night with Seth Meyers. More from Deadline Deadline's Contenders Television Streaming Site Launches Deadline's Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety Ready For Liftoff As Sean Combs Faces Trial, 'The Fall Of Diddy' Uncovers Alleged Shocking Pattern Of Abuse - Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety Corrections has been nominated three times in the Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series category, losing out to Carpool Karoake: The Series and Only Murders in the Building: One Killer Question and not even being nominated the year Meyers' friend Tim Robinson won with I Think You Should Leave. 'It's a f*cking lock. I know you're not supposed to say this, but I think there's a real risk for Emmy voters,' Meyers joked during his panel at Deadline's Contenders TV Documentary, Unscripted & Variety. 'For Late Night, it's an honor to be nominated, but Corrections should definitely win, and if you don't vote for it, there's this chance that 20 years from now, it's like The Wire, where people are like, 'You know that never won an Emmy?' Am I saying that Corrections is The Wire of shortform digital content? Yeah, and I think anybody who watches both would say the same.' RELATED: Joking aside, Late Night with Seth Meyers also has a very reasonable chance to be Emmy-nominated in the main Outstanding Talk Series category. Meyers spoke about addressing President Trump's rebuke of him, after the Commander-in-Chief called him 'Marble Mouth Meyers' and setting the tone for late-night comedy in these unsettling political times as well as reminiscing about bringing Keith Richards water during SNL50 and how pleased his wife was when The New York Times ran a headline that read: 'Seth Meyers Isn't As Nice As You Think He Is.' Meyers added that he wanted this iteration of the show, compared to the 2016 iteration, to feel less 'dark' and more 'joyful.' 'Obviously the burden of this administration is heavier on a lot of other people more than it is on us, so it's one foot in front of the other' he said. 'We did have to reassess our approach. We knew that if we were tonally the exact same that we'd been in 2016, it would feel almost like a television show that was doing repeats when they should be doing live shows. We put a lot of talk into the tone. The whole world is trying to come [to terms with it] — not the whole world, obviously, I think there's plenty of people who think this is going grandly, but not that sort of full fist-shaking resistance out of the gate, which felt like what 2016 had, because everybody had been caught flat-footed by the outcome of that election.' Check back Monday for the panel video. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far Everything We Know About Netflix's 'The Thursday Murder Club' So Far TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Daily Show' Is In 'Game Shape' To Deal With Political Carnage – Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety
The rhythm of late-night television changed back in 2017 when Donald Trump became President, forcing all of the talk shows to prepare for the dreaded 4 p.m. rewrite. So, when Trump was reelected for a second term, it's a challenge that all of the late-night shows know how to face. More from Deadline Deadline's Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety Ready For Liftoff Deadline's Contenders Television Streaming Site Launches As Sean Combs Faces Trial, 'The Fall Of Diddy' Uncovers Alleged Shocking Pattern Of Abuse - Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety The team behind The Daily Show says they're already in 'game shape' to handle it. Desi Lydic, one of the show's hosts alongside Jon Stewart, Ronny Chieng, Jordan Klepper and Michael Kosta, was behind the desk earlier this month during 'tariff week,' which saw the news change almost hourly. How do you handle a situation like that? RELATED: 'Oh my god, with a lot of help from a lot of staff members and some opiates,' Lydic joked during Deadline's Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety event. '[That] was a bit of a roller-coaster news week. Before I go into the hosting week, I'm watching the Sunday morning shows, I'm reading stories, and I'm [working out] what themes I might want to talk about. Then it was obvious it was going to be tariff week. Of course, we couldn't predict exactly how that was going to go and on Tuesday we had an entire show written that went through basically a page-one rewrite at 4 p.m. We were immediately thrust back into, 'Oh, this is what Trump's America looks like'.' Showrunner Jen Flanz added that the team is 'constantly pivoting.' 'Is it ideal? We'd like a little more time, sure, but this one felt like a live show,' she said. 'We wrote it and didn't have that much time to belabor each of the jokes. The whole tariff story changed at 4 p.m.. It's the chaos of the administration, and it keeps us on our toes. We're in game shape.' Lydic paid tribute to Zhubin Parang, co-executive producer and writer, calling him an 'absolute machine.' 'Honestly, a lot of the credit goes to Donald Trump himself, because, as much as his erratic decision-making throws our show to chaos, it also throws his guys into chaos too. They come out stammering, saying four to five different things at once, and that, ironically, gives us the material that we need to replace the material that he ruined for us. Trump giveth as he takes it away,' Parang added. To handle it, Parang said the digital team is gathering clips throughout the day, the studio team is always looking for themes, and there are five different departments that have material ready to go. 'We try and prepare as much as you can and anticipate,' added Flanz. 'Yesterday, [Trump] was talking about shower heads and water again and we have a running file of all the times he's said that and we were able to really quickly throw together this amazing montage.' She joked that the show has now started a file on Trump talking about groceries. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart won 10 consecutive late-night Emmys between 2003 and 2012, losing out to Comedy Central's The Colbert Report for a couple of years before taking back the crown in 2015. After losing to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver for seven straight years, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah won in 2023 after the South African comedian left the show, and again last year following Jon Stewart's return. The show is coming up to 30 years on the air and, despite the noise around late-night, Flanz is confident it will continue strongly. 'I read the articles. I've heard it all, but when I'm out with friends and family, I hear when the streets are talking, when just normal people that don't work in television are talking to me, they all watch the show and are reciting jokes. It's relevant and people use it as an outlet. I think it's great that there's other platforms, like the streamers and social media, to put out other content, but I think that late-night will always have a voice. It's important to have a central area that people can go to laugh.' Check back Monday for the panel video. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far Everything We Know About Netflix's 'The Thursday Murder Club' So Far TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Judge Denies Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Motion To Delay Trial
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' high-stakes sex trafficking trial is set to take place as scheduled, despite his legal team's recent efforts to delay it. On Friday (April 18), federal Judge Arun Subramanian ruled against the Bad Boy founder's motion to push back the trial date by two months. The motion, filed Wednesday (April 16), asked for 'a 2-month adjournment' due to concerns about a lack of preparedness after additional charges were filed earlier this month. Combs' defense argued that prosecutors have failed to provide critical evidence in a timely manner. According to CBS, the decision was made 'immediately' in court today. The judge said to the 'I'll Be Missing You' rapper's attorneys that the motion was filed 'last minute' and they did 'have sufficient time to prepare.' Subramanian also said he 'did not understand' why Combs wasn't prepared when he has 'four different law firms working on his case.' The trial will begin on May 5 as originally scheduled. The judge also said drafts of a memoir written by one of the alleged victims will be allowed in court. However, the victim's diaries and bank statements were denied. Outtakes from a documentary titled The Fall Of Diddy will be allowed. Other deliberations from today included victim anonymity. There are three alleged victims who the government wants to testify under pseudonyms, and the judge has ruled they can testify anonymously. Earlier this month, it was confirmed that ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura will testify under her own identity. Despite this setback, Diddy's legal team announced a win earlier this week. Brian Steel, the attorney who helped Young Thug come out on the winning end of his RICO trial, recently joined Combs' defense team. On Sept. 16, 2024, the Love Album creator was arrested in NYC and charged with racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. Disturbing details from the court documents accused Diddy of using his companies to fund and facilitate 'Freak Offs,' where he'd allegedly drug his victims and put them in sexually abusive situations. He is currently being held at the MDC Brooklyn and has been denied bail several times. More from Sean "Diddy" Combs Pleads Not Guilty To New Trafficking Charges Here's Exactly Why Celebrity Attorney Joe Tacopina Turned Down Representing Diddy Aaron Hall Reportedly Missing After Being Named In A Diddy Lawsuit
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Danity Kane's D. Woods Reveals Disturbing Truths About Working With Diddy
A former member of the girl group Danity Kane, D. Woods has broken her silence on her interactions with disgraced music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs. During a recent interview, Woods shared details of her "troubling interactions" with the rapper. She also partook in the Investigation Discovery documentary, "The Fall of Diddy," though the rapper's attorneys described the accusations against him in it as "pure fiction." Woods spoke to Eva Pilgrim of ABC in a sit-down interview that aired on Good Morning America on Monday. She explained her decision to speak out about her experiences now, saying, "I would say that this moment now is a time where I feel like my experience, my truth will really be heard and actually considered and believed." The former member of Danity Kane, a group Diddy founded, said Diddy's positive image in society before now would have complicated things if she had spoken out earlier. She said, "You know, he is looked at as a hero of our community, and myself included, I looked up to him too. So a lot of people don't want to believe that their hero can be this other person." During the interview, Woods revealed that the embattled rapper created a "verbally abusive work environment" for Danity Kane members. She shared, "He did it in different ways with all of us, you know, picking and prodding and just a way to chip and knock away, but then praise you." The 41-year-old said she often felt objective due to her experiences with Diddy, adding, "Somebody constantly treating you like a piece of meat, only valuing you for your sex appeal." Woods also recalled living in fear due to the working environment. She said, "In some of the environments, it was even scary to be by yourself." When asked what she would say to Diddy if she had the chance to talk to him today, Woods said, "I honestly do not know, but I don't think you really have to say anything, as long as I'm holding my head up high and my shoulders back." In addition to the interview, Woods will also recount her experiences in the upcoming documentary, "The Fall Of Diddy," which will air on January 27 on Investigation Discovery. However, Diddy's lawyers have responded to the documentary via a statement to Good Morning America. The statement reads in part, "The producers failed to provide sufficient time or details for his representatives to address unsubstantiated claims, many from unidentified participants whose allegations lack context." Diddy's attorneys also said, "By withholding this information, they made it impossible for Mr. Combs to present facts to counter these fabricated accusations." They said Diddy was fully confident "in the facts and the judicial process, where the truth will prevail," before adding, "the accusations against him are pure fiction." Since Diddy was arrested and charged with sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy, several persons have come forward with claims against him. One of those who accused the "Last Night" rapper was Courtney Burgess, who claimed to possess alleged sex tapes involving him. However, Diddy's attorneys filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against Burgess, his lawyer, Ariel Mitchell, and media house, NewsNation. Diddy claimed Burgess and Mitchell fabricated and amplified false allegations against him, including their claim of possessing alleged sex tapes of the rapper. He also alleged that Nexstar Media Group-owned NewsNation broadcasted the accusations without proper due diligence. According to Diddy, their actions caused him significant economic and reputational harm and compromised his chances of having an unbiased jury when his trial begins in May. O.J. Simpson's former lawyer, Robert Shapiro, shared his thoughts on Diddy's chances of success ahead of his trial. In an interview shared by The Art Of Dialogue, Shapiro hinted that there would be more charges against Diddy. He said, "You know, first of all, I think there's gonna be a different group of charges than what he's facing right now," and added, "Anytime you are in federal court, anytime you're not on bail, you have an uphill battle." When asked if Diddy had a "good fighting chance" of regaining his freedom, Shapiro replied, "Oh, there's always a chance. I mean, every trial you have a chance. You are going with the presumption of innocence." However, he felt the odds against the music producer were many. Shapiro said, "But federal court New York, you are in a tough, tough battle."
