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New York Times
3 days ago
- New York Times
Live Updates: Sean Combs Used ‘Power, Violence and Fear' to Run Enterprise, Prosecutor Says
Prosecutors called 34 witnesses over seven weeks to testify about the conduct of Sean Combs in a trial focused on sex, power and wealth. The list included a retinue of Mr. Comb's former employees, investigators with access to years' worth of records and, most critically, two women who said they were compelled to taking part in drug-fueled sex marathons with male escorts. The testimony was presented in an effort to prove charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy; Mr. Combs pleaded not guilty. Here are some of the key witnesses for the prosecution. Casandra Ventura and 'Jane' The government's sex-trafficking case against Mr. Combs centers on his sexual relationships with two women: Casandra Ventura, a singer known as Cassie, and another former girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym Jane. Over a combined 10 days on the stand, the women told strikingly similar stories about Mr. Combs pressuring them into fulfilling his voyeuristic fantasies by having sex with male prostitutes in hotel rooms across the country and sometimes abroad. Mr. Combs watched, masturbated and sometimes filmed the encounters, which he called 'freak-offs' or 'hotel nights.' 'It was his fantasy,' Ms. Ventura testified. 'He was controlling the whole situation. He was directing it. He was doing the lighting. He was telling us where to be, what to say, how to act in the room.' The defense has argued that the women were willing participants in the sex nights, pointing to messages in which they conveyed enthusiasm for the events or took an active role in planning them. Both Ms. Ventura and Jane said they were initially open to the idea but that, over time, they were left feeling humiliated and used. They said Mr. Combs was 'dismissive' when they expressed unwillingness or reluctance. Ms. Ventura said Mr. Combs subjected her to domestic violence for years, said she continued to participate out of fear of his violent temper, as well as his past threats that he would release sex tapes of her and the escorts. Jane said she felt obligated to engage in the sex nights because Mr. Combs repeatedly brought the $10,000-a-month rent he paid for her. Once, she testified, after an explosive physical fight left her with welts, he demanded that she give another man oral sex despite her protests. 'I just felt sick,' she testified. 'I just felt like I wasn't even in my own body.' Witnesses to Mr. Combs's assaults on Cassie Domestic violence was a main topic of questioning by prosecutors as they sought to prove that Ms. Ventura was under threat throughout her 11-year, on-and-off relationship with Mr. Combs. Eight witnesses said they saw Mr. Combs physically abuse Ms. Ventura — including punching her, kicking her and pushing her to the ground — or said they witnessed the immediate aftermath of his attacks. One of the most important observers of that relationship was Deonte Nash, a stylist and friend of Ms. Ventura's, who testified that Ms. Ventura expressed reluctance to him about the 'freak-offs.' He was also present, he said, when Mr. Combs, in a rage, threatened over a decade ago to release her sex tapes on the internet. Ms. Ventura told him she was engaging in the sex with other men 'because Puff wanted her to,' Mr. Nash recalled, using a nickname for Mr. Combs. Two of those hired men were called to testify, recounting nights of sex with Ms. Ventura while Mr. Combs watched that ended in cash payments. One of the men, Daniel Phillip, said that during the time he spent with the couple, he witnessed two episodes of domestic abuse, including once when he heard what sounded like Ms. Ventura being slapped and yelling 'I'm sorry' in another room. 'Cassie came running into the living room and she literally jumped into my lap and she was shaking,' he testified, 'literally, like her whole entire body was shaking.' Seeking to prove a racketeering conspiracy Prosecutors called a succession of witnesses intended to establish that Mr. Combs's criminal behavior went beyond arranging sex between his girlfriends and prostitutes in hotel rooms — and that he did not act alone. A key narrative in the trial focused on accounts of the fallout from Mr. Combs's jealous rage in 2011 over Ms. Ventura's relationship with the rapper Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi. Capricorn Clark, a former employee of Mr. Combs, testified that after Mr. Combs learned of the relationship, he kidnapped her, showing up at her apartment with a gun and telling her 'get dressed, we're going to go kill' Mr. Mescudi. She said she waited in the car as Mr. Combs and a bodyguard entered Mr. Mescudi's home when he wasn't there. Mr. Mescudi, who also took the stand, testified that he believed Mr. Combs was responsible for someone torching his Porsche with a Molotov cocktail not long after the trespassing incident. Mr. Combs's lawyers have denied he was involved in the arson and have disputed that Ms. Clark's account amounts to kidnapping. A half dozen former assistants to Mr. Combs took the stand and described working for Mr. Combs as highly demanding and at times intimidating, though often motivating. Several recounted purchasing drugs for Mr. Combs and setting up hotel rooms with baby oil and lubricant for nights with his girlfriends. Two, including Ms. Clark, recalled being subjected to lie-detector tests to prove they weren't responsible for thefts. One former assistant testified under a pseudonym — 'Mia' — about having to endure sleep deprivation because of her job and violent outbursts from her boss. She recounted times when Mr. Combs threw a bowl of spaghetti and a computer because he was dissatisfied with her. She also testified that he forced himself on her sexually multiple times and she felt unable to say no, allegations that the defense has denied. 'I couldn't tell him 'no' about a sandwich,' Mia testified. 'I couldn't tell him 'no' about anything.'
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Age-Gap Celebrity Couples Who Met When One of Them Was a Child
Age-gap romances are not outside the norm in Hollywood, in fact, quite a few of the most well-known relationships in Hollywood have pretty major age gaps. Some are big, some are small, and some of them are so wildly problematic, that we have no idea how it went on for as long as it did. Now, It's true that you can find the love of your life at any time in your life, whether it be high school or at a local coffee shop; you just don't know. We love love, but what we don't love is when there's a relationship where there's clearly some sort of power dynamic at play. We've seen some disturbing relationships in Hollywood where an adult starts dating someone who's 16 or 17, and along with that, the other aspect people also need to discuss: when an adult celebrity met another celebrity when they were a literal child. One example is how Wilmer Valderrama and Demi Lovato met when she was 17 and he was 29. They dated a year later and were together for quite some time. And before that, Valderrama dated minors like Mandy Moore and Lindsay Lohan (but waited to make his relationship with Lohan public until she turned 18). There's also when Don Johnson met his future wife Melanie Griffith when she was 14 and 22, and truly the list goes on. Below, check out age-gap relationships in Hollywood where a couple met when one was a child, and the other was an adult. More from SheKnows Ellen DeGeneres' Talk Show Demeanor Toward Female Comedians Raises Eyebrows Best of SheKnows Everything to Know About Leonardo DiCaprio's 27-Year-Old GF Vittoria Ceretti A Look Back at Prince William's Sexiest Photos in Celebration of the Future King Amanda Bynes, & More Celebrities Who Joined OnlyFans Over the Years Demi Moore's first marriage was to Freddy Moore, with whom she was with for four years. While they got married when she was either 17 or 18 years old, they met when she was just 16, and he was nearing his thirties. Met: She was 16, he was 29. You may or may not have known this but Sonny Bono and Cher met at very different stages of life. They met when she was just 16 and he was 27. They met at a coffee shop, when Cher was singing backup for hits produced by Sonny's employer, per Distractify. Met: She was 16, he was 27. Celine Dion met René Angélil when she was 12 years old, and he was 38, when Angélil became Dion's manager. When they first met, he was allegedly brought to tears by her singing, and later, they married and were together until his death. Met: She was 12, he was 38 The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Demi Engemann confirmed that she met her future husband Bret Engemann when she was nine years old, and he was 25. Demi herself openly talked about this in a Feb 2023 TikTok video. She revealed that she first met Bret as a child through a family friend, saying, 'He was so much older than me. When I was 9 years old, he was married to his first wife and having babies.' She then added that she always had an 'innocent little girl crush' on her now-husband. Met: She was 9, he was 25 Prince Charles and Princess Diana were together from 1980 to 1992 and welcomed two sons, but didn't officially divorce until 1996. They got together when she was 19, and he was 31. However, they met when she was 16 years old, and he was around 29 when he went to her house to see her sister, per Biography. Remember when Joel Madden and Hilary Duff dated? Yknow, when she was 16 and he was 25? They dated for nearly three years until breaking it off in Nov 2006. During a 2005 appearance on The View, Duff said they met three months prior before dating, and kept their relationship secret because of their age gap, per Refinery29. Despite Mila Kunis being only 14, they still made her character, Jackie, frequently kiss Ashton Kutcher's character, Kelso, even though the actor was 20, on That 70's Show. She said he was her first kiss. They reconnected in 2012, when she was 28 and he was 34. They got married in 2015 and share two children together. Elizabeth Gillies and her husband Michael Corcoran met while she was starring in the show Victorious. He worked as a composer on the show, making songs like ' 5Fingaz to the Face,' 'L.A. Boyz,' and 'Freak the Freak Out,' per The List. While they started dating when she was 18 and he was 39, they met earlier. Corcoran worked on the show when it first aired in 2010, when he was around 37 or 28, and she was around 16 or 17. While the timeline is hazy, it is confirmed they met on the show, because in an interview with Vogue, Gillies said: 'I always had a crush on him. But I played it cool.' Leonardo DiCaprio and Camila Morrone started dating in 2017, when she was 20 and he was 43. However, according to W, they may have met much earlier. As many know, Morrone's former stepdad is Al Pacino, who is one of DiCaprio's best A-list buddies. Now, because of this, DiCaprio allegedly met Marrone when she was only 12, and he was in his 30s since they were 'old family friends.' As we said, the pair started dating back in 2017, causing a bit of controversy due to their 23-year age gap. However, after five years together, they called it quits two months after her 25th birthday. A couple people often forget about is Gigi Hadid and Joe Jonas, two A-listers who dated briefly in 2015. However, they met years prior. Per Business Insider, they met when she was 13, and he asked her out, when he was around 18 or 19. He allegedly asked her out, she said he did it 'at the Grammys when I was 13 years old.' 'He asked me to a baseball game, and I said no,' she added. 'I was so nervous; I literally didn't even know what it meant to hang out with a boy.' Get ready, because Wilmer Valderrama has done this a few times. Okay, so one couple you may have forgotten was Valderrama and Lindsay Lohan. They dated for six months back in 2004 after working on the set of That 70's Show. They were spotted together in May 2004 but didn't make their relationship public until she turned 18 years old in July 2004. But they definitely met when she was 17. Wilmer Valderrama and Mandy Moore started dating when he was 20 and she was 16 years old in 2000, but they actually met sometime prior on a photoshoot when she was 15, per People. They were together until 2002, and during their relationship, Valderrama claimed he took her virginity?! He said that in an interview with Howard Stern, and Moore later said it wasn't true. 'I love him and I still love him, and he's a very good friend and that's why I was so shocked by it because not only was it a fib, but it was so unlike him, it was so uncharacteristic,' she said. Wilmer Valderrama and Demi Lovato met when she was just 17 and he was 29, but they didn;t date until she turned 18. They dated on and off for six years, and officially called it quits in 2016. Lovato talked about when they first met via Mamas Latinas, saying, 'I was only 17, and so he was like, 'Get away from me.' After I had turned 18, we began dating. I think it was love at first sight and I don't really believe in that but I believe that it happened.' She later released a song called '29,' which was seemingly a jab at Valderrama, and the age he was when they started dating. Dane Cook and Kelsi Taylor have been together since 2017, when she was 18 and he 45. They recently got married, and many online sleuths believe there's more to their relationship timeline. Specifically, they think they met before Taylor was 18. According to an Instagram Q & A, via Us Weekly, the couple met when he hosted a game night at his house. Their friendship took a serious turn where they 'fell in like with each [other] and then upgraded to love.' Twitter users found photo evidence that they allegedly met when she was 17. Jerry Seinfeld and Shoshanna Lonstein dated from 1993 to 1997, and they started dating when she was 17 and he was 38. Per TheThings, they met at Central Park and she gave him her number after they flirted. He tried to claim they didn't start dating until she was 18, but either way, they definitely met when she was 17. Remember when the late Liam Payne and Cheryl dated, and welcomed a kid? They were 22 and 32, respectively when they got together….but they met years prior. They originally met in 2008, when he was auditioning for The X Factor, and he was 14. 1990s it-couple Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder had a pretty big age gap. They met when she was 17, and he was 25. They met in 1989 at the movie premiere of Great Balls of Fire, and apparently, when they locked eyes, Depp claimed it was love at first sight, saying, 'I knew then,' via Rolling Stone. They didn't start dating until a few months later, and were together until 1993. Rob Lowe and Winona Ryder were together in the mid-1980s. They later starred in the 1987 movie Square Dance and attended the Golden Globes together in 1988. She was around 14-15 when they met, and he was 21. Back in 2011, Harry Styles and Caroline Flack started dating, when he was 17 and she was 31. They dated for a few months until early 2012. Later, in 2015, she said she wouldn't apologize for their relationship, saying, per Washington Post, 'I'm not going to ever apologize for it because there was nothing at the time that was serious or bad and nobody was getting hurt.' Tyga and Kylie Jenner met earlier than people may have thought: in Nov 2011 at Kendall Jenner's Sweet 16 party. At the time, she was 14, and he was around 22 years old. They started dating in Sept 2014, a month after Kylie's 17th birthday party he attended. They were together, on and off until early 2017, per Billboard. In the early '70s, Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith met when he went over to her house, when he was 22 years old and she was 14. They briefly dated, then got together when she was 18, and married quickly after. Their marriage lasted six months. However, they remarried two years later, and welcomed their daughter Dakota Johnson. However, they divorced in 1996, per InStyle. Priscilla Presley was quite young when she met Elvis — 14 years old to Elvis' 24 years old. They met back in 1959, specifically at a party. While she claims nothing sexual happened until she was 18, there was definitely a romance, which she detailed in her memoir. They were together from 1959 to 1973, and welcomed a daughter together. Jasmine Pilchard-Gosnell was only 16 when she and Paul Walker started dating in 2006. They dated until his death in 2013. She was only around two years older than his own daughter. And per TheThings, he also dated Aubrianna Atwell, who was 16 when he was 28.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Why money and power affects male self-esteem
What we earn can affect our mental wellbeing, especially when we compare ourselves to those around us – and it can negatively influence male mental health. "It stings your pride a little bit that your wife's the one out making all the money," said Dave, of his status as a stay-at-home dad. "I'm, you know, a guy's guy... you tell them you stay home, and... they think you're some feminine dude," said Tom. Both were participants in an in-depth research study where both men and women were interviewed about the impact of the women in the relationships being the breadwinners. Another, Brendon, had good reason to feel judged: family members labelled him "the house bitch". These are but three examples of the judgement experienced by men who don't have jobs outside the home, and whose female partners are the primary earners. In the study, the men said they felt judged partly because it's long been assumed that men are the main breadwinners in society. However, an increasing number of women are outearning their male partners, and this gradual rise of female breadwinners is revealing that who earns the money has lasting and influential impacts on power dynamics both at home, and in wider society. A key reason these changing family dynamics are so influential is because money is so closely tied to power. When men aren't the highest earners in their household – but are expected to be by some sections of society – it can lead them to feel disempowered, decreasing mental wellbeing and even increasing the likelihood of divorce. Overall, men still tend to outearn women and among married couples with children, and women do more childcare and housework than men, a stubborn discrepancy found globally. In part this is thought to be due to gender expectations, but in some cases it may also reflect an economic necessity where the higher earner's career tends to be prioritised, so women are more likely to step back into part-time, flexible the increase in breadwinning women, gender attitudes to paid work and roles at home have been slower to change. Even if women are the higher earners, they still do more housework and childcare than lower-earning male partners. And while among some age groups there's been an increase in support for gender equality, men still show lower satisfaction if they are out-earned. An increasing body of research shows that it can affect a man's self-esteem and happiness if their female partner earns more than them. But how serious is the problem really? And what can be done to help men adjust to their new reality? It's a little taboo for men to even talk about the impact of their female partner becoming the breadwinner. They might feel supportive of their partner's career, whilst at the same time feeling that they aren't fulfilling their role as "breadwinners" because many outdated assumptions of masculinity remain prevalent. This is especially true when men inadvertently become stay-at-home fathers due to job loss or relocation, rather than choice. Harry Bunton, an ex-consultant and now rising social media influencer based in Sydney, Australia, recently lost his job. He posted on social media afterwards to thousands that his "values as a man, husband and father" were impacted. "It makes sense to me why there's such a high rate of depression, and worse, in that population. When things don't go to plan it can be really devastating and can really challenge your ideas of what it means to be a man," Bunton wrote. "My hope is that sharing this story is that people can identify with it and their value isn't predicated on events like this… I feel almost empowered to be the dad that I want to be." While Bunton took a positive approach to the change in his lifestyle, he exemplifies that how much a man earns relative to his partner can affect their mental wellbeing. For instance, one recent study of heterosexual couples in Sweden looked at 10 years of earnings data as well as mental health diagnoses to look for patterns. The researchers found that at the point when wives began to outearn their male partners, there was an uptick in mental health diagnoses among men. While there was an increase of up to 8% in mental health diagnoses for all participants whose partners earned more – including women – there was a more pronounced rise of up to 11% for men overall. I spoke with Demid Getik, an assistant professor in the Economics Department at Durham University who led the study, to find out more. He told me that while we may no longer hear it explicitly stated that the man should earn more, these expectations are still highly prevalent. The increase in mental health diagnoses in men whose partner has begun earning more, says Getik, could also be an indication that these couples are showing decreased relationship satisfaction, though his data did not specifically assess this. Meanwhile other research has shown that the husbands of higher-earning women are more likely to cheat, which the authors say may be a way for them to reassert their masculine identity – one which has been threatened by their breadwinning wives. Research also points to the idea that the pressure on men to be providers is a contributing factor to their wellbeing. When men are out of work, they have been shown to have higher rates of depression compared to out-of-work women. One possible explanation is women tend to have stronger social ties outside of work compared to men. Stay-at-home dads are therefore often more isolated than stay-at-home mums. When it comes to understanding why wellbeing is so closely tied with what we earn, it helps to correct a misconception. While female breadwinners are often stereotyped as high-powered and career driven, in many couples with female breadwinners, it's a result of the man losing his job – leading to economic stress. That's especially prevalent given that research shows that in couples where only the woman is working, the average household wage is lower compared to couples with breadwinning men, in line with the gender pay gap. This led Helen Kowalewska, an assistant professor in the Department of Social Policy and Science at Bath University, and her team to suggest in a research paper that "most countries are not working hard enough to compensate for the female breadwinner earnings penalty". In this situation, where the entire household ends up with a lower income, she argues that welfare systems should be doing more to help. Not all bad However, when men step back from paid work it can also have positive impacts on the family. In the UK, fathers are spending more time with children than in the past in general, and research shows that stay-at-home dads tend to spend more quality time with their children. As can be expected, stay-at-home dads do more childcare than breadwinner mums or dads. But they typically don't increase their share of the house work – it's only roughly equal in this scenario. In all other set-ups, women do more, according to a 2023 Pew report of US data. Despite many countries having minimal paternity leave available, when fathers do take paternity leave, marital satisfaction can increase, as can father involvement in childcare – even when fathers return to work. Dads who take parental leave show greater bonds with their children, who will, in turn be more likely to grow up witnessing a more equitable division of labour. It follows that how parents divide housework will go on to shape what their children expect later in life, too. A more equitable division of labour at home also helps women pursue careers more easily and therefore increase their earning potential. But the benefits to women of these societal shifts go further. In a study looking at Mexican households, a team found that the more work opportunities that women have outside the home, the more power they have in other domains, too. In other words, they gain more bargaining power over larger financial decisions. This tallies with other research. If a woman is empowered financially where historically she has been disempowered, naturally it can have a positive impact on her earning power, her autonomy and her career. When norms are changed and it becomes routine for men to step back from work for family commitments, it can increase the wellbeing of the whole family. Swedish data for instance shows that when paternity leave was first introduced and fathers were given a so-called "daddy month" in 1995, the initial cohort of men who took this leave experienced reduced marital stability and the likelihood of separation increased. When the policy increased the amount of leave available to two months in 2002, this was no longer the case. Today, Swedish parents have three months available each in a use-it-or-lose it policy, and the rates of uptake for dads, as you would expect, are high. In fact, it's taboo for dads to skip this allotted parental leave. (Read more about this from the BBC.) While there is a greater awareness of the importance of empowering women today, attitudes remain polarised. A recent Ipsos survey by King's College London, found that the youngest generation polled – Gen Z, who were aged between 18 and 28 at the time – were the most divided. A global poll of almost 24,000 individuals found that young men were more likely to agree with the statement that a father who stays home to look after his children is "less of a man". While 28% of Gen Z men agreed to this, only 19% of Gen Z women did. In all other age groups, the figure was lower. When asked to respond to the statement: "Men are being expected to do too much to support equality" 60% of Gen Z men agreed, compared to 38% of Gen Z women. Among baby boomers this figure dropped to 44% and 31% respectively. Heejung Chung, professor of work and employment at King's College London and one of the report's authors, told me that one reason these attitudes are creeping in is because young women are now more likely to be university educated than young men. Perhaps as a consequence, she says, women in their early twenties earn slightly more than men. For the first time, there are now more female doctors than male doctors in the UK. "We do see a lot of signs of gender parity in certain areas," Chung explains, and these younger individuals aren't perhaps experiencing the wider inequality that many women still face today – leading to a view that some boys "are falling behind." Another reason for this division in attitudes towards equality could be that ideas around what masculinity represents are changing, but not everywhere. Rosie Campbell, a professor of politics also at King's College London, has authored research which found a growing divide in attitudes about masculinity, particularly among the younger generation. For example, men and women disagree on things like whether it's harder to be a man than a woman today. She explains that "feminism is supposed to be about gender equality for men and women. Of course, it's got the term feminine in the title and that can sound quite exclusionary". Campbell therefore advocates for more open conversations with young people, especially at school, about what the terms feminism and masculinity mean. "We need to think more about how we communicate to young men about what it is to be a man today, and what kind of role models they have," she says. This is especially important when considering the increasing misogynistic influences online, as portrayed recently on the Netflix drama Adolescence. (Read more from the BBC about the best TV shows of 2025 so far.) Despite these findings, Chung and her colleagues' latest survey shows that most agree that achieving gender equality matters. There is also a small but growing body of research that shows men are changing their understanding of masculinity and fatherhood, to one that involves caring, empathy and other softer skills that are typically deemed feminine – as opposed to assuming manhood means earning more to look after your family. This has since been dubbed "caring masculinities". 'It's not just about men doing that fun stuff that's really rewarded. It's about them getting into those kinds of messy, gritty parts of care-work', says Karla Elliott, a gender scholar from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Her work shows that taking on more of these practical caring tasks leads to a more nurturing disposition. Elliott explains that for this new conception of masculinity to spread, as well as taking on more care, men also need to disavow domination and inequality. Some researchers are arguing that policies that increase paternity leave – and specifically earmark leave for men – can help them to increase their focus on care. This could in turn put less onus on men as providers and help women to earn more. More like this:• The gender biases that shape our brains• Indigenous mothers are being 'failed' in Australia• How an objective measure of pain could counter bias in medicine Policy changes can take time to filter though, so one solution we can all enact is to voice positive messages about our changing expectation of what our roles in society are. "There's a big opportunity here: if men are feeling that their self-esteem is impacted by their partner's earning, that's a great chance for men to reflect on why they're feeling that way, and potentially challenge some of the ingrained ideals about gender roles," says Elliott. Given that female breadwinners are increasing in number, with time this economic shift could become normalised, meaning that among couples with children, men will need to adapt accordingly by increasing flexible working and caregiving. This will in turn help empower their higher-earning wives to pursue their careers. And while it will take time, these changing attitudes could pave the way to minimising the male breadwinner, female homemaker expectation, increasing relationship satisfaction and creating a healthier power balance in the process. * Melissa Hogenboom is a BBC health and science journalist and author of the upcoming book Breadwinners (2025) and The Motherhood Complex -- For trusted insights into better health and wellbeing rooted in science, sign up to the Health Fix newsletter, while The Essential List delivers a handpicked selection of features and insights. For more science, technology, environment and health stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
