The Diddy Trial: A Brown Paper Bag and 100K

Summary

Podcast Summary: Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial

Release Date: June 4, 2025 | Episode: The Diddy Trial: A Brown Paper Bag and 100K

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Introduction

In this gripping episode of the Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present podcast, hosted by iHeartPodcasts, seasoned journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes join forces with Aubrey O’Day—a former protege of Diddy, television personality, and music artist—to dissect the high-profile trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs. Situated just a few blocks from the courthouse, the trio provides real-time analysis, bringing forth exclusive insights and expert opinions on the unfolding legal drama that has captivated the nation.

Key Testimonies

1. Frank Piazza: Forensic Video Expert

Frank Piazza took the stand to discuss the authenticity and implications of the surveillance video depicting Diddy allegedly attacking his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. Aubrey O’Day highlighted Frank’s role in validating the evidence presented:

"Frank is up on the stand discussing the validity of the surveillance video that shows Diddy attacking Cassie Ventura." (04:41)

Frank emphasized the importance of forensic analysis in ensuring the video’s integrity, although he noted limitations in accessing the original USB copy:

"The prosecution argues the video wasn't doctored, but since it was only available via a cell phone recording, a full forensic analysis wasn't possible." (05:31)

2. Eddie Garcia: Financial Officer Under Immunity

Eddie Garcia, who testified under immunity, revealed the financial transactions orchestrated by Diddy to procure and conceal the surveillance video. He detailed the distribution of a $100,000 payment:

"Eddie received $100,000 from Diddy, splitting it into $50,000 for his boss, $20,000 for a coworker, and $30,000 for himself." (06:50)

Garcia recounted how Diddy advised discretion to avoid attracting attention:

"Diddy made it clear, 'Don't spend the money all at once.' He cautioned against any sudden large expenditures that might seem suspicious." (06:50)

3. Derek Ferguson: CFO of Diddy’s Enterprise

Derek Ferguson’s testimony added complexity to the financial misconduct allegations. Despite overseeing finances, Ferguson claimed ignorance of any illicit transactions:

"Derek testified that he never witnessed any improper financial activities, even though he acknowledged a $20,000 payment to Cassie Ventura's mother." (18:39)

Aubrey O’Day questioned the credibility of Ferguson's statements, pointing out the improbability of his complete obliviousness given his role:

"It's hard to believe he didn't have any insight into the financial irregularities taking place over the past 20 years." (21:13)

4. Brianna Bongalon: Friend of Cassie Ventura

Brianna Bongalon, another key witness, was expected to testify about her experience of witnessing Diddy allegedly dangling Cassie over a 17-floor balcony. Her testimony was delayed pending a judge's order for immunity due to her admitted illicit drug use:

"Brianna couldn't testify until she received immunity, as she was expected to discuss both the assault and her own drug use." (04:06)

5. Jane Doe/Mia: Alleged Rape Survivor

The prosecution intended to call a pseudonymous witness, Mia, who claims to have been sexually assaulted by Diddy. Concerns arose regarding the protection of her identity, especially after a YouTuber inadvertently revealed her information, leading to courtroom bans:

"The prosecution is seeking to introduce additional protective measures for Jane Doe to prevent identification and ensure her safety." (25:18)

Discussions and Analysis

Aubrey O’Day and the hosts delved deep into the moral and legal implications of the testimonies. They debated the extent of Diddy's influence and the network of individuals complicit in the alleged cover-up. A recurring theme was the ethical breach by those who facilitated the concealment of the assault through financial transactions.

OJ emphasized the psychological manipulation involved:

"Offering cash and leveraging personal fears, like safety threats, to silence witnesses is a profound abuse of power." (09:23)

Tom Yamas highlighted the broader impact on trust within corporate structures, questioning how high-ranking executives like Ferguson could remain oblivious or complicit:

"It's unbelievable to consider that someone in a CFO position could either be unaware or choose to ignore illegal activities." (21:43)

Reactions in the Courthouse

The trial’s atmosphere was charged with tension, not just within the courtroom but also among spectators. The overflow room adjacent to the courthouse transformed into a makeshift watch party, attracting Diddy’s supporters and influencers eager to capitalize on the trial's media coverage.

Tom Yamas reported instances of rowdiness and attempts to "go viral," which Amy Robach and TJ Holmes condemned:

"It's disgusting to see people trying to profit from such a painful and devastating situation." (27:32)

Concerns were raised about the influence of social media and public sentiment swaying the trial’s perception, potentially jeopardizing the integrity of the proceedings.

Concluding Insights

As the trial progresses, the podcast underscored the multifaceted nature of the case, encompassing not only the assault allegations but also a web of financial improprieties and ethical violations. Aubrey O’Day’s insider perspective, coupled with the journalistic acumen of Amy Robach and TJ Holmes, provided listeners with a comprehensive analysis of the trial's developments.

The episode concluded with anticipation for upcoming testimonies, particularly from Brianna Bongalon and Jane Doe, which are expected to shed more light on the extent of Diddy’s actions and the network supporting him. The hosts reaffirmed their commitment to delivering unbiased, detailed coverage as the trial continues to unfold.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Amy Robach: "The Medicaid that gives health care to nearly 2/3 of black women and more than half of black kids. The Medicaid our tax dollars pay for to reward billionaires." (00:34)

• Eddie Garcia: "Diddy made it very clear to him, don't spend the money all at once." (06:50)

• Lester Holt: "It's hard for me to believe that he didn't know things were happening, but he deliberately removed himself or wasn't a part of any conversation or in any sort of room where something could be said or in which he could have learned something that he would have then had to testify to." (21:43)

• Tom Yamas: "If you see a man beating a woman on the street, are you just going to walk by?" (07:24)

• Lester Holt: "Do you believe that?" (20:49)

• Tom Yamas: "This is all a mess." (14:20)

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This detailed summary encapsulates the critical elements of the episode, providing listeners with an insightful overview of the Diddy trial as analyzed by industry experts and insiders.

Transcript

[Lester Holt]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Amy Robach]

Health care costs are out of control.

[TJ Holmes]

Republicans in Congress are gonna fix that with giant tax cuts for the ultra rich.

[Amy Robach]

Wait, what?

[TJ Holmes]

Yep. They're gutting Medicaid.

[Amy Robach]

The Medicaid that gives health care to nearly 2/3 of black women and more than half of black kids. The Medicaid our tax dollars pay for to reward billionaires.

[TJ Holmes]

Why should we suffer and pay more while the rich get richer? It's time to stop these Medicaid cuts.

[Amy Robach]

Paid for by families over billionaires.

[Tom Brokaw]

This is Justin Richmond from Broken Record. Are you the kind of person who sets standards for themselves? Like personally, I told myself if the Lakers lose or do or die game five, I wouldn't let it impact my mood at home with family. The standard Lexus has set for themselves is to experience amazing. Lexus measures success by the feelings and emotions evoked in a driver, like exhilaration and joy. Amazing can only be achieved by knowing people on a deeper level. The standard of amazing results in machines that make you feel more human. Because a car that doesn't make you feel something is a car that stops short of amazing experience. Amazing at your Lexus dealer.

[Tom Yamas]

NBC Nightly News legacy isn't handed down or NBC News.

[Tom Brokaw]

I'm Tom Brokaw.

[Lester Holt]

Hope to see you back here. I'm Lester Holt.

[Tom Yamas]

It's carried forward.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Tom Yamas is there for Firefighters are.

[Tom Yamas]

Still working around the clock.

[Lester Holt]

As the world changes, we look for what endures.

[Tom Yamas]

We are coming on the air with breaking news right now we look for.

[Lester Holt]

A constant and from one era to the next.

[TJ Holmes]

Trust is the anchor for NBC Nightly News.

[Tom Yamas]

I'm Tom Yamas. A new chapter begins NBC Nightly News.

[Lester Holt]

With Tom yamas evenings on NBC.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[TJ Holmes]

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[Lester Holt]

Welcome everyone to the Amy and TJ podcast. Amy Robach here along with my partner TJ Holmes and we are giving you your one stop shop for your latest Diddy trial updates. We sit here just a couple blocks away from the courthouse and testimony is continuing today. Right now Frank Piazza is up on the stand. He's a forensic video expert and he's going to be talking about the validity of a lot of what we heard and saw yesterday regarding that surveillance video in that hotel where we see Diddy attacking his then girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.

[Tom Yamas]

Frank is probably one of the more boring witnesses now. Don't say that offense. Right. There have been so many salacious and wild and unbelievable and jaw dropping headlines that come out of testimony. The prosecution has to have several of these types of witnesses. Forensic guys who walk the jury through. It's very important. It can seem tedious, but it's important for him to point out in that video, like you said, the validity of it. Brianna Bongalon is another one that's going to be up on the stand today. She is a friend of Cassie Ventura Fine. And also someone who claims that Diddy dangled her over a balcony and robes. It's interesting. She is expected to be up today as well. But she's another of several who are testifying but clearly don't want to. They had to be compelled.

[Lester Holt]

That's right. Brianna actually was first up to take the witness stand, but it's because she had to take that immunity or trying to get the judge. She's waiting for the judge to grant an order of immunity. She can't testify until she gets that order. The judge will likely do that. It just is kind of clerical. We're just waiting for him to say it. But she wanted to make sure that she had that immunity because not only is she expected to testify about being dangled over a 17 floor, I believe balcony, but she also, once you get.

[Tom Yamas]

Above 10, it doesn't matter.

[Lester Holt]

It doesn't really matter. Right. But yes, apparently it was 17 floors up, which is terrifying. And she's also expected to testify about illicit drug use. So that's why she needed the immunity because she would be basically ratting on herself. Yeah, lack of a better word. Yes, she'd be ratting on herself about using drugs that are illegal. So that is expected. But it's interesting I asked you this and it's part of the reason why Frank Piazza is up on the stand now speaking to the validity of that surveillance video. But it was testified so Many times yesterday that Diddy believe this was the only copy that he bought. That hundred thousand dollars he. He gave was the only copy of that surveillance video. But clearly it was not. And was it explained then how the rest of the world saw that video even though Diddy thought he had the only copy?

[Tom Yamas]

Well, it hasn't been revealed who was actually behind it, but there was the argument that the prosecution has made that of course the video wasn't doctored, and we can't show it to you to prove it wasn't. Doctor, the point is what we all saw was a cell phone recording of the surveillance video. So it appears that someone played it for someone and someone recorded it on a cell phone, but they didn't get the actual USB copy of it is how the prosecution at least has explained it. So there is no, you can't go through, do a forensic analysis of it. And we didn't doctor it. Obviously we didn't because it came from a cell phone is their argument. But that cell phone video and that hundred thousand dollars you just mentioned was the centerpiece of the last full day of testimony we have in the books. And that's the one we're going to talk about. There were two folks in particular that were up. One was Derek Ferguson, who was with Diddy for 20 years, and he ended up being the CFO. But up first was Eddie Garcia, this guy also under immunity testifying because he was the guy that Diddy reached out to, allegedly after the incident with Cassie Ventura, fine in that hallway, reached out and immediately said, I need that video and I'll pay for it.

[Lester Holt]

And he paid handsomely for it. He ended up giving $100,000, Eddie Garcia said to him, and he divvied that up 50,000 for his boss, 20,000 for a co worker. He took 30,000 for himself. He testified that Diddy made it very clear to him, don't spend the money all at once. Right away, he didn't want anything to seem untoward. If someone suddenly has $30,000 cash to pay for something large, he was like, he was cautioning him not to draw attention.

[Tom Yamas]

That was some good fellas ish right there. Right after you do a big heist, there's always one idiot that goes and buys a car and then everybody gets caught.

[Lester Holt]

That's what he did, though.

[Tom Yamas]

That is what Diddy was trying to tell him not to do.

[Lester Holt]

So Eddie Garcia then testifies that's exactly what he ended up doing, going and buying a new car.

[Tom Yamas]

So if you go back with this look, did he, according to at least this testimony. According to the testimony, as soon as it happened, did. He knew it was bad and he knew he needed to get his hands on that surveillance video. He knew it immediately. So Garcia says he gets a call. He testifies. He gets a call from Sean Combs saying. Kept calling him, I know you're a good guy. Like, was really kind of sweetening just talking them up and said, want you to help us out and need to get this video. Garcia said he didn't have the authority. He actually didn't have access to it. He now has to go get somebody else involved, his supervisor. That's crazy that you would take that to your supervisor.

[Lester Holt]

That blows my mind. You're being bribed to sell off a piece of video. That is basically criminal evidence because you know when you see what's on that tape, that is a criminal act. And he then felt comfortable enough to call his boss and say, hey, can we do diddy? Right? Give him this video and he's gonna pay us. And then his boss agreed. That's. That's mind blowing to me. And then I don't know how there was another person involved too, but three people knew about this video and were paid for it.

[Tom Yamas]

See, this is. We. We stop probably once an episode that we've been doing this every day, and we stop and we have this moment. Damn. Somebody knew how many folks were complicit. You are watching a vi. A vicious assault, and you go, you know what? I won't tell nobody if you give me 50 grand. I won't tell nobody if you give me 30 grand, I won't tell anybody. You give me 20 grand. That's tough, man. You saw this woman be victimized. It's like walking past somebody being beaten on the street. If you see a man beating a woman on the street, are you just going to walk by? Are you going to say, hey, you. You give me $100, I'll forget about it, or whatever it may be.

[Lester Holt]

It's tough.

[Tom Yamas]

You're not going to do that.

[Lester Holt]

I wonder how they all slept at night after that.

[Tom Yamas]

Look, I don't know what's going on in everybody else's life. And you try to give folks grace, but this is another time where robes we talk about. There were so many people who knew who had an opportunity. So this isn't just they were aware of. They played an active hand in covering up a crime.

[Lester Holt]

100%. Do you. Do you recall if this was 2016 or 2017? I'm trying to remember which year it was. But Bottom line, this didn't come out until last year. Yes, yes. So this was all buried for at least 6, 7, 8 years.

[Tom Yamas]

8 years. 8 years.

[Lester Holt]

8 Years.

[Tom Yamas]

That one. It just. It gets me. It's just.

[Lester Holt]

It's wild.

[Tom Yamas]

We keep talking about he was allowed to do these things, and he just had so much power, he had so much influence. It needed some. One person, and there seemed to be hundreds, quite frankly, robes, who had an opportunity to say something. This was a collaborative effort to help him cover up the money. Just makes it ickier. But how could you. Can you imagine watching that video and go, okay, fine, I won't say nothing.

[Lester Holt]

It makes me feel like everybody has a price.

[Tom Yamas]

Yeah, I mean, look, guys working hotel security. How much is he making? A. An hour or whatever it may be. And this. Garcia said he reached out to Diddy later asking for a job. Never heard back from Diddy. Fine and dandy. But this was. Garcia said, yes. He gets Diddy on the phone. Diddy. They end up meeting face to face. And Garcia brings him the USB file. 100 grand in cash in a brown paper bag and a money counting machine. This is the only stuff I've seen.

[Lester Holt]

In movies, like you said, Goodfellas. That's what it sounds like. And also we mentioned this, but it's also just the threat of personal safety was involved as well. Not only were they paid handsomely, but he also took photos of all of their IDs and basically let them know, yes, I know who you are. I know where you live. I can come find you if any of this gets out. I'm fascinated by the fact that someone had that video on their cell phone for all those years. And technically, when Eddie Garcia told him this is the only copy. This is, you know, this is the only key fob, basically. Or what? It's a. It was a USB from the actual surveillance video. I guess that technically was true, but someone. I mean, I. I imagine how or why someone took a video of the video and then kept it on their cell phone all those years.

[Tom Yamas]

I would say it should have been one of the supervisors or one of the security guards. It's some insurance policy. You never know when you're going to need that again, probably. And again, that's me watching gangster movies, maybe thinking, but they might have done it for safety. Who else would have done it? Did somebody finally get so upset? Did somebody finally go, this is it. When they saw Cassie was about to sue him and her lawsuit comes. And finally somebody who knows, I don't know where, how CNN Got their hands on it.

[Lester Holt]

And if that security video never came out, would we be sitting watching, observing this trial? Would Cassie have felt compelled or at least just backed up enough to file that lawsuit? When that video came out, that was total proof of everything she had endured or at least a version of where people would start to believe what she had to say. So many people who have said things about Diddy didn't have any real proof. Now there's proof. Now there's physical, irrefutable proof that that might have emboldened Cassie to go ahead and file her lawsuit.

[Tom Yamas]

Oh, she filed that sucker ahead of the CNN releasing.

[Lester Holt]

Oh, she went back. But the question is, does she know it existed? Like all of that? The timing was pretty close.

[Tom Yamas]

To your point? Yes, to your point. She 100% knew it existed. And according to Eddie Garcia on the stand yesterday, he talked to her on the phone. Diddy put Cassie Ventura Fine on the phone, and she backed up what Diddy was saying, which was, we don't want this video to come out. You, can you please help us out? And she had a movie coming up.

[Lester Holt]

So she knew that at least one person had seen the video and had had their hands on it. So I just wonder how much that may have played in her decision to file the lawsuit.

[Tom Yamas]

She knew it was out there.

[Lester Holt]

Exactly. And I'm just curious which one, if there was any conversation beforehand. But interestingly, with Cassie having that conversation, Eddie Garcia testified that their real concern was. Wasn't about the fact that they were covering something up or whether or not they were gonna get paid. They were concerned that if Cassie decided to file a police report, police would absolutely then come to the hotel and ask for surveillance footage. And if they saw that the footage was erased, deleted or destroyed, that might have put some legal questions towards them. And so he was just concerned. Hey, I need to know that neither one of y' all, especially Cassie, is not gonna go to the police after the fact. And then I'm gonna get busted for having given you this video.

[Tom Yamas]

This is all a mess. And the point of all of this is they're trying to the prosecution, build a case and showing that this man used his business enterprise, which was a part of fueling a criminal enterprise. And a criminal enterprise has to have crimes. So he wasn't necessarily out there being a drug dealer or something you see from some of the other traditional mobsters in New York. But coercion, dangling somebody off of a. Off of a building, drugs, violence, this is all criminal behavior. So this is a part of them trying to stack it up and and make a case against him. But Eddie Garcia, his testimony was incredible. Yes, a hundred to see what he was willing to do and they knew immediately this wasn't a so to all of us like whoa, where the video come from? They have known for eight years. That's crazy that this was document it.

[Amy Robach]

Health care costs are out of control.

[TJ Holmes]

Republicans in Congress are going to fix that with giant tax cuts for the ultra rich.

[Amy Robach]

Wait, what?

[TJ Holmes]

Yep. They're gutting Medicaid.

[Amy Robach]

The Medicaid that gives health care to nearly 2/3 of black women and more than half of black kids. The Medicaid our tax dollars pay for to reward billionaires.

[TJ Holmes]

Why should we suffer and pay more while the rich get richer? It's time to stop these Medicaid cuts.

[Amy Robach]

Paid for by families over billionaires.

[Tom Brokaw]

This is Justin Richmond from Broken Record. Are you the kind of person who sets standards for themselves? Like personally, I told myself if the Lakers lose or do or die game five, I wouldn't let it impact my mood at home with family. The standard Lexus has set for themselves is to experience amazing. Lexus measures success by the feelings and emotions evoked in a driver, like exhilaration and joy. Amazing can only be achieved by knowing people on a deeper level. The standard of amazing results in machines that make you feel more human. Because a car that doesn't make you feel something is a car that stops short of amazing experience. Amazing at your Lexus dealer.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Tom Yamas]

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[Rodney Williams]

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[Lester Holt]

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[Lester Holt]

And you know what also is interesting, given all of that, to then have Derek Ferguson take the stand, Diddy's cfo, and say that he never saw anything untoward, he never saw any improper financial movement. And with all of this testimony we've heard about Diddy paying people off or even Cassie Ventura, Fine's own mother, saying she wired him $20,000. Now, Ferguson did acknowledge that there was a $20,000 payment back to Cassie Ventura's mother. So that did exist. But was that not questionable? Why was he paying? It's hard for me to.

[Tom Yamas]

Yes, I'll tell you no lies.

[Lester Holt]

You need to imagine that the CFO had no idea of anything illegal or improper happening financially when clearly that had to have happened. If what people are alleging occurred, money had to be exchanged. Money had to be offered in payment to people. What did he think those payments were for? Does the cfo, isn't that part of their responsibility to ask why this money is being.

[Tom Yamas]

Do they or do they just need to keep the numbers and keep the sheets balanced? And he tried to explain, yeah, some folks use cash payments for this. Some people use expenses on that. He said it was all over the place. But he did the record keeping and he, to your point, some of these witnesses are able to corroborate what earlier witnesses said. We, our minds were blown to hear that Cassie Ventura finds mom sent Diddy 20,000, essentially trying to get her daughter free. And like, wow. And then they sent it back to her. And now this guy comes on the stand and say, yeah, I got a $20,000 payment. Then it went back out. He said he didn't know what it was for.

[Lester Holt]

Wow. I still, I keep thinking about that the return of that $20,000 had to be the worst that mom money you've ever received in your life because it'd be such a sinking feeling, like rejected. You don't get your daughter. I still have her and I'm keeping her here's. Your money back. That just had to be gutting to her. I thought something really interesting occurred when he was asked, when Derek Ferguson was asked, do you think highly of Mr. Combs? His response, and he took a pause, a long pause. I don't know how to respond to that. What do you make of that?

[Tom Yamas]

Well, what I may. If that was in the middle of testimony, that might have been one thing.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But.

[Tom Yamas]

But that was the last question to him. And it was. It leaves an impact. It leaves an impression on the jury. And because this guy was. Look, he's a numbers guy. He's a Harvard educated guy who's been cfo. He does the numbers. I don't know anything about a hotel or freak off or anything. I'm just in my office doing my thing.

[Lester Holt]

Do you believe that?

[Tom Yamas]

I do.

[Lester Holt]

Really?

[Tom Yamas]

I actually think that's possible. I think there are plenty people in his circle. And look, we run around enough in New York and the industry we've been in, We've been around folks in the music industry. There were some. We've talked to plenty over the years who had an idea. The other folks talk to now like, I had no fricking idea. This kind of stuff like just are blown away. This guy, it's tough because he was with him for 20 years.

[Lester Holt]

That's my point. I'm skeptical as hell you could have purposefully removed yourself from situations where you would have to acknowledge that you saw things. So in my mind, he. It's hard for me to believe that he didn't know things were happening, but he deliberately removed himself or wasn't a part of any conversation or in any sort of room where something could be said or he could have learned something that he would have then had to testify to.

[Tom Yamas]

Yeah, he's from Harvard. Be smart.

[Lester Holt]

Right. Okay, fine. But then he's. But that's also still, you know, something's going on. You just don't want to know what's going on.

[Tom Yamas]

You want plausible deniability.

[Lester Holt]

So if one there is plausible deniability.

[Tom Yamas]

Called to a stand and put on their oath, you can honestly say, I don't know.

[Lester Holt]

That might be a legal versus a moral dilemma. Because what I cannot believe that he didn't think that stuff was happening.

[Tom Yamas]

We're not talking about what he thought, what he saw and what he knows. There's no way he didn't hear rumblings.

[Lester Holt]

There's no way he didn't. That's my point.

[Tom Yamas]

Or maybe he was the square in the office and nobody invited him to a party and he wasn't included. It's possible, but I think the testimony at least this guy gave, he was measured, he was calm, he was sharp. And I thought that was an honest answer, the one you just talked about there. But if that's the last impression. This guy known diddy 20 years, been with him, given straightforward tests, that was as emotional probably as I saw it. And that's not an emotional statement. But to think, you know what? I don't know what to think about this guy that I was with for 20 years that the jury's gonna remember that. And the way. And was it the defense of the prosecution that asked last? I can't remember. Was it a redirect?

[Lester Holt]

Well, he asked is. I don't know if this was a redirect, but he was asked, you know, has anyone. Did he ever see anyone commit any crimes? No, he said no. And he said what I observed with Bad Boy and Sean Combs was a company that really gave a lot of young executives a lot of opportun, put a positive spin on it. But we've heard from so many of those young folks, maybe not even executives, but artists, emerging artists, saying those opportunities came at a devastating cost.

[Tom Yamas]

But like you said, you said artists and executive. This is a young guy who is. I think he's from New York. He's Harvard educated, but I think he worked with his dad at a company or something. He's just a. He's a New York guy who made good sharp as anything. So to hear him and his testimony explained that, yes, I was excited to go to Bad Boy. A young guy going young black guy going to Bad Boy, you know. Exactly. That's cool. That's awesome. And this goes to. Aubrey o' Day has been talking to us about it. Depending on who you were and where you fell in his life and when you were around him, he could be the most wonderful, charming, great guy you've ever been around. Sean Diddy Combs. Maybe that was this guy's experience and he didn't see that other thing.

[Lester Holt]

Yeah, maybe he just was mostly in his life via email. Seriously. I'm saying that like, maybe he never really physically was around him very often. To see some of these other sides of him and to even get an inkling about what was happening. Maybe they just had an email relationship.

[Tom Yamas]

You've been around CFOs before. They don't carry around bags of cash and pill bags and what not. These guys are in the office, heads down a lot of the times. Usually not the coolest guy in the room. No offense to you guys out there. What I'm saying is, from all the artists and people have been up and we're talking to who seem to come from a different place or a different world, this guy doesn't seem to fit into it at all. He's an executive. We have to remember this is. This was a very successful, thriving company.

[Lester Holt]

Why? So I'm curious with what he testified to, what was the benefit to the prosecution to have him on? What did he corroborate? Well, the $20,000 payment.

[Tom Yamas]

Certainly the 20,000. Just the structure of his. Yeah, he didn't have any. Mind blowing. Oh, I saw this. Ooh, this was.

[Lester Holt]

Or this money went there. I mean, I was kind of expecting maybe some of those transactions to be detailed by him because he had the account of it. So I was. I was actually underwhelmed by what he had to offer. In terms of bolstering the prosecution's case.

[Tom Yamas]

You got spoiled with headline after headline after all the other witnesses. You can't believe what the hell you're seeing.

[Lester Holt]

Well, today we're gonna get perhaps a little bit more of that type of testimony because we are expecting, as we mentioned, Brianna Bongalan to actually take the stand today. We're expecting that later today. And then after that, we're all kind of waiting for this Jane character to testify. That is a pseudonym. Jane Doe is what the moniker is that they're giving her. But there are real concerns given what happened with Mia. Mia was also being protected because she is allegedly a rape survivor. She claims that Diddy raped her and sexually assaulted her. So she was offered that anonymity. And unfortunately, at least one YouTuber put her name out there and has now been banned from the courtroom. But that's a real concern. And so the prosecution has asked when Jane does take the stand, they're asking the judge to consider what happened with Mia, and they're asking that video feeds actually be cut into some of these overflow rooms. They're trying to put in some extra layers of protection to make sure that Jane's actual identity doesn't also get released. Because there are a lot of diddy supporters out there and potentially people who are looking to out some of these women, or at least that's what it appeared to be, at least with Mia. So there are real concerns. We don't know what the judge is going to rule on that.

[Tom Yamas]

And the diddy supporters, some of them are in the courthouse wearing free puff attire. The overflow room. Rose. I'm curious to see what happens with this. We've been reading more and more about it, but it's become a little bit of a rowdy place, turned into somewhat of a, what would they say, a watch party atmosphere where this, this is the overflow area where members of the public can be where journalists are. And yes, there are some supporters of Diddy in there, but they say it's gotten a little loud and it's gotten a little rowdy. And the Washington Post reporter, we need to get her name because we want to give her credit, we've been using a lot of her stuff. She says a couple of folks walked out of the overflow room like some influencers, excitedly yelling, let's go viral. Like they had some influencers.

[Lester Holt]

That's disgusting.

[Tom Yamas]

It is.

[Lester Holt]

Let's go viral. You know, when anyone tries to profit off of, like, actual painful, devastating, horrific situations, it just, it's sickening. So, yes, let's go viral. Free puff. That's deeply concerning. To think that those are some of the folks who are reporting on this trial and what's happening inside the courtroom. It's certainly not the decorum that any of us are used to in any way, shape or form.

[Tom Yamas]

All right, folks. Well, we are keeping our eye on everything that's happening in the courthouse that's only a couple of blocks from us here, actually. We will continue to keep you updated and informed, folks, but as always, Swami Robach, I am TJ Holmes. Thanks for listening.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Tom Brokaw]

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[Rodney Williams]

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[Tom Yamas]

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[Lester Holt]

What happens when it doesn't go right? How do you cope with it?

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[Tom Yamas]

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[Tom Yamas]

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You don't.

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