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Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
DEVASTATING Testimony: Diddy’s Ex-Assistant Goes Scorched Earth | Trial Day 10
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- [00:02]
Gillian Pensavalle
Hey, are you looking for a true crime podcast to binge?
- [00:05]
Patrick Hinds
Check out True Crime Obsessed where we recap the true crime documentaries everyone's talking about.
- [00:09]
Gillian Pensavalle
We've been one of the top true crime podcasts for almost nine years and.
- [00:12]
Patrick Hinds
We have over 400 episodes for you to check out.
- [00:15]
Gillian Pensavalle
Right now, we cover the cases everyone is talking about and we also highlight the cases that have been underreported, overlooked, or forgotten.
- [00:21]
Patrick Hinds
With over 30,000 five star reviews on Apple Podcasts, if you've never checked out True Crime Obsessed, now's the time to give us a try.
- [00:28]
Gillian Pensavalle
Find True Crime Obsessed wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:40]
Ashley Banfield
Hey everybody, I'm Ashley Banfield and this is Drop Dead serious. It's day 10 of Sean Diddycomb's federal racketeering trial, and honest to God, it felt less like a courtroom in there and more like a scene out of the Sopranos. A powerful mogul, a missing bag of diamonds, claims that a kidnapped employee was taken to a vacant building by a guy named Uncle Paulie and threatened that she'd end up swimming with the fishes in the East River. There were lie detectors and guns and burner phones and a woman shoved into a car at gunpoint. Holy Toni and Carmela, there is so much to talk about today. There was only one witness on the stand the whole day, but she felt as big as 10 strong men. She was Diddy's former assistant and her name is Capricorn Clark. And when she took the stand, she did not hold back. Capricorn Clark was raised in la, but she got her start in New York as an intern at Def Jam records in the 1990s. But by 2004, she was working for Diddy. The road to the gig with Diddy, though, it took a quick detour through Death Row Records run by Diddy's law longtime rival, Suge Knight. In fact, one of Capricorn's best friends had kids with Suge Knight. All of which apparently was a big problem because on her very first day working with Diddy, she told the jury today that Diddy had her meet him after dark in Central Park. And it was there with no security, no lawyers, just the two of them, that she says he confronted her. Capricorn testified that Diddy said, and I quote, I didn't know you had anything to do with Suge Knight. If anything happens, I would have to kill you. End quote. That's got Atlas panting. I think he's, like, really into this particular story. Hey, go bud. Capricorn told the jury, quote, his demeanor was calm he was very serious. And she didn't just talk about Suge Knight. She also brought up another one of Diddy's longtime rivals, 50 Cent. Capricorn said there was a moment right after an MTV press event where Diddy and Fitty both appeared. She testified that she got into the elevator with Diddy and his manager at the time, Chris Lighty. That's when she said, he said this quote, I don't like all the back and forth. I like guns. Still, she kept working for Diddy and over the years she rose through the ranks. Director of marketing, global brand director, and later in 2016, the creative director for Cassie Ventura. She said the job wasn't just demanding, it was punishing. Capricorn said that she worked from 9am to 4am, often for weeks at a time, making just $65,000 a year. Think about that. There's a billionaire who's got this assistant working non stop around the clock and he's paying her just 65 a year. She told the jury that she actually developed stress induced alopecia from all the pressure. Capricorn said she once had a meeting with an HR rep that was named Vashta. And Vashta apparently told her that she was owed $80,000 per three month period during her time as Diddy's assistant. This is like overtime that she was never paid, she said. But according to Capricorn, when she brought that number up to Diddy, he ripped up the paper. She told the jury she was never paid a dime of all that overtime money and her responsibilities. Yeah, those went way beyond marketing, she testified. She said that she was the one who prepped the hotel rooms for what she described as combs freak offs. She said she unpacked the bags, she'd light the candles, arrange his personal items including drugs, a bottle of lube and a camera box. And then when the free coughs were over, yep, still on the clock. She said it was her job to clean everything up. We've heard other assistants say the same thing. They had to go in too, clean up the free coughs. And by the way, one of the assistants said the cleaning included like collecting up used condoms. She did say this. She said told the jury this, there was always like baby oil. And that after one of his stays at the InterContinental Hotel in LA, she walked in to find handprints smeared on the ultra suede Wal wall. Can't imagine what the damage deposit was on that one. And the way that Diddy treated Cassie. Capricorn said that that was on display too. She told the jury that back in 2010, Diddy used Cassie to make a point during a conversation in the kitchen of his rental home in Los Angeles. Capricorn said he called Cassie over in front of her, in front of Capricorn, but also in front of a woman named Lauren London and also his personal chef. And then she said he gave Cassie a string of instructions. Sit down, stand up, turn around, walk across the room, grab something, hand it to him and go back. Capricorn stated that Cassie followed every command without hesitation. And then, according to Capricorn, Diddy turned to the group and said, quote, did you see that? You bitches won't do that. That's why you don't have a man, end quote. Capricorn said they all fired back, quote, you motherfucking right. End quote. In the courtroom, heard about another moment, this one from the summer of 2006, when Capricorn said she was staying at Diddy's home on Star Island. She told the jury that she was exhausted, working around the clock, and really starting to burn out. Capricorn said that she still remembers the moment that finally pushed things over the Edge. In 2006. She said one morning she was making herself a plate of food when she asked the chef where the turkey bacon was. According to Capricorn, the chef responded, quote, there is no more turkey bacon, end quote. Capricorn said she muttered under her breath, I hate it here. But the chef, according to Capricorn, passed that comment along to Diddy. And when Diddy heard it, Capricorn testified, Diddy snapped. She told the jury that Diddy came storming back into the room, shoved her hard and screamed, quote, you hate it here. Then get the out of my house. End quote. She said he shoved her so forcefully that she flew about 25 yards. Now, in cross examination, I would question that because it is really hard to shove someone 25 yards. I mean, think about a football field, 25 yards. It's a really long way to shove someone. Maybe it happened, maybe it didn't, but I would question that. And then she said that Uncle Paulie had to step in and tell Diddy to stop. And then she said Uncle Paulie told her to pack her bags and leave. And that's what she said she did. She left. But as we now know, she would be back several times. It was not the only disturbing experience that Capricorn described to the jury. Just months later, she says she found herself at the center of a far more terrifying ordeal, this one involving a bag of missing diamonds and a locked office with A lie detector test. And this one is where I thought it sounded real Sopranos like. Capricorn told the jury about an incident in 2011 when she was asked to transport three pieces of very expensive jewelry to Miami. A diamond watch, a bracelet and a necklace. These pieces of jewelry were out on loan to Diddy from Jacob the Jeweler. But before she even made it to the airport, she said she realized that the bag containing the jewelry was was missing. She never said exactly how or where it went missing, just that she noticed it was gone before leaving and she immediately notified security. Capricorn told the jury that shortly after that jewelry went missing, Diddy's longtime bodyguard, Paul, Uncle Paulie offered, showed up at her front door. When asked to describe Uncle Paulie, Capricorn called him quiet, stoic, a bit menacing in that quote, physically, he looks like a linebacker, end quote. She also said that he wore blackout sunglasses almost 100% of the time. Capricorn testified that Uncle Paulie forced her to come with him to a vacant building at 1710 Broadway. She said once they got there, they went up to the sixth floor where they met a heavy set man, chain smoking cigarettes and sipping black coffee. A lie detector test was set out in front of him. And that man, she said, looked her straight in the eye and said this, quote, if you fail this test, they're going to throw you in the east river, end quote. Capricorn told the jury she was terrified. She said the results kept coming back inconclusive. And when she struggled to calm down, Capricorn said the chain smoking man told her, quote, I'm not getting a good reading. You need to calm down. You're going to be in the east river if I can't get a reading on this, end quote. Capricorn admitted that she wasn't doing a good job of calming down. And she was there, she said, for a full workday with the lie detector being administered intermittently all day long, she said. Capricorn testified that Uncle Paulie took her home after being grilled all day and, quote, he told me, I'll be back tomorrow to get you. We still got to figure this out, end quote. Talk about trying to sleep. After that, she told the jury that she spent five full days taking lie detector tests. And when she was done, she testified that she was told, quote, you can return to work Monday. Let that sink in. Yay. Thanks. Capricorn said she never called the police, nor did she tell anybody about it because she said she was bound by an NDA, a non disclosure agreement, and she Said she was afraid for her safety, but she kept showing up for work because, in her words, quote, I wanted to prove my innocence. End quote. No one ever found out what happened to that missing jewelry, by the way. By that point, emotionally and professionally, though, she said she decided she was done. She walked away from Bad Boy thinking that she'd closed that chapter for good. But finding work after Bad Boy was not easy. She told the jury she lost her apartment, she. She lost her car, she lost her benefits. And she told the jurors that Diddy warned her she'd, quote, never work again and that she'd, quote, probably kill herself, end quote.
- [11:17]
Gillian Pensavalle
Hey, are you looking for a true crime podcast to binge check out True.
- [11:21]
Patrick Hinds
Crime Obsessed, where we recap the true crime documentaries everyone's talking about.
- [11:25]
Gillian Pensavalle
We've been one of the top true crime podcasts for almost nine years, and.
- [11:28]
Patrick Hinds
We have over 400 episodes for you to check out.
- [11:30]
Gillian Pensavalle
Right now, we cover the cases everyone is talking about and we also highlight the cases that have been under report, overlooked or forgotten.
- [11:36]
Patrick Hinds
With over 30,000 five star reviews on Apple Podcasts, if you've never checked out True Crime Obsessed, now's the time to give us a try.
- [11:43]
Gillian Pensavalle
Find True Crime Obsessed wherever you get your podcasts.
- [11:51]
Ashley Banfield
So in 2016, she came back. She came back to work for Bad Boy, this time to work as Cassie Ventura's creative director. She says that she tried to set boundaries, telling the jury, quote, I didn't want to work in close proximity to Diddy. I didn't want to be trapped in the house, end quote. But those boundaries did not stick. According to Capricorn, Diddy paid for her phone and for Cassie's phone too. So one day, when Cassie texted Capricorn on that phone saying that she planned to go hiking with Kid Cudi, guy she was dating, Capricorn said she flew into a panic. She told the jury that she didn't want that kind of message sitting on a phone tied to Diddy. And that she told Cassie, quote, this is going to get us all killed, end quote. Capricorn then drove Cassie to Best Buy and helped her buy a burner phone just to keep their messages off Diddy's radar. Capricorn told the jury that that fear wasn't paranoia, that it was justified, especially because of what happened next. Something she said she'll never forget. Something that involved Diddy and Cassie and a rapper that Diddy just learned was dating Cassie Scott Mascudi, aka Kid Cudi. It was 6 o' clock in the morning, she said, just days Before Christmas, Capricorn told the jury that she was inside her apartment in Los Angeles when suddenly she heard a loud banging on the door. Metal on metal. Capricorn said she looked through the peephole and saw Diddy outside of her door, furious and pacing and wearing a white shirt and gray slacks that strangely were ripped wide open on the crotch area to a point where she said she could see his underwear. But more importantly, she said that Diddy had a gun in his hand. When she opened the door, she said Diddy yelled, quote, who is Scott? And then told her, quote, get dressed. We're gonna kill this N word. Of course, he didn't say N word. Right. Capricorn testified that she told Diddy she didn't want to go, but that Diddy responded, quote, I don't give a fuck what you want to do. Go get dressed now. She said that Diddy then tucked the gun into his waistband. And feeling threatened, Capricorn said she put her clothes on and got in the Escalade with Diddy and his security guard, Reuben. The destination, Kid Cudi's house. Capricorn testified that when they got to Kid Cudi's house, she stayed in the car and that she said she could see that Diddy and Reuben got out and walked right through Cudi's open front door. Then she said she called Cassie on a burner phone and said, quote, puffy came and got me with a gun and brought me to Cudi's house to kill him, end quote. She said she could hear Kid Cudi scream in the background. He's in my house. Soon, According to Capricorn, she testified she could hear a car, the engine, pulling up behind the car that she was in. And she said it was Kid Cudi pulling up to the house. She said he slowed down, spotted the Escalade, and then sped off. And that's when she testified Diddy came out of the house and got back in the car. She testified that Diddy yelled, there's that N word right there. Capricorn told the jury they took off after Kid Cudi, but that a chase through the neighborhood ended quickly. Apparently, the flashing lights of a police cruiser threw cold water on everything she said. But the night didn't end there, not even close. Capricorn then testified that Diddy forced her to call Cassie and tell Cassie, quote, diddy has me and he's not letting me go until you come. Capricorn told the jury that after she called Cassie, Diddy threatened her and Cassie by saying, quote, you need to convince Kid Cudi to tell the police it wasn't me. If you don't, I'll kill all you. Let's stop right there for a second because two things just happened. That testimony is true. Diddy kidnapped this witness. Diddy held Capricorn Clark at gunpoint and forced her to call Cassie and apparently wouldn't let her go until Cassie arrived. That's kidnapping. Not only that, he also said, our mission is to kill this guy, right? Is to kill Kid Cudi. That is a crime. And the next thing, if this witness is to be believed, it's Diddy, her boss, telling her her job is to make sure Kid Cudi tells the police it wasn't me, it wasn't Diddy. That is what you call obstruction of. Of justice. Those are two really big crimes that are predicate acts for rico. And this witness laid it all out in like, just a couple of episodes of activity with her boss. Right? Capricorn was in tears all throughout the day while she was on the witness stand. But when the defense got its turn, they had a very different story to tell. And on cross examination, Diddy's lawyer leaned into the shared history that Capricorn had with Diddy. The brands they built, the projects they pulled off, and the years they spent side by side. Capricorn said, quote, I was a really good employee, quote, and Diddy nodded. From the defense table, Capricorn broke down on the stand, crying hard as she told the jury that separate from all of this, she actually learned a lot working for Diddy. This witness said that she and Diddy together broke barriers, shattered glass ceilings, and built something bigger than either one of them could have done by themselves. Capricorn also admitted that the job had its perks. She said she got to be around big names, big ideas, and people who made things happen. Diddy's lawyer also reminded the jury that even after everything Capricorn did keep trying to reconnect with a man that she testified she was terrified of. Even after the raids on his two mansions. Right? She said she wanted to be his chief of staff. When asked why, she told the courtroom, quote, because he wouldn't be in this mess if he kept me around. End quote. But the defense pushed even further, asking if she'd ever had a crush on Diddy. And they read a text from 2021 that she had sent to Diddy, and it said this, quote, sometimes I wonder, did we misuse all that dope chemistry? End quote. When asked about it, Capricorn replied, I don't recall. And she insisted that the relationship she had with Diddy was a thousand percent platonic. She clarified to the jury that she didn't see police at Kid Cudi's house that night, but that when she came back later, ADT security was packing up. And by the following summer, when a fire investigator called her to ask questions about, oh, you know, Porsche blowing up in Kid Cudi's driveway, Capricorn Clark says she didn't pick up. She told the jury that she didn't want to be involved with this kind of stuff any longer. But Diddy's lawyers said that her inbox told a different story. Diddy's lawyers brought up several emails that she'd sent to Diddy, and they weren't from some distant past. These were from years after she'd stopped working for him. In one, she wrote, my hope for this year is that you make good on your promise. Actually be my friend again. Capricorn told the jury she saw herself as, quote, a protector of puff, end quote. And through all of this, Capricorn continued to cry on the stand, at one point turning to the judge and saying, I apologize for my anguish. And let me say this about a witness who's this raw. There's crying and there's crying, and usually you can tell when it's crocodile tears or when it's real. Sometimes it's ugly crying. And that tends to be pretty darn believable. And from all accounts in this courtroom, this witness who cried all throughout the day was very, very authentic and very believable. It also lends to credibility. So where does this leave the jury? With an unforgettable witness, a story that sounded more like an HBO script than a, you know, piece of courtroom testimony, and several anecdotes that line up seamlessly with prosecutors and their racketeering charges. Remember, they're trying to show Diddy used his enterprise and his employees to commit crimes in a pattern of behavior. Kidnapping, assault, coerced labor, obstruction of justice, bribery. These are some of the crimes that prosecutors laid out with this witness and some of the predicate acts needed to prove RICO racketeering. But this trial, it is still the prosecution's show. We haven't even gotten to the defense case yet. There were also a few behind the scenes moves that were worth noting today. The judge agreed to block a few things that Capricorn Clark testified that Cassie had told her, saying that the jury indeed should not hear those things. And we're still waiting on a decision about Dr. Don Hughes testimony and whether or not the judge should just toss it out. Remember, she was the doctor who testified about the complex nature of domestic abuse and the patterns of behavior that stem from it. Mostly from victims who just keep returning. That ruling could come a little bit later on this week. And by the way, full transparency. I, along with many other people, are being sued by P. Diddy because of our coverage in cases that are yet unresolved. Tomorrow, law enforcement is expected to take the stand and the prosecution is expected to keep building piece by piece of what they say amounts to a racketeering conspiracy case. And we will be there for all of it. I'm Ashley Banfield. And remember, the truth isn't just serious, it's drop dead serious.
- [22:11]
Gillian Pensavalle
Hey, are you looking for a true crime podcast to binge Check out True.
- [22:14]
Patrick Hinds
Crime Obsessed where we recap the true crime documentaries everyone's talking about.
- [22:18]
Gillian Pensavalle
We've been one of the top true crime podcast for months, almost nine years.
- [22:21]
Patrick Hinds
And we have over 400 episodes for you to check out. Right now.
- [22:24]
Gillian Pensavalle
We cover the cases everyone is talking about and we also highlight the cases that have been underreported, overlooked or forgotten.
- [22:30]
Patrick Hinds
With over 30,000 five star reviews on Apple Podcasts, if you've never checked out True Crime Obsessed, now's the time to give us a try.
- [22:37]
Gillian Pensavalle
Find True Crime Obsessed Wherever you get your podcasts.