← Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Diddy Jury Chaos: Baby Oil, Shoplifting & the “Freak-Off” Defense
00:15:11
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- [00:01]
McDonald's Advertiser
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- [00:20]
Ashley Banfield
Hello and welcome back to another episode of Drop Dead Serious. I'm Ashley Banfield and I got a question for you. You ready? How would you like it if you were asked to stand up in front of a room full of strangers and answer a whole bunch of questions about sex and while you're at it, answer some questions about drugs and threesomes and, you know, the kind of things that no one likes to talk about in public. Well, dozens and dozens of New Yorkers who had other places to be today instead found themselves at the federal courthouse in Manhattan because they got served with jury duty. And the jury they may have to sit on is Puff Daddies, AKA P. Diddy, AKA Sean Combs, AKA Diddy. And it is a federal trial, folks. It's a federal case. So because the evidence deals with, you know, unmentionable stuff that usually happens in the bedroom, but of course can happen kind of anywhere. Uh, the jury had to check out, right? They had to check out. And there's going to be a lot of embarrassing stuff brought up in this trial. I mean, freak offs were as freaky as they get. And some people are, let's face it, prudes, AKA not cool with this kind of behavior. So the voir dire today was unlike any other. And if you don't know what voir dire is, it is the process whereby the court asks a lot of questions about prospective jurors to get a feel for whether they can be unbiased in the case. And to that end, how do you find 12 fair and impartial jurors where the accused is one of the most famous bad boys on the planet? The world famous music mogul, Diddy. The federal prosecutors in New York say that between 2004 and 2024, a 20 year long conspiracy, Diddy abused and threatened and coerced women into drug fueled sex acts, often at parties he called free coughs where male sex workers were allegedly involved. And prosecutors say when those women wanted to speak out, he used fear and intimidation to keep them quiet. If the jury buys it, Diddy, the self proclaimed bad boy for life, could be staring down a life in prison. He's pleaded not guilty to all charges. And folks, the trial is already off the rails. Because before opening statements have even been scheduled, we are already hearing about a secret mental condition plus A list of 190 celebrity names and jurors being dismissed over Cassie's assault video. So let's get right into it, shall we? For a man known for commanding every room he walks into today, he was at the mercy of one room he cannot control. And let's just say that it was not the famous Met Gala, which is happening right down the street in New York City. A gala where he has been a headliner for years. Among celebrity, a lister beyond celebrity, a lister. No, on this day, Diddy was in federal court, not at the museum with all the fancy people. And Diddy was not in his usual flashy attire either. He walked in wearing a navy sweater, a white shirt, and glasses. No chains, no entourage, no swagger. Reports and sketches from inside that courtroom depict a ditty that we have never seen. His hair has gone completely gray in just the last eight months since his arrest. And let me put it to you this way. It matters what you look like when you walk into a courtroom. You sit down at defense table, and you look across to the jury, and they look across to you. It matters what you look like. And if I had a dime for every defendant that uglied themselves up for court, I probably would be on a yacht somewhere in the Seychelles. Think about Casey Anthony in court. She could not have looked more like a librarian. No makeup. Her hair was like whatever her clothes look like. She cut them out of an apron. Jody Arias, same thing. She looked terrible. All that hot blonde hair and fancy makeup, gone. At trial, she went librarian. Thing is, though, sometimes that doesn't happen. I remember Michael Jackson's trial, that was over two decades ago, and Michael Jackson. I couldn't figure out what he was doing. I mean, one day he showed up in, like, pajamas. Other days, he showed up in kind of Michael Jackson stuff. One day, he actually jumped on top of a vehicle and was dancing for the crowd outside of court. But that's Michael Jackson, and not everyone's Michael Jackson. Trust me, it's better if you dumb it down and go in looking bland, not like the guy who holds free coughs. So let's go inside court. Diddy greeted his legal team very warmly. But later on, when it came time to speak in front of the judge about a bathroom break, he paused, and then he said quietly, I'm sorry, your honor, I'm a little nervous today. Whoa. That does not sound or look like the Diddy that I've known and that everybody else has known in front of the cameras. That man is full of swagger. Right? There's no. I'm nervous, and I'm sorry. But that was what he said today in front of the judge, and that's smart. And before a single juror was even sworn in, we learned something pretty wild today. According to court documents, Diddy's defense team wants to argue that he was not in his right mind at the time of the alleged crimes. And to make that case, they're planning to put a psychiatrist on the stand, a professor from Columbia University, to testify that Diddy suffers from a mental condition that, quote, impacted his ability to form criminal intent. Wow. I always think about the drunk driver. Right? The drunk driver has no intent of hurting anybody. They just want to get home, and nobody gives a damn. If you were drunk, you got in your car, and you did something to someone else, it's on you. You can't say, I was too drunk to know what was going on. But it's kind of weird, because that's exactly what it sounds like they're pointing to now for Diddy. I'll wait to pass judgment on that. I'll wait till I hear a lot more of the evidence, But I can't wait for this psychiatrist and what that person plans to say about Diddy and his criminal intent or lack thereof. Now, we don't know the exact diagnosis that they're talking about here. That part is redacted. The prosecutors were quick to say it might be a backdoor attempt to talk about drugs and alcohol and how drugs and alcohol might have affected Diddy's memory or his behavior.
- [07:37]
McDonald's Advertiser
McCrispy strips are now at McDonald's. I hope you're ready for the most dippable chicken in McDonald's history. Dip it in all the sauces. Dip it in that hot sauce in your bag. Dip it in your McFlurry. Your dip is your business. McCrispy strips at McDonald's.
- [07:52]
Ashley Banfield
Here's the thing, though. Unless the defense gave proper notice, followed the rules, that kind of testimony might not even be allowed. But clearly, this trial is going to be as much about Diddy's mindset as it is about his actions. So now to the heart of today's hearing, picking jurors. Let me tell you about some of the potential jurors in this case, because if you thought this was going to be your average pool of 12. Oh, no. First of all, you in New York, you in Manhattan. So let's just start there. And this is a Diddy trial, and the characters who are Showing up for jury duty, they are already raising eyebrows. So picture this. A 30 year old former parochial schoolteacher sitting in the jury box being questioned about her social media history. And it turns out she once liked a viral comedy sketch that poked fun at, of all things, baby oil. Why does this matter? Because federal agents say they found close to 1,000 bottles of baby oil and sex lubricant inside Diddy's homes. Supplies they allege were used during free cough sex parties described in the indictment. And when asked about it, the woman did not backpedal. She told the court, and I quote, I heard they found a bunch of baby oil at his place. I liked the video because it made me laugh. And I'm just gonna put my hand up right now. I'm not being questioned under oath and I'm not in that courtroom. But I have laughed at a lot of posts and a lot of the late night comedians who have had no shortage of content for their shows and for their. There are feeds about baby oil being seized during these raids. I mean, it was kind of like top of the charts when it happened, and it still is, and it probably will be all through the trial and for the rest of his life. So back to that juror. When pressed, she said the post did not influence her opinion and that she could remain fair. And that was good enough for the judge. But hold on, hold it. Her questionnaire had another twist. She also had to admit that she once got caught shoplifting, not just anywhere from Harry Potter World at Universal Studios, and she was banned from the park for a year. Still no objection. She's staying in the jury pool. And she's not the only one with a complicated past. Another potential juror shared that she'd once been sexually harassed by a former boss, kissed and groped without consent. The judge asked her if she could fairly weigh the kind of evidence that this case might present, and she said yes. So so far, she is still in the running. And that to me is surprising because this case is about a lot of that, right? And if it's happened to you, you probably aren't happy about it. So we'll see how long she stays in the running. And now another moment that made everybody in the courtroom sit up and take notice and sit a little straighter, for that matter. One woman admitted that she has seen the now infamous surveillance video, the one from 2016, that shows Diddy allegedly dragging and kicking and punching and beating the hell out of Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway. Again, all alleged, but we've all seen the video this is what the juror said. Quote, it was disturbing. She said it upset me, but I don't know the whole story, so I'm willing to hear the facts. That's interesting. That is not something you typically hear. That to me, and I'm just riffing here, that would almost indicate a stealth juror. Yeah, I've seen the video of a woman getting the shit kicked out of her, but I'm good. I need to know more facts. Like, for me, I would struggle with that. I would say no. I would. I would struggle with feeling anything for the guy doing that, because there's really no facts that would make that okay. So I'm interested in hearing more about this juror. And just when you think that's as far as it goes, she added something else that she works for hbo. Yeah, that hbo. The one behind the upcoming docu series called the Fall of Diddy. Oops. That's a big deal, right? Your company is doing a big doc series on the guy whose jury you're being asked to sit on. Okay, so no big surprise here. The defense pushed to have her tossed out, but she told the judge that she's not involved with the project. And the only talk she says she's heard about the case has been casual sort of office chatter. So once again, the judge said she stays. Another juror potential, worked at Simon and Schuster, the publishing company behind a memoir that includes allegations against Diddy. Well, that didn't last. Boom, she was gone. Dismissed. Out you go. That's why I'm so surprised about the HBO girl. Right? One works for a publishing company with a book about Diddy. Out she goes. But the other one stays on. HBO made a docu series. She stays on. Another candidate said she would not be able to sit through traumatic testimony. So she gone. And as the potential jurors continued to be questioned, we started to learn about the celebrity list. Yeah, this is where the trial's gonna get pretty good. I mean, celebrities, right? Seems to sell a lot of social media posts, TV shows. I mean, celebrities. There's a reason that there are magazines based on them and movies and billions and billions of dollars in industry based around famous faces. And in this case, there are 190 different celebrities apparently on this list. That's how many names are on the jury questionnaire. And jurors were asked if they recognized anyone from the list. And some said, yeah, they did. They recognized these names. Michael B. Jordan, Kanye West, Mike Myers, Kid Cudi, Michelle Williams, and dozens of other names. And why were they asked this? Well, Some of these celebrities might be witnesses. Others might come up in testimony. Some might be tied to the infamous free coughs. Maybe some are on video. We don't know and we won't know until we know until the evidence is presented. But this is really important. Diddy was triple platinum A list and he had friends in every corner of stardom. His parties were famous and they were infamous. And everyone was there, like everyone, anybody on an A list. There were hundreds of people who partied with Diddy and many of them innocently. So. So there will be plenty of celebrities whose names probably come up during this tr and lots of them will have nothing to do with the racy stuff. So keep an open mind until you hear the evidence. And my guess is that there's going to be a lot of A listers who are none too pleased that Diddy didn't take a deal and spare them from what might be ahead. Like some humiliating evidence, maybe even humiliating video. Opening statements are scheduled to start a week from today on Monday, May 12th. And we'll be following every development. And yes, we'll also be keeping an eye on that mystery diagnosis and whether a mental health defense will fly in this federal court. I'm Ashley Banfield. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for watching. Please leave me a comment and remember that the truth isn't just serious, it's drop dead serious.
- [15:43]
McDonald's Advertiser
McCrispy strips are now at McDonald's. I hope you're ready for the most dippable chicken in McDonald's history. Dip it in all the sauces. Dip it in that hot sauce in your bag. Dip it in your McFlurry. Your dip is your business. McCrispy strips at McDonald's.