Jurors Forced To Watch Graphic Sex Tapes, But Is Diddy the One Getting Screwed? | United States vs. Sean Combs Day 24

Summary

Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Episode: Jurors Forced To Watch Graphic Sex Tapes, But Is Diddy the One Getting Screwed? | United States vs. Sean Combs Day 24
Release Date: June 17, 2025

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Overview of Day 24 in Sean "Diddy" Combs's Trial

On Day 24 of the high-profile federal sex trafficking trial against Sean "Diddy" Combs, the courtroom drama intensified with significant developments that could sway the jury's perspective. Host Ashleigh Banfield delves deep into the day's events, providing an incisive analysis of the proceedings and their broader implications.

High-Profile Personalities and Courtroom Dynamics

The day began with unexpected courtroom dynamics. Notably, Kanye West (referred to sarcastically as Mr. Kanye West by one US Marshal) was officially added to the family list but chose not to appear in court. Ashleigh remarks, “I doubt he's going to come back to the trial. Like, why? He already got his PR” ([00:45]).

Diddy himself entered the courtroom exuding calmness, dressed in a pale blue sweater. Before taking his seat, he shared his signature heart-shaped gesture with the gallery, mouthing “I love you,” signaling his characteristic composure under pressure ([01:10]).

Prosecution’s Strategic Presentation of Evidence

The prosecution shifted tactics by focusing on digital receipts and concrete evidence rather than emotional testimonies. Ashleigh notes, “This is testimony that was calm and it was clinical from insiders with the prosecution's own team. It was text messages, it was charts and hard evidence laid out black and white” ([04:20]). This approach aimed to present an unembellished narrative supported by indisputable facts.

Introduction of Graphic Sexual Tapes to the Jury

A pivotal moment of the day involved prosecutors presenting explicit sex tapes directly to the jury. These tapes, lasting a total of 51 minutes, were shown exclusively to the jury, the judge, and key courtroom participants to avoid public re-victimization. Ashleigh explains the significance, “This was the first time that these videos were fully shown in court” ([07:15]).

The jurors were issued headphones to ensure the explicit content remained private. However, some jurors did not use them fully, leading to audible moaning and groaning leaking into the gallery, as reported by courtroom insider Lauren Conlon: “Some of the jurors kind of had their headsets on halfway on their ears covering them” ([34:26]).

Jury Alterations and Racial Implications

Before the day's testimonies began, Jury Manipulation occurred when Juror Number Six, a Black juror, was dismissed for falsifying residency claims. Ashleigh details, “The judge believed that this juror actually shaded his answers so that he could get on the jury” ([14:30]). His replacement, the first alternate, was a White juror, sparking racial tensions and objections from Diddy’s legal team.

The defense argued that removing Juror Six compromised panel diversity, but Judge Subramanian upheld the decision, asserting that “diversity cannot override integrity” ([16:00]).

Moreover, TMZ reported that the new juror received an unexpected text referencing the dismissed juror, adding another layer of intrigue to the proceedings ([27:50]).

Defense’s Response and Counterarguments

In response to the prosecution’s mounting evidence, the defense aimed to humanize Diddy and portray internal dissent within his organization. They presented texts showing Diddy reaching out to former assistant Mia, suggesting normalcy and lack of coercion. Ashleigh highlights, “The defense is using it. The no follow-ups part, that's strong for the defense because he wasn't harassing her” ([24:15]).

Additionally, the defense showcased messages from Jane, another accuser, indicating her willingness to resist Diddy's demands, thereby challenging the narrative of victim-induced compliance ([30:05]).

Inside Insights: Interviews with Lauren Conlon and Judge Ashley Wilcott

Lauren Conlon, host of The Outlier and Pop Crime TV, provided firsthand observations of juror reactions to the explicit tapes. She noted a stark contrast between genders: “There was quite a difference. The women were horrified, covering their eyes, while the men remained unmoved, their eyes locked on the screen” ([33:21]).

Judge Ashley Wilcott, a former juvenile court judge and Court TV anchor, offered expert analysis on the prosecution's strategy. She affirmed Ashleigh’s observation, stating, “They wanted to hit with the biggest impact... the video is going to confirm everything they've heard from the witnesses” ([39:07]).

When questioned about the prosecution’s absence of Christina Corum (KK) as a witness, Judge Wilcott speculated that charges against her might be forthcoming, implying ongoing investigations ([40:34]).

Implications and Next Steps in the Trial

As the prosecution wraps up with key witnesses like Special Agent Delyasa Penland, the defense prepares to counter with testimonies from individuals within Diddy’s circle, including Vashta Dunlop and Stefan Lind. The trial approaches a critical juncture, with the government likely to rest by Wednesday and the defense readying their case for Friday morning ([41:03]).

Ashleigh concludes the episode by urging listeners to stay engaged, emphasizing the trial's unfolding drama and its potential to redefine perceptions of power and accountability in high-profile cases.

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Notable Quotes:

• Ashleigh Banfield: “Nobody was crying, there were no fireworks, nothing like that. It was just facts.” ([05:10])

• Lauren Conlon: “The women were horrified, covering their eyes... while the men remained unmoved.” ([33:21])

• Judge Ashley Wilcott: “They wanted to hit with the biggest impact... that video is going to confirm everything they've heard from the witnesses.” ([39:07])

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This detailed summary encapsulates the intensity and complexity of Day 24 in Sean "Diddy" Combs's trial, highlighting strategic moves by both the prosecution and defense, the emotional toll on jurors, and insightful perspectives from industry experts. For those following the case, Ashleigh Banfield provides a comprehensive and engaging breakdown of the proceedings, ensuring listeners remain informed and invested as the trial progresses.

Transcript

[Ashley Banfield]

Foreign. I'm Ashley Banfield and this is Drop Dead Serious. It was day 24 of Sean Diddy Combs federal sex trafficking trial. And while the witness list may have looked routine people, the courtroom chatter was anything but, according to One of the US Marshals, Mr. Kanye west, whatever you like to call him these days, whether it's a yay or yay yay or, I don't know, maybe he's got something other, you know, than that going this week. Kanye west was officially on the family list today, but he didn't show up. And I don't know, if I were a betting man, I'd say, I doubt he's going to come back to the trial. Like, why? He already got his pr. As for Diddy, Diddy walked in wearing a pale blue sweater. He was calm and he was collected. And before taking his seat at the defense table, he turned to the gallery and he did the old, you know, heart shaped emoji with his hands like he's been doing most days, and mouthed the words, I love you. And then the mood shifted quickly as the prosecutors launched into a day of digital receipts from a parade of government witnesses, as opposed to emotional accusers. This is testimony that was calm and it was clinical from insiders with the prosecution's own team. It was text messages, it was charts and hard evidence laid out black and white, right? Nobody was crying, there were no fireworks, nothing like that. It was just facts. And I think that was the prosecution's point here because it wasn't long before things got pretty dirty. And when I say pretty dirty, I mean dirty videos that the prosecutors wanted the jury to see. They wanted this jury literally to watch porn and hardcore porn. The government played two free cough videos for the panel. The jurors had already seen screenshots, right, of some of this explicit material. They'd heard some audio before. But this today, as we near the end of the government's case, this was the first time that these videos were fully shown in, in court. And when I say fully shown in court, I need to really be specific here. They were fully shown to the jury. Only the jury and the judge and the key players in this case were allowed to see the videos. And I say that it's not unusual to me to hear that. I have covered many cases before where monitors are trained just towards key parties in the courtroom and not the gallery and not the public. Because, you know, if you think about it, people are victimized on videos all the time. Snuff videos, sex videos, rape videos all the time. And so if you open that up to the public, you are victimizing people again. And several of the people in this trial took the stand as victims, according to the government. And so the government doesn't want to re victimize them. Like, Diddy may have a different opinion of it, and his lawyers might have a different opinion of it, and the jury might have a different opinion of it, but it is not up to the government to open that up for the rest of us to see, even though it's evidence. So there you go. It was just for the jury to see this. One of the videos lasted 11 minutes, but the other video, it was a lot longer. It was like 40 minutes. So, yeah, like 51 minutes of porn. And don't forget, these are average people, right? They did not sign up for stuff like this. So if they are teetotalers or if they, you know, are puritans, it's pretty hard stuff to deal with. And remember, several, several of the witnesses have testified that the freak offs, AKA hotel nights, AKA King knights, whatever you want to call them, those things apparently could last up to three days. So the jurors only having to watch 40 minutes, you could say would be getting off easy. Although I don't think one minute of the stuff that they were subjected to is easy. Incidentally, to make sure that the gallery could not see or hear what was being played on the screens, the jurors were issued headphones while they watched. Although some of the headphones were like pulled off of one ear, you know, not, not every juror put the headphones on fully and maybe they had them turned up a too loud. So word from the gallery was is that the sound was kind of bleeding out to the gallery, and they said it sounded like sex tapes playing from a loud setting on at least one set of headphones. So later in this episode, I'm going to play you a part of my conversation with one Lauren Conlon. Lauren was inside the courtroom today. We talked about not only that sound that they all heard, the moaning and the groaning and the sex and all the rest, but also what the jury's reaction was when they were watching these free cough videos. What's really interesting is the male versus the female reaction. And I know what you're thinking, because I thought the same thing and I wasn't wrong. So we're going to get into that in a bit. But also something else happened today. A, a shake up in the jury. One of the jurors was bounced and an alternate was shuffled in. One was black, one was white, and it is causing a racial stir. But first, I want to get to the beginning of day 24, because before a single witness was even on the stand, things were tense. And again, it was just about this juror issue. Juror number six, specifically, who's been part of the panel since the start of this trial, officially bounced today. Dismissed this morning. The judge said that he believes that this juror actually shaded his answers so that he could get on the jury. Just that this was a mission he wanted on the jury, and he didn't tell the truth or fudged it or wasn't 100 honest, I should say. So let me repeat that. It wasn't that he lied to get off a jury, which is what a lot of people do. I don't want to do jury duty. Right. That's what a lot of people do. It's that this juror may have misled the court in order to get on the jury and stay on the jury. And last week, the judge, Aaron Subramanian, said that he was leaning towards dismissing this guy after, quote, serious questions were raised about where juror number six actually lived, where he laid his head at night. Right. And whether his responses during Voir Deer had been completely truthful. And let me explain why this is important. It's because sometimes there's a state process, right? New York versus and it is a state criminal or civil, you know, proceeding. Sometimes it's a federal proceeding, but it still matters what state you're in, and for the state, it matters what county you're in. Okay? So this is a federal proceeding. You need to live in New York. You can't live in, like, Pennsylvania or New Jersey or Connecticut, you know, all these surrounding states. And this morning, the judge made it official and said that juror number six had to go because he'd been sleeping and living part time with his girlfriend in New Jersey, but saying that he lived in the Bronx. And, yeah, maybe he slept there and had a mailing address. But the judge wasn't happy that that information wasn't all disclosed. Disclosed whether it was perfectly legal for him to be there because he had a mailing address in New York. That. That did not become the issue anymore. It was. What did you tell us when we were being really, really thorough in vetting jurors. And because you didn't tell us this stuff, we think you had a. An agenda. So that's why the judge said, out you go. And if you've been following this trial very closely, you'll know why this moment packs such a punch. Juror number six is black. Here is his information from his actual voir dire transcript. I'm juror number 58. You know, before he actually got on the panel and became number six, when he's just in the big jury pool, he's juror number 58. I am 41 years old. I live in the Bronx. I live with my fiance and my baby daughter. I am currently a head of comm clerk for Edgecomb Correctional Facility. My fiance is an assistant practice manager for University of Reproductive Associates. I don't have any adult children. My highest level of education is for business management. I get my news mostly from the New York Post. Newspapers and magazines are mostly the New York Post and GQ magazine. Television programs are mostly sports, the Mets, sitcoms and drama. The music I listen to is reggae tone and 90s hip hop. My hobbies are sports and fantasy football. And, no, there is nothing in my personal life or life experience that would affect my ability to reach a fair and impartial verdict in this case. As soon as the judge announced that he would be dismissed and replaced with the first alternate, a white juror, Diddy's legal team erupted with objections. They argued that removing juror 6 would compromise the diversity of the panel. But Judge Subramanian was ready for that. He actually quoted Diddy's own lawyer, Xavier Donaldson, acknowledging the value of diverse perspectives, but insisting that diversity cannot override integrity. He said, quote, you cannot put the genie back in the bottle, end quote. And so the first alternate is now officially Juror six. And he took his seat on the panel. And the defense also pushed for a mistrial. But Judge Sumermanian shut that down cold. He said that there was zero evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, and he made it clear that the trial would move forward. But you'd think that would be the end of it. It wasn't. That was not the end of the drama with this jury. The judge did not give details, but said that he would be questioning yet another juror privately at the end of the day. And we thought that was that, right? But TMZ said that that juror, the new guy, the white guy who's become juror number six, after the last juror number six was bounced, he apparently, according to tmz, went to the judge and said, yeah, I got a weird text from a number I don't recognize. And that text said, are you juror number six, meaning the one that got bounced? He said that he brought it to the court's attention. I can't see why this is a problem. This is not him doing something. This is incoming. Look, a lot of media are struggling to find out who's who, right? So that could have been somebody who found a name and sent a text, and at least this guy reported it. So for now, doesn't look like there's an issue. But, you know, stay tuned. One juror is gone, another one under review, and all of this was before the day even started. But after that, the government got down to business, and they called their first witness of the day, and it was somebody named Ananya Sankar. And that's a paralegal, a specialist for the Southern District of New York. Sankar was, quote, a summary witness. That's somebody who doesn't offer new evidence, but instead helps the jury make sense of all the complex information that's been coming at them and is on the record. So this witness, she presented two charts to help the jury connect all the dots. So this is a little complicated, but the first chart was made up of information taken from the phone of Diddy's assistant, his chief of staff, Christina Corum, better known throughout this trial as kk. And this was like the digital trail. It was like a bird's eye view of their communications. And this first chart outlined four key categories. If you're keeping score, write this down. The first category was called drugs. And the chart highlighted messages between KK and a man named Fahim Muhammad, as well as various assistants and even Diddy himself. And all of this was discussing the purchase of marijuana, which they referred to as, quote, unquote, flour. The name Guido popped up a lot. That's a name that prior witnesses have already said was the man known as a drug dealer tied to Diddy's circle. The second category on the chart was, quote, unquote, money for hotels and freak offs. The jury saw a group text between Fahim and a woman named Robin and Diddy and KK. And one line stood out. Quote, Just gave 5,000 to Brendan for hotel. There were lots more texts like that as well, but that's an example. There was a third category, and this one was called, quote, issues between Diddy and Cassie. And while the chart didn't offer new revelations, it compiled key text messages that reflected the tensions between Diddy and his longtime girlfriend Cassie, the woman at the center of this case. It also highlighted that Cassie regularly texted KK about the violence that she said she was enduring from Diddy. Like this text from Cassie to kk, quote, no one deserves being dragged by the hair. I locked the door for my safety, end quote. And then this other One from Cassie to KK Saying, quote, I can't do the violent scary anymore, end quote. So now you're seeing that KK is in the loop on texts from Cassie saying, this is dangerous, and I'm getting beat, okay? And she responded. KK Responded, I'll call him in the morning. I'll talk to him in the morning. The fourth category on the chart was issues between Diddy and Jane. Jane is the pseudonym for another former girlfriend of Diddy's who already testified about abuse and the financial control she said Diddy held over her. The text included in this chart supported that account. Jurors were shown a text from KK To Diddy that read, quote, FYI, Robin said that she paid Jane's rent last week, end quote. And when this witness finished outlining the four categories on the very first chart, it was time for the second chart. And the second chart focused on text messages between Diddy, his longtime bodyguard, Roger Drock Williams, and another key accuser, Mia. Mia was a personal assistant of Diddy's. She'd been fired, kicked out of Diddy's inner circle, and had no contact with his team for many months. But suddenly, suddenly, Diddy's team started reaching out to Mia, seemingly out of the blue. Prosecutors wanted the jury to see that there was a strategic reason that they say Diddy's team was trying to get a hold of Mia. The texts were sent to her in the days and weeks after what, you guessed it? Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit against Diddy. The chart that was shown to the jury visually laid out when Drock, the security guy, repeatedly reached out to Mia, seemingly on Diddy's behalf. Though it is notable, the texts never included an explicit directive from Diddy himself. That detail is going to matter. The prosecution's going to argue that Drock was acting on orders from Diddy. The defense will likely argue that this is all circumstantial. Either way, the summary witness made one thing crystal clear. This was all happening under Diddy's watch. The timing is impeccable. Right. I just got sued by Cassie and, hey, Mia, haven't talked to you in a while. Right? It happened at Diddy's direction, they say, using his staff members, Drock as his security. So even if Diddy's fingerprints aren't on every message, the prosecutors say he's looming large above. And then came one of the most explosive moments of the morning. A text message that prosecutors say speaks volumes about the way Sean Diddy Combs operated behind closed doors. On November 24, 2022, just a couple of Thanksgivings ago, Diddy sent a text to his then chief of staff again, KK Christina Coram. She had asked what his head of security needed to bring with him on a flight to Miami. And Diddy's reply was, quote, 15 pills of Molly. And then almost immediately afterwards, a second message from Diddy followed saying, ready? Don't text about it. End quote. Diddy, why are you texting? Don't text about it. Anyway, that's what came out in court. And this text exchange pulled from Christina Coram's phone wasn't just about drugs. It was about how drugs moved and who moved the drugs. According to the prosecutors, Coram again was Diddy's chief of staff. The man who was boarding the plane was Diddy's head of security. And so Diddy himself appeared to be orchestrating a drug drop using his bad boy entertainment staff. And if you've been wondering, this isn't sex trafficking. This is just an assault, that's not true. What you see is a prosecution that has been lining up week after week for six weeks. Boss employees, orders to do things that are illegal. That's effectively really summarized what racketeering is. If you use your enterprise, and as a pattern, you use your enterprise and your assets and your resources in your enterprise, meaning your staff, your money, all of that, to carry out illegal activities. And those illegal Activities are listed 1 through 37 in this, in the statutes. These are all called predicate acts, illegal acts. If you do all those things, you are guilty of rico, you are guilty of racketeering. And they went through a lot of different predicate acts with evidence and receipts and all the rest. So the jury has already heard testimony from multiple witnesses who say that Diddy had them buy and carry drugs, sometimes across state lines, usually between Los Angeles and Miami. But today, they saw it in writing. And just when you thought that things couldn't get more damning, the government hit play on a phone call that the jury had heard about but had not actually heard. It was a taped phone call between Diddy and the woman known only as Jane. And in this call, she says something chilling. She tells Diddy that the allegations in Cassie Ventura's bombshell 2023 lawsuit, the one that first cracked this case wide open. She says they were, quote, word for word, her experience, too. Mic drop. Once the government wrapped up its portion of the summary evidence, it was time for the defense to push back and try to reframe this narrative. And first up, a text from Diddy himself. Defense attorney Tenny Garagos directed the jury's attention to a message that Sean Combs had sent to Mia, his former personal assistant, who's already testified in graphic detail about alleged abuse, physical, emotional and financial. The message was dated February 7, 2020, four months after Cassie's lawsuit had pretty much catapulted all this ugliness into the public view. And Diddy texted me a quote. Hey, I don't want to be blowing up your phone. Just needed to talk to you for 10 minutes. Just need my memory jogged on some things. You are my right hand for years, so I just need to speak to you to remember who was even around me. And it would be good to hear your voice, but if you don't want to, all good. Just let me know. Love. That's his name, right? Love. Hope you're well. End quote. Diddy's lawyer had the government witness confirm what happened next. According to a message from Drock, Diddy's longtime bodyguard, Mia's number rang as if she were out of the country. And then after that, there were no further attempts by Combs to reach out. No calls, no follow ups. That's important. And I just want to stop there because you could look at that, that communication from Diddy two different ways, right? Hey, bro, like, just want to check in. You're my, you're my assistant. I'm dealing with some things and I need you to refresh my memory on some stuff that's really innocuous. You could also look at it like, hey, don't be scared. You know, I just need some help with something. So, you know, call me. Because I really feel as though the government also presented that Mia was fired by you. You've never spoken with her since, and suddenly you're all up in Mia's grill. You want her to call you and chit chat. So I think you could. I think that cuts both ways. But look, the defense is using it. The no follow ups part, that's strong for the defense because he wasn't harassing her. And then the defense pivoted. They showed the jury a text from another accuser, Jane, Diddy's former girlfriend. This was sent to kk, his chief of staff, and it read, quote, I'm excited to surprise him. This is important as well, because this tells you that a girlfriend who's going to do these free coughs is sending a message to the chief of staff saying, yay, I'm excited about this. I'm hoping it all works out great. I'm excited to surprise him. It was a message that the Defense was hoping would complicate Jane's narrative of how she participated in these freak off nights. You know, was this through fear and control, or was she a willing participant? I'm excited. Look, you've already heard how Jane characterized it on the stand. She tried to make it sound good to everybody because she just wanted to please. Right? Or could you look at it a different way? Depends on how the jury sees it. But they did see additional messages between Jane and KK where KK asked Jane twice to call her. She said Combs was pressing to make some plans, and Jane's reply was, quote, my answer to him is no, and it is still no, end quote. And that line stood out for the clarity, right, for its resistance. The defense here is showing that Jane had agency over her own choices. You know, would she or wouldn't she bend to Diddy's demands? And that text at least showed that she had the right to refuse him. I think if you ask Jane, and they did on the stand, you know, it was a degradation of. Of when she would finally put her foot down. Like, for the longest time, she just tried and tried and tried to keep him happy and did all these awful things and would, you know, hint, I don't want to do this. I don't want to do this. And then eventually got to the point, hell, no. You know, so I think it's, you know, it's all in the timeline and in summation. You're really going to have to make that clear if you're on the government side, if you're on the defense side. But those quotes are strong and just on their own, they're strong. And then came a particularly sharp exchange. Not between Combs and an accuser, but between Combs and his own inner circle. Jurors were shown some messaging between kk, his chief of staff, and did he and one that suggested frustration from kk, even betrayal. KK texted him, quote, if you cannot be honest with me, this doesn't work. We all know what your kryptonite is and where you don't make the best choices, end quote. And then she added, that will break me. End quote. What seems to be happening here is that the defense is trying to show the jury that even his own staff was pushing back. Right? They weren't always on board with everything that Diddy wanted to do. The staff, the girlfriends, that they could all push back against Diddy. That's what I think they're trying to show with these text messages. Right? But there was no yelling. There were no accusations. There was just quiet devastation in that text from somebody who was, up until that point, allegedly running the show right beside him at all times. And next up, the government called another member of its own team, Special agent named Delyasa Penland. I hope I have the pronunciation right, but it was like an unusual spelling. D, E, L, E, A, s, S A DeLasa. And Ms. Penland works with the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan. And like the paralegal who testified before her, her. Her role wasn't emotional. It was not explosive. It was clinical. Just the facts. Her job wasn't to shock the jury. It was just to organize the story. Lining up the travel records, lining up the email chains, lining up the receipts that the prosecutors say reveal how Diddy allegedly trafficked in his organization, how it was funded, how it was coordinated, how it amounted to sex trafficking. One entry really stood out. A December 2009 trip to the London hotel in New York City attended by Diddy, Cassie Ventura and another unnamed man. The jurors heard messages between Diddy and a man who was planning some travel for that upcoming weekend. And then juror saw an email that Diddy sent to his own executive office asking for a flight to be booked under that man's name. The email went to his personal finance director, and soon after, a full flight itinerary was returned. And that itinerary, Penland testified, was found in the records of Combs Global. Right, the enterprise. That's what the government's saying. The jury also saw records showing that flights and hotel rooms for that same weekend were paid for by Combs. American Express card receipts confirmed that Diddy paid for the flights for Cassie Ventura and a man named Jules, as well as paying for a hotel room. And that wasn't all. Jury was also shown a travel invoice billed to. Any guesses? Bueller, anybody? Bad Boy Entertainment, Right? That's the company. This time for Cassie's flight from Los Angeles to New York, dated October 10, 2012. And then came another chain of messages, these between Diddy and Cassie on October 13, the day after. Shortly after, jurors saw messages that Cassie sent separately to two other men. She discusses the times to meet. She gives them the names of the hotel room where she's staying, the room that was reserved under her alias, Janet Clark, and it was paid for in cash. Another invoice showed a second room, this one reserved under Frank Black, an alias we now know from prosecutors they have linked to Diddy. That room was paid for with both Amex and cash. And then came the videos, several recordings Made just one day after those messages. On October 14, the videos were recovered from one of Cassie Ventura's devices. And the jury was given headphones and private screens to watch the videos away from the public view of the gallery. So that all lines up, right? Here's the videos that you can see. I wish that we could see. I mean, I don't and I do. Whether this looked as though this was all consensual or whether it looked like it just was a job, because that's what Cassie and Jane both said it was, was just a job after a while, right, Monotonous. They didn't want to do it. They just got through it. That's what they testified to. But you've got everything leading up to it, right? The business arrangement, all the people in the enterprise on the texts, the invoices, going through the company. All of those things are what the government is trying to show. And then there's result. The video, you're looking at a freak off that you've been hearing about for the last six weeks. So next, the government read aloud another text from Diddy to Cassie. And it was sent in early 2013. And it said, quote, want to celebrate Christmas and have a free cough tomorrow or Friday. Merry Christmas. But weirdly, this was January, so technically, it was like a belated Christmas. But what prosecutors showed next made the point crystal clear. The jurors were shown an entire text thread setting up a free cough involving four men. Scheduled, coordinated, and messaged in advance, from invoices to aliases, to AMEX charges, to cash payments and messages linking it all together. Prosecution also presented messages sent by Cassie herself, this time to the mail escorts. One in 2012. You know, Cassie writing by text, casual yes, no oil. Thanks. The response from the escort. Oh, okay, I'll see you at 3:00am you know, those two lines told a story, a story of scheduling and extensive planning, using Sean Combs staff and his resources to pay for and to transport escorts for the purpose of prostitution. Something that the government says amounts to sex trafficking and racketeering. The government's theory is that Diddy's alleged criminal enterprise was not just about drugs and violence. It was also about sex trafficking. And what the government is trying to show to this jury is that these free coughs weren't just casual hookups, consensual hookups, but were instead part of a system, one that involved money and power and logistics and fear and people doing what they were told by the boss. According to prosecutors, this special prosecution witness is going to stay on the stand through Tomorrow morning as well. And then, huh, more potential fireworks. The government's next witness is set to be a guy named Brendan Paul, the staffer and the alleged drug mule who supplied Diddy. And then after that, another law enforcement witness who's expected to take the stand, likely helping prosecutors round out their case before resting. In fact, they now say that they're likely to rest by Wednesday, which means the defense is almost up to bat. And Diddy's lawyer, Mark Agnifolo, told the judge that they're going to be ready to go Friday morning. And when they do, their first three witnesses will all have close ties to to Sean Combs. The first one is Vashta Dunlop, which we assume is the former human resources employee. Then comes Stefan Lind, Orjala or Orhala. I'm not sure how to pronounce it. That's a current or former Diddy employee, depending on who you ask. And finally, a paralegal from Agniphilo's own law firm. Presumably a tactical move here, possibly to enter exhibits or testimony without actually calling an outside expert. And earlier today, I spoke with Lauren Conlon on my News Nation show called Banfield. So shout out to News Nation. At 10pm Lauren was inside the courtroom for day 24, the juror shakeup day. And some of the juror reactions, too, to the free coughs that they literally were forced, the porn they were forced to watch. Here's my conversation with Lauren. I'm joined now by Lauren Conlon, host of the popular true crime podcast the Outlier and Pop Crime TV on YouTube. She was in the courtroom for all of this today, the drama and everything. I have to ask you first and foremost about the reaction to the jury panel, Lauren, when they were basically forced to watch pornography for many minutes upon minutes. Right. And I kept wondering, the women versus the men, how did they react? So just take me there and tell me what you saw.

[Lauren Conlon]

Yes, Ashley, this one female juror who is pretty known to show reactions in the courtroom, she was horrified. She was looking away. I think she was kind of covering her eyes. It was very clear she was not enjoying what she was watching. Now, on the other hand, the men, I got to say, they did not move, Ashley. Their eyes were locked on the screen and they were pretty much like.

[Ashley Banfield]

So.

[Lauren Conlon]

Yeah, there, there was quite a difference. And I'll also tell you that in the gallery, we actually, it was during video two, we could hear moaning. We weren't quite sure. And then all of a sudden, the reporter next to me, we're kind of elbowing Each other. We're kind of all looking around, sharing glances, and we're like, yup. Oh, my goodness, that's moaning. And I noticed that some of the jurors kind of had their headsets on halfway on their ears covering them. So maybe the sound was kind of escaping that way. But we definitely heard part of video number two.

[Ashley Banfield]

Ew. Well, okay, so, all right, that happened. I kind of expected, Lauren, that that was going to be the reaction, that the men would be like, yeah, well, so, okay, I've seen this kind of thing before, maybe, but the women would be floored, you know, that they were actually forced to do this as part of their, you know, public service. Talk to me about how things went after the, you know, they've been. They've spent like six weeks now with juror number six, and suddenly he's gone. Were they even told, where's the guy that we've been sitting with and why is there a new guy? Like, what were the dynamics like when suddenly there's a new person on the panel this far into the case?

[Lauren Conlon]

Well, it's really interesting because at the end of the day today, Alexandra Shapiro, Diddy's appellate lawyer, I believe on the defense, she asked the judge, how were the other jurors told about jurors leaving or what were they told, what went on behind closed doors? And the judge actually said, let me find out and I'll get back to you tomorrow. And look, Diddy's team was not happy about losing this juror. That is clear. Late Sunday night, June 15, they submitted a motion saying if this juror is in fact dismissed, we will most likely move for a third mistrial. And I saw Diddy's face as the jury was coming in this morning and juror number six was missing or dismissed, not there. He looked down and kind of just shook his head, very disappointed. And the new Juror is a 57 year old accountant, which, let's be honest, accountants are historically good for, for the prosecution.

[Ashley Banfield]

Tell me about the boys. You know, every day in court, I've been sort of amazed and skeeved out by the fact that Diddy's sons are in court to hear all of this filthy testimony. I get it, you got to have your family to show support. But as a father, I would never want my children to hear this stuff. Yet they've been there every day, except for today, they weren't there. Do you have some insight?

[Lauren Conlon]

Well, I noticed that early on they did miss a couple days here and there, or they would show up for a half Day. So I really didn't think much of it. His sons have been incredibly supportive. I mean, as you know, court can be very tedious, but they, they have shown up for their, their father. And, you know, we saw these social media posts that they put out on Father's Day, which were very loving. So. So I don't have any insight as to why they weren't there today, but I'm not looking too much into it.

[Ashley Banfield]

What were the posts like? What did they say in their. In their Father's Day posts?

[Lauren Conlon]

Well, Christian Combs had this post of he and his dad, and he was very little, he was maybe five or six years old. And I actually thought, yep, there it is. I thought it was very heartfelt because he wrote something like, I love you and I miss you, and I'll see you at home, or, yeah, we're waiting for you at home. And I always think when you take ownership and say I love you instead of love you, it really indicates that you mean it. And then I believe it was Justin Combs. He put a video up, and his was a little more. More fun, a little more casual, but just really showing that, that they support their dad and they truly believe that. That he is coming home.

[Ashley Banfield]

Wow. Well, I saw some of the comments, and it was fascinating. You should go to the comments section, folks. It's. It's entertainment in itself. Hey, Lauren Conlon, thank you so much. Come back again. That's just great insights. I appreciate it.

[Lauren Conlon]

Thank you so much, Ashley.

[Ashley Banfield]

I also spoke with Judge Ashley Wilcott from Court tv, and I asked Judge Wilcott about the Christina Coram business, like kk. Why is KK not on the government's witness list? Why are they not calling her? I had assumed they were going to cut a deal with her, give her immunity, whatever, get her up there, and that she'd flip on Diddy. Because who wants to go to prison? But they're not and she's not. And so who better to ask than a judge who gets this? I'm gonna bring in Ashley Wilcott, Court TV anchor, former juvenile court judge in Georgia, and just a super smart person when it comes to everything in American jurisprudence. Okay, other Ashley judge. I thought when we were getting into receipts and all the dry, boring stuff, I thought, oh, you know, they just got to get this stuff on the record. And then I started to see boxes being checked, and I'm not sure if I'm the only one. I felt like the government was winding up with a bang. Here are the receipts to sex trafficking. Am I wrong?

[Judge Ashley Wilcott]

No, you're not wrong, Ashley. I think that's exactly what they intended. Because remember, they put this testimony out to really connect the dots between P. Diddy and his staff. Chief of staff here you hear about all these things like the setup of the hotel rooms, coordinating travel for Jane and the escort Paul procuring, paying for the product for the drugs that they were going to use. All of the specifics that go right hand in hand, quite frankly, with sex trafficking and engaging in a criminal enterprise.

[Ashley Banfield]

So what about Christina Corum? I thought for sure the feds were going to pressure her and say either you turn and you testify for us or you're going to go away like Ghislaine Maxwell. That's sort of how I had it in my head. But she's not being called. What are your thoughts?

[Judge Ashley Wilcott]

I don't think you're wrong, Ashley. I think the reality is this. Typically when we see a witness like that, they're calling her a co conspirator. And typically the feds aren't going to refer to her as a co conspirator unless they're planning to charge or they're continuing to investigate to determine if they should charge her. And I think the reality is this. You know it as well as I do. Because you're smart, Ashley. If in fact they had offered her a deal that she felt like was a good enough deal, I think she would have taken it. So the fact she's not testifying, I think we may see charges against her in the future.

[Ashley Banfield]

That's what I thought, but I needed to check with someone way better at this than I am, because I just thought, it doesn't make any sense. The jury's been hearing about this chief of staff nonstop, the linchpin between all these text messages. Okay, real quickly, the free cough videos. These poor jurors, I mean, I guess had to watch porn today. And I wondered why the government waited till the end instead of starting off that way so that they had that frame of reference every time they heard these women talking about how awful it was.

[Judge Ashley Wilcott]

It's strategic. And I can promise you that they wanted to hit with the biggest impact. And what's the biggest impact? That video of all the testimony, having to watch the freak offs is going to be the biggest piece of evidence that's at the end on purpose. Because all it does is confirm everything they've heard from the witnesses so that the jurors can say aha. Not only do we see it, but everything these witnesses told us is true. They're credible.

[Ashley Banfield]

You know, Core TV is lucky to have you, Judge Ashley, thank you so much for being on. Come back again.

[Judge Ashley Wilcott]

Thank you.

[Ashley Banfield]

So there's where we are today. It was a morning of juror drama. Molly, delivery request via text and Christmas freak off invitations. Merry Christmas. Special agent Deliasa Penland will be back on the stand first thing Tuesday morning and we will be here for every single word of it. But be sure you subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. And please do me a solid. Leave me a comment, leave me a review. I just love hearing from you, especially if you're following along. Your thoughts matter. We listen to them, we read them, we take them into account and we actually shift gears according to how you listen. We're a community. Right? I'm Ashley Banfield. Remember, the truth isn't just serious, it's dropped. Dead serious.