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The Diddy trial: The rise and fall of Sean Combs
00:36:20
The highly anticipated trial of media mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs starts Monday with jury selection. Here’s what you need to know to follow along.
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- [00:03]
Ella Hay
Hey there, it's Ella Hay. I know it's been a little while since you've heard from me, so I wanted to just say a quick hello and also let you know we're going to be doing something a little different on the show. Today. We're kicking off our coverage of a trial that could change the music industry. The trial of Sean Combs, the hip hop mogul also known as Diddy. I'll be back usually on Fridays with my colleague Anne Brannigan, a reporter for the Style section at the Post. Anne has been covering this case closely and will be in New York City throughout the trial, which starts next week. So over the next several weeks, we'll hear from Ann and our other colleagues in style and audio. But for today, I thought to hand things over to Ann to get the whole backstory on Combs Rise, his past legal troubles and how the feds came to investigate him. And just a warning. This episode contains explicit language as well as descriptions of violence, sexual acts and sexual assault. That's going to come up early in the episode. Okay, here's Anne.
- [01:15]
Anne Brannigan
Teneea Wallace met Sean combs back in 2018. She went to one of his homes on this island in Miami where a lot of celebrities live. Star Island.
- [01:25]
Teneea Wallace
I'm filming in my Snapchat us arriving on Star Island. I'm looking at all the palm trees. I captioned it like Pete Diddy's house is lit.
- [01:34]
Anne Brannigan
Wallis was a singer and she was looking for a big break. She had met someone who knew Combs, also known as Diddy P. Diddy, Puff Daddy. She told the Post that's how she got the invite to the party on Star Island. Wallace only met Combs once, but this party would change her view of the hip hop star and the entire industry around him. What she saw on Star island would be just a passing glimpse into Combs world. It's a world that would later come under a lot of scrutiny in civil lawsuits and a federal indictment accusing Combs of sex trafficking.
- [02:18]
Teneea Wallace
I haven't even gotten inside yet, but when we got ambushed by the security, they're like, give me your phone. And I'm like, huh? Are you guys gonna take it?
- [02:28]
Anne Brannigan
Security did take her phone, and when she entered the party, she understood why topless waitresses were walking around serving drinks inside the house. Guests were having sex out in the open.
- [02:42]
Teneea Wallace
The music is blasting. So when I look to the left and I see people having sex in the open, I'm like, whoa. How do you feel comfortable having sex in the open like that? Then I look in the right, and it's another huddle of things. Like, everywhere you look, you can look forward to the left, to the right, on the side of you, and it's literally different huddles of shit going on. And I'm like, what's going on here? What's going on here? What's going on?
- [03:07]
Anne Brannigan
Then she saw the host of the party, Sean Combs.
- [03:11]
Teneea Wallace
He was very. Acting, very. Yeah, yeah. Nah, I'm the king of the world. And, yeah, like, as if he wanted to do a cartwheel, he was feeling himself. I came back out, he was masturbating on the couch. Like, this is my house. You know, enjoy me. Like, what's up? I'm macho, macho man. And I can't believe that he's just so comfortable with doing this.
- [03:37]
Anne Brannigan
Wallace was freaked out. She left the party and then flew back to her home in Los Angeles feeling like she had escaped a scary situation. We asked representatives for Combs about this incident, but they declined to comment. But after Wallace appeared in a TMZ documentary, his attorneys told the outlet that her account was, quote, completely and categorically false. Wallace said her encounter with Combs ended at that party. But years later, she started to realize that this could be part of a pattern.
- [04:08]
Teneea Wallace
So it's kind of like a story that you would be like, did that really happen? And it just kind of goes over people's head. But in reality, you know, that's what I've been dealing with, like, in the industry and different producers, but nothing to that extent. With Diddy, it was like a dream, a slash nightmare. But I was just happy to just, you know, be able to get away from it and get out of it and not really become a victim. But I kind of still felt like a victim.
- [04:40]
Anne Brannigan
From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. I'm Ann BRANIGAN. It's Friday, May 2nd. Sean Combs is going to be on trial in New York federal court this month. He's charged with racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. I've been following this story closely for the last year and a half, and I'm here to get you up to speed on everything you need to know what Combs is being accused of, what the impact of the trial could be, and what people like Wallace have had to say about Combs and the empire he built. I have been working with our pop culture reporters to document this story.
- [05:23]
Janae Kingsbury
I am Janae Kingsbury.
- [05:25]
Helena Andrews Dyer
My name is Helena Andrews Dyer.
- [05:28]
Anne Brannigan
Our journalists will be reporting and writing Stories to help you make sense of what's going on inside and outside the courtroom. And over the course of this trial, we'll be bringing you regular coverage here on Post Reports. This is the first episode. Sean Combs is really famous for a number of reasons. He's often referred to as a hip hop mogul, which is to say, over the last 30 years, he's one of the most influential producers and businessmen the genre has ever seen.
- [06:10]
Sean Combs
I'm living out my dream, you know what I'm saying?
- [06:12]
Anne Brannigan
Beyond, you know, this is Combs on the Breakfast Club radio show a few years ago.
- [06:17]
Sean Combs
Beyond even what I could have even imagined. Cause I don't know, a lot of cats that have, you know, could say, 34 years of doing something they love and now still getting stronger. As far as, like, that splatter they put out in the atmosphere, does it surprise you?
- [06:31]
Helena Andrews Dyer
His impact cannot be understated.
- [06:35]
Anne Brannigan
This is Helena, pop culture reporter at the Post. She spent a lot of time reporting on Combs and how he got to where he is today.
- [06:43]
Helena Andrews Dyer
When you're talking about Sean Combs, he's in the same conversation as Russell Simmons. He's in the same conversation as Jay Z. You know, these are men in hip hop who were great at the music side of it, right? He was an incredible producer and basically created the sound of blending hip hop with R and B.
- [07:10]
Anne Brannigan
What songs do you remember most from this era?
- [07:15]
Helena Andrews Dyer
Well, okay, I'm going to date myself, and that's okay. I was born in 1980. So literally his rise from, you know, like 1993 on was basically all my middle school and high school years, right? Every homecoming, every school dance, prom. We're talking, you know, Mary J. Blige. I mean, her first record was the 411. He produced that.
- [07:39]
Teneea Wallace
Then don't waste your time at all.
- [07:43]
Helena Andrews Dyer
So what's the 411, huh? Obviously, I mean, you can. I mean, you could do a whole podcast just on Notorious B.I.G. right? And ready to Die, his first album, Juicy Mo Money Mo Problems with Mace.
- [08:00]
Sean Combs
I know you rather see me die than you see me fly. I call all the shots, Rip all the spots.
- [08:06]
Helena Andrews Dyer
His hits were the soundtrack to my entire adolescence.
- [08:11]
Anne Brannigan
To understand how his music became an anthem for a generation, it's important to understand where Combs came from.
- [08:18]
Helena Andrews Dyer
Harlem is a huge part of his origin story, his identity. Like, he is a Harlem boy, right? His mother, Janice, figures very, very large in his story about her being, like, a single mom and raising him. His father was actually murdered.
- [08:39]
Anne Brannigan
He talked about this in the commencement speech. He gave at Howard University in 2014.
- [08:44]
Sean Combs
I read in the Amsterdam News that he had been murdered and a drug deal going bad and his father died.
- [08:52]
Helena Andrews Dyer
When he was a toddler. Right. So part of his origin story is like, oh, okay. I had a dad who was essentially like, who was murdered. I'm from the streets of Harlem. But then he also has this mother who works.
- [09:06]
Sean Combs
I also decided that I would live my life in a way to make her proud. I decided to embrace the entrepreneurial spirit, spirit of my father, but in an honest way, in a legal way, by earning, scraping, working harder, believing in myself.
- [09:30]
Helena Andrews Dyer
It was, you know, this is a part of my legacy. And hustling, meaning being an entrepreneur, getting it for yourself, getting money and doing anything to reach whatever the big dream. And the goal is.
- [09:46]
Anne Brannigan
For high school, he attends an all boys Catholic school before going to Howard University, which is where things for him really start to take off. And at Howard, he quickly establishes a reputation for being the guy who throws the hottest parties. If you want to know what's going down, Sean Combs knows what's going down. This becomes an important characteristic when he becomes an intern at Uptown Records. And Uptown Records is this pioneering music label that was founded in the 1980s.
- [10:21]
Helena Andrews Dyer
Uptown is in Manhattan, it's in New York. He is still a student at Howard University, which is in Washington, D.C. so he would take the Amtrak Thursday mornings, according to Puffy, at 5am he didn't have money for the train, according to Puff, and he would, like, hide out in the bathroom. I don't know if this is possible. Like, I've seen the Amtrak people. I take Amtrak a lot and they are looking for you. Yeah, but according. Maybe this was how it worked in the late 80s, early 90s. But he'd hide out, get to Uptown like on a Thursday, do his day of internship, maybe another day on a Friday, and then hustle back to Howard to throw parties.
- [11:02]
Anne Brannigan
He's only at Uptown Records for a few years, but he quickly establishes himself as somebody who can really recognize talent. After a few years, he ventures out on his own. And he starts Bad Boy Records and immediately makes a splash because one of the first artists signed to Bad Boy is the Notorious B.I.G. unlike a lot of other producers, the thing we notice about Combs straight away is that he's very visible. So he's frequently ad libbing on his artist's tracks.
- [11:38]
Sean Combs
Honey, check it, check it. Tell your friends to get with my friends.
- [11:42]
Anne Brannigan
And he features very prominently in their music videos. But as we march toward the early aughts, it becomes very clear that Combs ambitions reach far beyond music. He expands his empire into fashion with the launch of Sean John. Sean John is his fashion label. It is, of course, named after him, and it's really unique for the time in that it blended streetwear with this real sort of upscale presentation. Here he is talking about it at New York fashion week in 2000.
- [12:19]
Sean Combs
The fit and also the style, the way it makes you feel, what it turns you into. It's almost like Superman's cape. When he throws his cape on, the level of confidence that it gives you, you throw a pair of Sean John jeans on, it just lifts your level of confidence, makes you feel like you.
- [12:32]
Anne Brannigan
He really becomes a mogul, not just in media, but also lifestyle. He gets into alcohol and TV. And in 2019, Forbes estimates his personal wealth to be $740 million. On top of being this producer, artist, and businessman, he becomes a celebrity in part because of his ability to throw a really great party. So we really see this in 1998 when he starts throwing these extravagant events he calls white parties.
- [13:07]
Helena Andrews Dyer
The guest list that he managed to curate and invite to these parties spoke to how big he was at the time.
- [13:18]
Anne Brannigan
Here's Helena again.
- [13:19]
Helena Andrews Dyer
This was not like just a hip hop party. This wasn't just a music party. You've got Donna Karan, you've got Leonardo DiCaprio, Martha Stewart, Ashton Kutcher, Salman Rushdie. Like, what? Why are you there? Like, it's across all mediums, all cultures, all colors, all ages. Everyone's dressed in white. There's, you know, champagne literally flowing. And this is before, like, social media. So it's like, I think we're, like, looking at People magazine. You know, we're actually looking at physical pictures of it. It's just like everyone's having this, like, incredible time with Diddy. He's just sort of put himself in this position of being the son almost, right?
- [14:16]
Anne Brannigan
But at the same time, Combs is building up another reputation where he's getting in trouble with the law. And this is based on several incidents that occur throughout the course of his career. One of the big ones is the 1999 nightclub shooting. It's really memorable because at the time, he was dating Jennifer Lopez. And in this incident, there was a fight at a club. Gunfire breaks out. Both him and Lopez are there, and they both end up getting arrested. But only Combs is charged. He's ultimately found not guilty. And instead, another bad boy artist by the name of Shine takes the fall for that incident. He was also arrested in 1999 for allegedly assaulting a music executive. He pleaded guilty to harassment in that case. And in 2015, he was charged with assaulting his son's football coach with a deadly weapon. Those charges were eventually dropped. But probably the most well known tragedy that Combs found himself connected to were the deaths of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. who were both killed in separate drive by shootings just six months apart. Rapper and actor Tupac Shakur is dead at the age of 25, just about a week after sustaining four bullet wounds.
- [15:42]
Teneea Wallace
Last Saturday night in Las Vegas.
- [15:44]
Damian Williams
Los Angeles police are investigating the shooting death of rapper Notorious B.I.G. also known as Biggie Smalls. He was gunned down early today.
- [15:53]
Anne Brannigan
The murders rocked the hip hop community, especially because the two rappers had been feuding in the months leading up to their deaths.
- [16:05]
Helena Andrews Dyer
This thing that seems so fun, hip hop culture, fun and joyful party music got really serious for a minute, right? And it was a real soul searching moment, right? I think hip hop had somewhat of a reckoning at that time. But then you have Puff, then comes out as an artist in his own right with I'll Be Missing you, which does incredibly becomes a global hit.
- [16:35]
Sean Combs
Still can't believe you gonna give anything to hear half your breath. I know you're still living your life.
- [16:41]
Anne Brannigan
Because Combs and Biggie were close friends and collaborators, there have been rumors that Combs was somehow involved. Nothing was ever proven, and he has always denied this. Combs somehow manages to rise above all of these issues. And because of this, he continues to be revered in the music industry. In 2022, BET awards him with a lifetime achievement award.
- [17:14]
Sean Combs
I gotta thank every artist, every producer, every writer, the hitmen, every executive I had a chance to work with. Thank you so much. Thank you to all of my fans who have been with me for over 25 years.
- [17:27]
Anne Brannigan
He received an honorary doctorate from Howard University. He was honored by the Grammys as a, quote, industry icon. And in 2023, New York Mayor Eric Adams gives him the keys to New York City.
- [17:41]
Sean Combs
The bad boy of entertainment is getting the key to the city from the bad boy of politics. Give your hand together to Sean P. Diddy Combs, our brother, giving it up for him. Show him some love. What's up, New York?
- [18:05]
Anne Brannigan
So he's really somebody, especially towards the later part of his career, who's being feted and really being lauded for all his contributions to music and specifically to hip hop.
- [18:18]
Sean Combs
I just want to say, oh, no matter where you from, as I said, I just come from a, a humble neighborhood, 100 blocks away from here, you can do anything you put your mind to. Don't let nobody stop you. Nothing can stop you. Don't dream in reality. Dream bigger and vulgar. Spread love, I love y'all. Love, Love, love, love.
- [18:40]
Anne Brannigan
November 2023 is really the big turning point in Combs life and how we think about him. On November 16, his former romantic partner and former employee Cassie files a lawsuit against him that details allegations of rape, sex trafficking, and physical abuse. Cassie's full name is Cassandra Ventura, but she goes by the stage name Cassie, and she's an R and B singer who signed to Bad Boy Records in the late aughts. Before she signs to Bad Boy, she already has a smash hit. It's called Me and you'd. And this is part of what attracts Combs to her in the first place and why he convinces her to join his record label. And very quickly, she and Combs develop a romantic relationship that lasts about a decade. They really become this fixture in the public eye. They're seen constantly on red carpets together, even on the red carpet of all red carpets. The Met Gala. Here's an interview they did with vogue there in 2018. They're both wearing these tailored suits. Combs is in all white, and Cassie is wearing mostly all black.
- [19:57]
Janae Kingsbury
And please tell me about your look tonight.
- [19:59]
Teneea Wallace
You look amazing. I'm wearing head to toe Thom Browne.
- [20:02]
Janae Kingsbury
And I just wanted to.
- [20:03]
Teneea Wallace
To be, you know, at my Sunday's best, you know, suited and bootied. I always wear a dress, so I.
- [20:08]
Anne Brannigan
Wanted to try something different.
- [20:09]
Sean Combs
It's just like everyday life for us.
- [20:11]
Anne Brannigan
Yeah, yeah, you angelic all the time. They really strike this pose of being a true glamour couple. But then in 2018, they break up.
- [20:23]
Janae Kingsbury
According to Cassie's lawsuit, she claimed that from the very beginning, he really asserted control over her personal life and her career and in a lot of ways tried to coerce her into a relationship with a lot of manipulative tactics.
- [20:46]
Anne Brannigan
Janae Kingsbury is one of the reporters who's been following this story ever since Cassie filed her lawsuit in 2023. I brought her into the studio to hear more about the specifics behind the scenes.
- [21:00]
Janae Kingsbury
Cassie described their relationship as very difficult. He berated her, and he was physically abusive.
- [21:12]
Anne Brannigan
And her lawsuit is also the first time we hear about freak offs. Can you tell me a little bit about what freak offs are and how she described them?
- [21:24]
Janae Kingsbury
So Cassie described these freak offs as sex parties in which she was forced to engage in sexual acts with male sex workers. She claimed that he taped some of these encounters and would later threaten to expose her or use that against her in some way to keep her cooperating. Combs has said that all of the sexual encounters with Cassie were consensual. I think it's important to note too that Cassie claims that she was both a victim and had to victimize others, particularly with the freak offs she was forced to procure male sex workers. She also describes other incidents in which she was forced to carry illegal weapons in her purse.
- [22:14]
Anne Brannigan
In the lawsuit, Cassie also says that she tries to leave Combs at one point and that toward the end of their relationship, Combs rapes her. He has denied this. Cassie makes it quite clear throughout her lawsuit that this isn't just a matter of one or two isolated incidents. She says it's a pattern where he's extremely coercive and violent over the course of their relationship.
- [22:40]
Janae Kingsbury
So there is another instance she details in the lawsuit about rapper Kid Cudi. At one point she and Cudi were in a relationship and when Combs found out, he became so enraged that he threatened to blow up Kid Cudi's car. And around that time Cassie said that Cudi's car did blow up in his driveway. And Cuddy's replacement seemed to confirm this to the New York Times and said that this is all true.
- [23:18]
Anne Brannigan
When Cassie files a lawsuit, Combs vehemently denies all the allegations. They end up settling the lawsuit the very next day. We don't know the terms of that settlement but the lawsuit nonetheless opens up the floodgates. More lawsuits start to be filed with very similar allegations. And these accusations go back to the very start of Combs career, all the way back to the early 90s. Combs is now facing a second lawsuit accusing him of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman back in 1991. He's also accused of filming the entire assault. Combs has been accused of sexual abuse.
- [23:59]
Helena Andrews Dyer
By multiple women in civil lawsuits. One of the accusers says she she was a 19 year old student at Syracuse when she met Combs at a New York restaurant. She says he drugged and assaulted her.
- [24:12]
Anne Brannigan
In a 79 page lawsuit filed by a music producer who claims to have worked with and lived with Sean Combs for a period of time, alleges there were underage girls, hidden cameras and sexual harassment at his home, all of which Combs denies. Those lawsuits are still ongoing. Combs consistently denies all of these civil allegations. But then in May 2024, we see a dramatic turn in the way Combs responds to all of this stuff. And it's because that's when CNN releases a video of Combs assaulting Cassie Ventura in a Hotel in 2016.
- [24:48]
Teneea Wallace
The surveillance video obtained by CNN begins as she enters the hallway.
- [24:52]
Ella Hay
The complaint.
- [24:53]
Anne Brannigan
So there isn't audio of this incident, but it is quite clear what is happening in the video. He's seen grabbing and shoving her and dragging her and at one point kicking her while she's just, you know, limp on the ground. It reframes a lot of the conversation around Combs because this is the most explicit evidence that we see of physical abuse between him and Cassie. And so after that video is published, he releases a video on Instagram a couple days later.
- [25:30]
Sean Combs
I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. Disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I'm disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help. I had to go to therapy, going to rehab, had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I'm so sorry.
- [26:05]
Anne Brannigan
While he doesn't directly apologize to Ventura, he does seem to acknowledge that he is the one in that video attacking her. Ahead of his trial, however, Combs legal team claimed that the CNN video had been manipulated and did not accurately depict the events. There's another big reason why the spring of 2024 was a real turning point for Combs, because that's when the federal government also raided his homes in Miami and Los Angeles. Breaking news. The Department of Homeland Security has just confirmed to CNN that federal law enforcement agents have raided properties owned by musician and producer Sean Diddy Combs. Now, this is the first time that we know that there's a federal investigation into Combs. And this is really splashy. This is all over tmz. This is all over the news. The rappers homes in both Los Angeles.
- [27:02]
Helena Andrews Dyer
And Miami were filled with federal agents.
- [27:06]
Anne Brannigan
Today we have footage of, you know, black SUVs and helicopters over these mansions in Los Angeles and Miami. And the one thing we're told by the federal government is that it's part of an ongoing investigation. Now, a law enforcement source at the time told the Washington Post that it was related to sex trafficking. There's a lot of interest, of course, in these raids, but we don't know what's found until much later. After the break, what federal agents uncovered and how they built a case against Sean Combs. We'll be right back.
- [28:02]
H
My name is Jason Rezaian and I am the director of Press Freedom Initiatives here at The Washington Post. May 3rd is World Press Freedom Day. Back in 2014, when I was the Tehran bureau chief for the Washington Post, my wife and I were arrested from our home. I was held for 544 days. Almost a year and a half from the very first moment after my arrest, the Post was involved in trying to secure my release. Every day, journalists defend our democracy by holding power to account. My job is now to stand up for the rights of journalists in the United States and around the world, and especially those journalists who've had their voices silenced. I know what it is to lose a day or 544 of them of my life for the work that I do, and I don't want anybody else to suffer that fate. When you subscribe to the Washington Post, you support this kind of work. Learn more@washingtonpost.com subscribe I'm Jason Rezaian, and I'm one of the people behind the Post.
- [29:20]
Anne Brannigan
Combs is arrested on September 16, 2024 watch how federal agents took Sean Diddy Combs into custody. He's seen in this video entering the Park Hyatt Hotel in midtown Manhattan with others. When agents from Homeland Security Investigations approach and separate him, they place Combs under arrest and lead him out the front door in handcuffs. He's charged by a grand jury on racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He's then jailed in the Metropolitan Detention center in Brooklyn, New York. And once the indictment is unsealed, we start to learn more about what prosecutors are accusing him of and what they found. Here's U.S. attorney Damian Williams.
- [30:04]
Damian Williams
The indictment alleges that between at least 2008 and the present, Combs abused, threatened and coerced victims to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct.
- [30:18]
Anne Brannigan
Now, the charges of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution are pretty straightforward. But the racketeering charge in some ways is the most complicated and central part of this case because it means that they are alleging that Combs didn't act alone.
- [30:37]
Damian Williams
Sean Combs led and participated in a racketeering conspiracy that used the business empire he controlled to carry out criminal activity, including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and the obstruction of justice.
- [30:55]
Anne Brannigan
Throughout the indictment, we see similarities to what he's being accused of in various lawsuits. The most notable one is this description of freak offs, a term that we first heard in Ventura's lawsuit against him.
- [31:10]
Damian Williams
The freak offs sometimes lasted days at a time, involved multiple commercial sex workers and often involved a variety of narcotics such as ketamine, ecstasy and ghb.
- [31:22]
Anne Brannigan
We also find out what the federal government found in those raids, firearms and some of the things that he allegedly used in those freak offs electronic devices.
- [31:33]
Damian Williams
That contain images and videos of the freak offs with multiple victims, and they seize cases and cases of the kinds of personal lubricant and baby oil that Combs staff allegedly used to stock hotel rooms for the freakoffs. More than 1,000 bottles altogether.
- [31:52]
Anne Brannigan
The indictment says that his associates and employees helped facilitate the freak offs and also pressured victims to stay silent. This is all according to federal prosecutor Combs legal team continues to vehemently deny all of these charges. In fact, they accused federal prosecutors of racial bias in their pursuit of Combs. Nonetheless, Combs was denied bail and is still sitting in jail as he awaits trial. We should note here that at the same time the federal investigation is happening, there are dozens of people filing civil lawsuits against Combs, accusing him of sexual assault, trafficking, basically a lot of the stuff that comes up in the federal indictment. Since Cassie filed her lawsuit in 2023, over 70 others have been filed. Many of them were submitted anonymously by both men and women. Combs has also denied all of the claims in these cases. No matter what the verdict is, this trial will be a pivotal moment for the industry.
- [33:10]
Janae Kingsbury
I'm definitely going to be interested in how people respond publicly to what's happening in the trial and also if there will be a greater effect, a larger reckoning within the hip hop industry, which has long been criticized as kind of trailing behind the larger MeToo movement, when so many other sectors of the entertainment industry have, you know, faced a reckoning and confronted allegations.
- [33:36]
Helena Andrews Dyer
For so many people now, you know, who are in their late 30s, early 40s, mid-40s, the work that he did in the ground that he laid was such a huge part of our maturation, and so it almost feels tainted in a way.
- [34:00]
Anne Brannigan
I think for reporters like Janae and Helena and myself, we will be closely watching to see what happens, because this is so much bigger than just Sean Combs.
- [34:12]
Helena Andrews Dyer
You know, as we're watching the video, singing the songs, and now you think to yourself, well, what was going on behind the scenes? But if we're looking at this one man's downfall, it is not just this one man's downfall downfall. If it is, in fact, a downfall, right? It is. Is this an industry's downfall? Is this a culture's downfall? Is this a genre's downfall?
- [34:38]
Anne Brannigan
We know the trial may last six weeks, possibly longer. It isn't going to be live streamed, and nobody is allowed to bring in any electronics. So that means you'll only be able to get firsthand accounts from the people who are inside the courthouse. I'll be one of those people. Every week on Post reports. I'll be on the show to summarize the news coming out of the trial that week. This is our first episode in the series. Tune in to our episode next week to hear about how the trial unfolds. Jury selection starts on Monday. That's it for Post reports. Thanks for listening. Today's show was produced by Sabi Robinson. It was edited by Rena Flores and Carla Spartos. It was mixed by Shawn Carter. Thanks to Maggie Penman, Lucas Trevor, Amanda Finnegan and Renita Jablonski. You also heard in our episode Janae Kingsbury and Helena Andrews Dyer, reporters for the Style section of the Post. Jeff Edgers contributed reporting. Our team also includes Martine Powers, Elahi Azadi, Colby Ikowicz, Ted Muldoon, Lucy Perkins, Ilana Gordon, Ariel Plotnick, Venice Vernovsky, Emma Talkoff, Peter Bresnan and Laura Benshoff. I'm Anne Brannigan. We'll be back Monday with more stories from the Washington Post.