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- [00:00]
Lauren LaRosa
You're listening to an iHeart podcast. I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and everybody exclusive know.
- [00:12]
Taylor
If you don't lie about that.
- [00:13]
Lauren LaRosa
Right? Lauren came in hot. Hey, y' all, what's up? It's Lauren LaRosa. And this is the latest with Lauren LaRosa. I'm your host, Lauren LaRosa, the home girl that knows a bit about everything and everybody. And this is a daily dig on everything, pop culture, entertainment, and the conversations that are shaking the room. Cuz when you talk about shaking the room right now, y' all, I've been sitting in the courtroom for the last two weeks, and, man, like, this Diddy case is. It's, like, all over the place. It's like one day I'm like, oh, no. What? I don't think he did any of that outside of, like, you know, the beating stuff, because we were literally seeing the bruises in court, but. And then the next day, I'm like, man, I don't know that he might got to do some time. Like, I'm. I'm all over the place every single day. But I think it's because both the prosecution and the defense are doing their job. So checking in on me today, I'm a bit tired, you know, cuz behind the scenes of the grind. And I've been grinding, Taylor.
- [01:06]
Taylor
Yeah.
- [01:08]
Lauren LaRosa
Back on the grind. I've been out here. I've been outside, literally. But I'm blessed, though. I mean, I'm. I'm. I'm a little tired. I'm still figuring out how to be able to care about anything other than this case. Because when you sit in there all day, it kind of consumes your world and your mind. So yesterday I shut off early. Like, I didn't get on social media after I posted my video. I just watched a Netflix series, and I was like, I'm going start fresh this morning. Because it. I don't know, it was just, like, taking over my mind and my thoughts. But I think, you know, when you move in and you grooving, that happens. Work takes over. How you feeling?
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Taylor
I'm feeling good.
- [01:43]
Lauren LaRosa
You and baby pj?
- [01:44]
Taylor
Yeah, I'm good. My birthday's coming up soon.
- [01:47]
Lauren LaRosa
When's your birthday? It's February. No, Taylor, why did I think you were an Aquarius? Oh, that's Jess. Jess is February 13th.
- [01:55]
Taylor
Taurus Energy all day.
- [01:56]
Lauren LaRosa
What are you doing for your birthday?
- [01:58]
Taylor
I'mma see you in academy.
- [02:00]
Lauren LaRosa
Oh. Now I'm definitely really going to Atlantic City. Now I'm definitely going to Atlantic City because I was, I literally was speaking to me being tired. I was thinking to myself yesterday like man, I'mma just tell my mom like let's just stay in New York cause I need to sleep all weekend. I'm trucking at the AC on Saturday for you. Cause it's your birthday and I love hanging out with you and big Patrick and little Patrick in the belly.
- [02:19]
Taylor
Yeah.
- [02:20]
Lauren LaRosa
But let's get on into the latest because there's so much here with Cassie and her taking the stand for the second day. If you hear me turning pages in here or see me turning pages in the video, it's because I got my handy Dandy court notebook, baby. I be highlighting things.
- [02:36]
Taylor
I love it.
- [02:36]
Lauren LaRosa
Yeah. Because we can't use any electronics. Only the like inner, like the inner city presses and a couple other outlets of the world who are in house press can. So this the only way I can remember a lot of the things. But yeah. So yesterday Cassie took the stand and the prosecution did their or finished their direction examination. So that basically means the prosecution, those are the people that want Diddy to go to jail. They got to finish questioning Cassie yesterday and it was done. She's done speaking to them to. Well sort of kind of cuz they could come back again and ask her more questions on a cross examination. But they're done speaking to her without any real like interruptions or like basically setting up their premise with her.
- [03:18]
Taylor
Okay.
- [03:19]
Lauren LaRosa
And now Diddy's team gets to come in and kind of like dissect the things that she said to them and kind of get their own narrative out there a bit. So I'm really interested to see what's going to happen when that does happen. But yesterday in court Diddy's family was there interesting enough, his daughters weren't there yesterday. A lot of people were wondering like the day that Cassie first started testifying, why did, why did they stay in the courtroom? Because it was very graphic and they weren't in the courtroom yesterday. They weren't in the courtroom yesterday. It was Diddy's mom, Christian, Justin and Quincy. So Diddy's sons and his mom were in court but the, the daughters were not there like they had been a lot of the other days. Maybe they just needed a break. It is a, it's, it's a long day. We're in there from like nine to five just listening to people talk.
- [04:05]
Taylor
Yeah.
- [04:05]
Lauren LaRosa
And listening to legal draw like they talk so legal. Cuz they're lawyers. So it's like you got decode stuff. But yeah. So the Prosecution. When I. When I last talked to you guys here on the podcast about this, I said that, I don't know, I wasn't really convinced that they had a case. But ye, yesterday, I mean, it took them a minute to get to where they were going. I told y' all, they left off at a good leaving point where they were showing Puff taking Cassie's things back into the court, back into the hotel room. And what I meant by that was, because I know you asked me after the podcast, what I meant by that was their job right now is to show that not only was, you know, people being paid and traveled for sex, but that people were being kept against their will, made to do things against their will, and made to do things because there were threats of, you know, black men and, you know, all these things, right? Yesterday, that's what they leaned into. So yesterday, Cassie was on the stand, and they talked to her a lot about the abuse. Like, when I say they spent so much time, and they have been. They spend so much time on the abuse, but they started to get into how the abuse went into her, basically being trapped, allegedly, and not being able to leave the situation. So they. They open it up talking about abuse. And one of the things that they ask her is, why didn't you ever just fight back? Or was there a time when you fought back, right? Physically fought back? And Cassie starts to talk about a time where she fought back, and she says that, you know, Puff was, like, astonished. Like, he was confused. He was shocked, but it made him more angry. And, of course, it just made things worse. So she learned, you know, pretty early that, like, you don't fight back. But she did try at some points, because I think people are making it out to be that, like, she wanted to be in this situation. And they were trying to establish that she didn't. Now, another point of the video that they really focused on that last day of testimony, when I did this, the last podcast episode before this one, please make sure you guys go listen to that. Was the phone. Because Diddy's team has been really leaning on. Yo, this is just a jealous, toxic relationship, and y' all are arguing about a phone. In that CNN video, the beating video from the hotel, Cassie's testimony yesterday was that Diddy's. That phone that was in Puffs hand was her phone. She took. He took her phone, allegedly, and her clothes back into the hotel room. So she couldn't go anywhere. She could. She could barely even call an Uber to leave. But she talks about finally getting out, and then Even after she got out, Diddy then came to her house and it was like a whole thing. And they also have her talking about this black eye that was in question, whether she got, whether she didn't get. But then they kind of fast forward now. What they really spent a lot of time on yesterday is establishing how the escort service or system that Cassie and Diddy had would work. And they actually showed text messages, which I'm sure the prosecution. I'm sorry, I'm sure the defense. Diddy's team is going to try and better explain today. They showed text messages of Diddy actually being more involved in getting people places. So he would. They would talk about different people that they wanted to, you know, do these sexual encounters with. And there were text messages, Diddy literally saying, like, oh, fly them in. You know, things like that. Which goes into the trafficking. Now, I had brought up the definition of trafficking. And I know when we talk about this on a Breakfast Club, I'm needed because a lot of people are confused about that as well, too. Now, the traffic, the. The. The definition of trafficking, it goes into the Men act is the transportation of individuals across state lines or intentionally for the purpose of prostitution or any other immoral purpose that I asked yesterday in court to clarify, because I was. I was talking about this on the Breakfast Club. The difference between an escort and a prostitute. A escort is not supposed to. There' not supposed to be an exchange of money for sex. A prostitute. There is. Prostitution is illegal. So you see what they're doing here. Like, they're. They're. They're putting the two together. Like, okay, y' all are getting these escorts, but they're paying, but they're having sex with you guys for money. Then they took time to, like, really verify, like, okay, Cassie, in what states did you guys have sex? So it would be the same. Like, she would name, like, five different escorts, and then she would name, like, five locations where they flew them to to have sex. Right. None of the escorts yet have said they've been kept beyond their will or anything like that. But just the act of doing that is illegal. And then they show text messages of Puff saying, yo, fly him out. So now they're providing exact, like, proof. That's been the thing. People have felt like the prosecutors don't have proof. And now they're like, oh, no, here's our proof. But. But another thing, too, that they leaned in yesterday, and I felt like this was what changed my mind about the prosecution. The way they're approaching this is the blackmail. So Cassie had talked about how Diddy would mention like blackmail videos when he was upset. So if she like dated somebody else, if she, you know, made him upset, he would threaten to release different freak off videos. Now she said that she had said that there were a couple of times where she actually tried to go and date other people. She talked about Kid Cudi and trying to date Kid Cudi. And then she alleged that Diddy told her that he was going to blow up Kids Cudi car. Kids Kid Cudi's car. And you remember that happened. They didn't link Diddy to that. You know, the police didn't. But Cassie is saying that it was Diddy that did that. There was a time where Cassie talked about she was just having a conversation with the manager. It wasn't even a flirtatious thing or a sexual thing somewhere. And Puff got upset and she was, you know, beat for that. And when she moved on with Alex Fine, she alleges that Diddy was texting her and they actually showed text messages. Matter of fact, in court, not even alleged, they show text messages from Puff texting Cassie about Alex Fine and saying, I want my money back. Because remember, he was paying Alex Fine as her trainer. He's like, yo, give me my money. I pay him. And you was having sex with him. Run me my money. But he's threatening her. He's like, yo, you know you got a lot of skeletons in the closet, right? Don't play with me like that. Like you out here dealing with this man that I hired. Don't play with me like that.
- [10:03]
Taylor
But doesn't that now contradict of him holding, holding her against her will because she is able to date other people.
- [10:14]
Lauren LaRosa
She is. But all you have to show is that there was some threats. Okay? Sex trafficking is a form of human trafficking. Involves compelling or coercing a person to engage in commercial sex acts, often through force, fraud or coercion. Force, fraud or coercion. It's like she's in this relationship where she's. She kept saying it was her job to do what she was doing in the freak offs, right? Which I think is going to come back to butter in her ass. But she's doing all of these things and people are like, well, why don't you just leave the relationship? Every time she missteps, it got to a point where he was threatening her. Oh, I got these videos. Oh, I linked these videos. And there was one point she said she was out in Atlantic City and she ran into somebody who said that DJ Wu kid had had talked about seeing a video of her allegedly. And it scared her because she was like, it has to be a freak off video. So her and Puff wasn't really speaking too much at this time. She called him, and Puff was like, yo, you need to have a conversation with him. Bring him back to New York with you. Puff sent his security to go with Cassie to sit down with Woo kid and this other gu and have a conversation about what did y' all see and where did y' all see it kind of like to scare them so that the videos wouldn't go anywhere. Like, that's like a. That. That literally, that was it, though, was it? What? That she never saw the video. Like, it never went anywhere after that. So she didn't know, but it just scared her, like, so bad. So here are some of the things that I think won't work to Cassie's favor. So, like, after yesterday, I do feel like, you know, Puff's team has it made out for them for real. For real. And I mean that in a way of, like, they got a lot that they got to fight it back against. And I'm not. Not. I'm not nervous for them because I've. That first day, my mind was blown by how well Diddy's legal team was able to jump in, find loopholes, lean into certain things. But here's what I think Cassie is going to be up against, right? There were a couple times where Cassie said things where it was like, it just didn't make any sense, even if you were a victim, whatever the case may be. So the first thing is she talked about the rape that allegedly happened in her home. So her and Puff had stopped dating. She was dating other people. She'd actually just started dating Alex Fine, who was her trainer at one point and is now her husband and her kid's father. And they, you know, she said that they would check in here and there, you know, just to check in on each other. They decided to go to dinner, you know, for some closure, and dinner was so great. Like, they had a great time. It was fun. So after that, he took her back to our house. He came in the house. She alleges that he then raped her in her living room on the floor. Right? So the rape happens, and then she. She sees him within the next couple weeks. After that, she chooses to voluntarily hang out with him. After that, prosecution instantly points out, well, why would you do that? And she's like, well, you can't help, you know, if you. You've been with somebody and loved them for over 10 years. You can't just erase that. In my mind, I'm like, I. I mean, I guess I hear her because you want to believe all victims, but, like, that makes no sense. If the rate was to the point where, like, now you found a lawsuit and you sitting here on the stand, why would you choose to go back with him the next week when it's fresh in your mind, your body, and your soul?
- [13:15]
Taylor
Yeah.
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Lauren LaRosa
You know what I'm saying? Like, I think that that's one thing that they're going to tear apart about. They're also going to tell her about part about admitting that she wanted money because she felt like she was old. It. Because of what she went through. And the timeline of what she talked about, where she received the money. And the money I'm talking about is Cassie had filed that civil lawsuit which kicked all of this off, alleging that Diddy, you know, was physically violent to her, mentally violent to her, alleging sexual assault. All these different. And she'd asked for $30 million. Yesterday in court, for the first time ever, we found out how much she settled for. She settled for $20 million. When he asked her, how does she come up with $30 million, she said, I don't know. I just, like, made it up. She literally said, I don't know. I just, like, made it up. I felt like that's what I was owed for the. For. For what I went through.
- [14:01]
Taylor
That's not enough.
- [14:03]
Lauren LaRosa
I. I mean, I don't know if you can put an amount of money on going through. I'm not going. You can't take away what Cassie went through of her yesterday, of her bruises and, you know, her face all swollen up, and you can't put money on what she went through, and no one can take that away from her. And I'm not saying this to say that she didn't deserve to be compensated or whatever she thought she deserved. She deserved it. What I'm saying is that when you get on a stand and you admit that you're like you were, you caught the cause and effect because of this. You asked for money. I think the defense is going to lean into that, because originally they were kind of trying to call it a shakedown. But. But to her point, a lot of the things she asked for the money for, we now know did happen to her. We saw it on video, you know what I'm saying? But in addition to that, she told a story about when she was originally trying to get. Because a lot of this came from, too. Before she filed that lawsuit, she was Trying to release a book. She wanted Puff to read the book, and, you know, she was gonna move forward with it after that and blah, blah, blah. But basically, they played the book. They played her like, bro, you don't got the balls to put this out. This ain't you. This ain't. You know what I mean? And she was like. It was given that. She was like, oh, okay, bet. I'm tired of y' all thinking that little old Cassie doesn't have a voice. Watch this. And then the lawsuit dropped. I think that they're there. If you're a good attorney, you can try and pull out motive of, like, no ill will. Like, you know what I mean? Like, yes, all of these things are true. And. And the prosecutor. I mean, the defender, the defendants, the defendant, the people defending Diddy haven't ran away from the fact that he was a messed up person. He was messed up. He put his hands on her. They can't run away from it. They have evidence of it. But I think that it's going to really come back to bite her in her behind when she came out and she decided to say, well, because of. Because you didn't take my book serious. Boom. Run me my money. And I don't know exactly how you plan today. I don't know laws around that, but I just know listening to it, I'm like, man, they gonna tell her. I. I'm, like, almost like, a little nervous for her, especially because she's so pregnant. And she broke down crying yesterday talking about, you know, she was suicidal. She said that this was in 2023. She was attempting to run into traffic at one point, and her husband stopped her. At this point, Cassie has been gone from Diddy. She's a mom. She's out living her life again. She still just couldn't shake the trauma of what she went through in the aftermath of dealing with Diddy. There's no way that this is not re. Traumatizing her.
- [16:23]
Taylor
Yeah, well, my child and my stomach be kicking every time we be talking about this.
- [16:28]
Lauren LaRosa
Really?
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Taylor
Yes.
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Lauren LaRosa
He don't like him.
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Taylor
No, he's uncomfortable with this. So I can only imagine. And she's do before me, like, I can only imagine what she, like, emotionally, what she's going through.
- [16:42]
Lauren LaRosa
Yeah. What girl? The way she broke down. She was strong the whole time, but the way she broke down. Even though I feel like I don't believe a lot of things after hearing her have a conversation yesterday, I still look at her as a victim. Like, for sure, for sure. A hundred percent.
- [17:00]
Taylor
I don't want to judge too much because I've never been in that position, so I don't. I don't fully understand the. Like, you've seen before with that one. Instead of going. Getting raped and then going back. Like, that doesn't. Doesn't make any sense to me. Or, like, other stuff. It doesn't make sense to us, like, wanting his approval. Like, I don't. I don't know what it feels like.
- [17:24]
Lauren LaRosa
Why?
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Taylor
Yeah, like, either.
- [17:26]
Lauren LaRosa
But I think. I think the biggest thing that I learned from this, and I guess this is what we take away from the episode is, is, like, you really can't judge a person in a situation. Because, you know what's crazy, what I thought about after all that, too, is she held Diddy down for a long time because we knew she was going through things and we had heard certain stuff. But when I tell you the extent of what she dealt with yesterday, when I saw them photos, I'm like, man, she kept quiet and smile. Some days she was literally. Her face was so swollen the next day, they would literally ice it all day and then just put makeup on her, and she'd be popping out at red carpet premieres with him smiling the next day. She held that down for years. That's why I paid her the money, I'm sure, because he knew. You know what I mean? He knew what he would. You know what I mean? What had happened, like, held it down for years.
- [18:11]
Taylor
Awesome.
- [18:12]
Lauren LaRosa
I mean, she held him down for years, man. Like, people can't come at her about a lot because she took a lot. She held on to a lot.
- [18:19]
Taylor
Also make note that you guys, listeners. Hello, riders, you guys, to know what Lauren's talking about. Like, she's in the courtroom. Some of the media outlets aren't putting out every single thing that's going on, so you have to read the. What transcript?
- [18:38]
Lauren LaRosa
Yeah. Inner City Press. They're. They're tweeting live from the court. But, yeah, we in the court. And when I recap, I don't really think about, like. I mean, I guess I'm thinking about headlines, but I really just be wanting to tell y' all what is going on and what I'm witnessing. And it be so much stuff. Like, I'm sitting here with my notes right now trying to prepare, and I'm like, lord, I shouldn't have fell asleep last night. But thank y' all for tuning in. This is the Latest with Lauren LaRosa. I'm your host, Lauren LaRosa. This is your daily dig on everything pop culture and the conversations that shake the room. At the end of the day, there's always a lot to talk about, and y' all could be anywhere doing it, but you right here with me. So I appreciate y' all. I promise y' all we're gonna balance out the news a bit more. I just feel like once we start to get. Once we start to talk a puff, it'd be hard to kind of pivot. It's so much stuff here. But thank you all for tuning in. I'll be back in my next episode. You're listening to an I Heart podcast.