Lauren LaRosa (0:00)

This is an I heart podcast. I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and everybody exclusive. No, she don't lie about that. Right? Lauren came in hot. Hey, y' all, it's Lauren LaRosa. And this is the latest with Lauren LaRosa. Now, look, whenever we hear on the pod, y' all know I keep it really honest, really real with y' all, because this is where you get your daily dig on entertainment news, pop culture, exclusive news, but the conversations that shake the room. And if we're doing the behind the scenes of the grind, check in. Back on the grind, man, I'm trying to say a float right now. God is so good, and I'm managing everything. But y' all know I'm in court, which takes up majority of my day, and then I'm doing Breakfast Club, and then I got y' all to hear on the podcast, and yesterday I was really sitting in court. Like, if I'm being honest with myself, you, this case is over. Like, I. How am I feeling? I'm feeling like, do I need to be in court every day? This case is over. I'm still going to go. All right? You be telling me to be quiet when you leave. I start talking again. I'm still going to go. But if I'm being, you know, just transparent, I do think that the government has established their case to the point that they need to. So maybe it's the government should rest at this point, and Diddy's team should come in with their case, because I'm very confused about what that gives. So I want to have a conversation about that because that goes into how I'm feeling today. I'm torn in between the, like, you know, of course I'm gonna see it all the way through, but, like, I don't know. I just. I'm a little tuned out, and I know y' all probably are, too. It's been Diddy, Diddy did it. That's a crazy little Diddy. That could be a jingle. We should add that into the intro. Taylor. We should add that in. I know y' all are tired of it, though. And even if you are not tired of the updates, I think at this point, even the most common person who does not find follow law does not understand court breakdowns. It's starting to see the government really lay out their case. And it's strong, right? It's. It's not put you under the jail strong, in my opinion, but it is strong. So I'm trying to figure out why the government is even still bringing on witnesses. I think at this point, we're just kind of like beating a dead horse. So let's talk about that a bit. Let's get into it. All right, y' all, If I'm being honest, I really don't understand why we are still in court. I feel like I know Diddy's team still wants to present their side, you know, like their. Their witnesses and their arguments and response to certain things. And I actually would, honestly. So maybe it's not. I understand why we still in court, why the prosecution just doesn't rest right now. I think at this point, they can sit back, they can let Diddy's team come, try and debunk whatever they want to debunk, bring on whichever witnesses they want to bring on. But I really think that we've. We've established everything that we need to know and understand for the charges that they are alleging. I still stand by the fact that I don't think that he is going to be under the jail the way that they threw this out there when the indictment first came, but he's definitely not going home. And I was. That, for me, was wrapped up with a bow. Maybe second week of testimonies. Right. But yesterday in court, we heard the final testimony, cross testimony across interviews by Deontay Nash, who is very close friends, best friends with Cassie Ventura, but also her stylist. And he spoke to a couple different things as well, to setting her up with Michael B. Jordan. And, you know, I think the defense was really trying to poke holes in the fact of their friendship. Like, okay, so you've been friends with Cassie for all of these years and for all of this time, but for years, she didn't tell you about these. These, you know, alleged sexual encounters she was having. And she never said to you, like, basically, she didn't paint this full picture to you. So how credible are you even here as a witness, as her best friend? And how credible is what you saying to us about. Because Deontay's whole thing was Cassie had always said she didn't want to go to these hotels. She didn't like doing certain things. She basically was, like, on this, like, very high, high, very low, low ride with Diddy because she was in love with him, and she. Everything in her life was controlled and wrangled by him. The defense attorney that was. That worked for Diddy, that was trying to, you know, cross examine Deontay Nash, I don't think that they really had a. And this has been my thing with them the Last couple days, it's like, where's. What's your focus? Like, what is the point that you were trying to get conveyed to the jurors? Because I'm a normal person. I'm not a juror, but I am a normal person, like a juror. And I'm sitting there and I'm like, I don't understand what he's trying to get to. And the one thing that I feel like he finally came around to, which was Cassie didn't have any say, so she didn't have any power. She didn't have a mind of her own. And debunking that, they did a horrible job at it because every time they would bring up, okay, so Cassie was able to make her own decisions. And, you know, Deontay would be like, I mean, yeah, but at the same time, like, I've also seen Diddy allegedly be very violent with her. I understand at this point, like, he. Deontay presented as the friend who you fear for your friend. You know, how bad things get for your friend and needs in. In their situation. But it's like, what am I going to do besides just be there with you? Go through. Go through the motions of what you're going through. You know, there were certain times where he was telling c. Like, there were certain times where even Cassie was texting him. Like, he's mad that I stood up for myself talking about Diddy allegedly, right? And Deontay was like, on the stand. Deontay was like, they were reading a text, and it was about Cassie saying how there was one time when they flew into Mexico and Diddy allegedly was so pissed off because she, like, posted something online or whatever it was. She was standing up for herself in a certain situation. And. And as they're reading the text message, Cassie's like, you know, it's my turn to be a. Like, I. You know, he's mad when he doesn't get his way, and I'm tired of it and I deserve these vacations because of what I went through. Deontay said, yes, Cassie on the stand, like, he's one of those friends that. It's like, I know what's happening. What am I supposed to do? Later on in testimony, after him with the woman who testified as Mia, we also learned, and Deontay talked a bit about this, about, like, the things that Deonta experienced at the hands of Diddy and Cassie's relationship with being, you know, berated verbally. Mia testified and corroborated, you know, Deontay getting into a Physical altercation with Diddy, trying to basically save Cassie from being physically beat by Diddy in her home while packing for a trip. Mia alleged Deontay came. I don't even think it was that he came prepared. I think it was more so of a, this is my story, this is my truth, and I'm sticking with it. And there's nothing you're going to do to like rattle me because this was a real thing for us. There were. They even brought up text messages with Deontay where Deontay had text Diddy and said things like, you know, text him on his birthday, text him when Kim Porter passed away. And there was a conversation back and forth between Deontay and Diddy when he texts them following Kim Porter's, you know, death, just checking in on him. And Diddy was asking him like, why you didn't tell me about the trainer? He was like, the trainer. The trainer and my soldier boy voice. And Deontay in the text said, look, dang, got nothing to do with me. Don't do that. That has nothing to do with me whatsoever. And then he was telling him, like, you know, if she ever needs anything, let me know. So he was like that middle person. And to be honest with you, I think anybody, any human being sitting in that courtroom yesterday, listening to Deontay and seeing how the defense was trying to angle him as this person who wasn't credible because Cassie didn't tell all her deep, darkest secrets to him for some time or because there, there were like small things that he. That I. I think they brought up text message, like the conversations with Diddy, like basically trying to establish that him and Diddy had their own relationship and things of that nature. None of that mattered because what Deontay made it very clear was when I would reach out to him, we had our own relationship outside of that. And Even with Cassie's 29th birthday, Diddy plant her a surprise dinner in LA. And Cassie testified that this surprise dinner actually turned into her being friends forced allegedly to go and do a freak off that she did not want to do. She want to just do dinner and then go do karaoke with her friends because it was her birthday. Deontay came in and corroborated that, talking about, you know, hearing Diddy and Cassie in a corner. And he alleges that Diddy was saying, like, you know, you can't do this one thing for me. He also alleges that, you know, he had heard Diddy say that, you know, that night they were going to. It was so funny. He was like. When he said it, he was like, your girl gonna get some dick tonight. And the whole court was like. But he. He. Deontay, as a friend, number one, he was a great witness. He was very entertaining. But as a friend, he assumed that role that I think a lot of people have had to assume at some point in their life where it's like, there's nothing you can do to control grown people, especially two grown people in love or in chaos or whatever that was. And the defense couldn't. There was nothing they could do with it. They. And I think that they would have actually been better leaving him and not asking Deontay certain questions than trying so hard to get to a point that they were failing miserably to get to with him. But then we move into Mia. Mia is a personal assistant, a former personal assistant of Diddy's. She also was the person who launched Revolt Films for him, and she was the director of development for Revolt Films. And Mia is not her real name. She's testifying under pseudonym. And I just actually made a phone call to ask why, and I was told that it's just because it's what she wanted and what she requested. The other witnesses up until this point have not requested it. But her testifying under a pseudonym meant that, like, when I tell y' all, they. The courthouse was like, if David saw you sketching something while she was on the stand, they assumed that you were drawing her face and it would come over and monitor you and monitor everything that you were doing. Like, they were so serious about making sure that her identity and know her infam, like, certain things just didn't get out. But they put me on the stand after Deontay, and they then began to break down, like, how she even got my notebook, how she even began to work for Diddy. So she says that, you know, she was a former employee of his. She began working with him, like, very early, very young in her career. She had had a couple other jobs prior to him. She had worked for Georgina Chapman. She was doing, like, red carpet, like, celebrity dressing. She had worked for Mike Myers, the comedian, as a personal assistant. But she says working for Diddy between 2009 and 2017 was probably one of the most she. She. It. She described it as they had very high highs and very low lows. She said that, you know, she was a. A personal assistant prior to it, Mike Myers. But they had a set schedule. Things were, you know, 10 to 6. She might have to watch his dog on the weekends. And then she got with Diddy as a personal assistant, and things were allegedly completely different. Like, she talked about one time not even being able to sleep for like five days when she first started because she was nervous that she would get a phone call and miss something and she would lose the job. One of the things that I think the prosecution did really well with Mia was even though a lot of this stuff that she was talking about we've heard her talk about multiple times, they were able to really paint a more closer picture on things that I think a lot of people are brushing over and not understanding why we're even talking about. Right. Like, so they've talked to other personal assistants and previous employee employees about just being overworked and being, you know, allegedly forced to do things work wise that they didn't want to do, but they were scared to lose their job or their money or, you know, be. Be blackballed, allegedly. So she talked about, from the jump, her very first interview with Diddy. She alleges that there was a woman who was the head of hr and she had been, you know, in conversations prior to. But her first in person interview, this woman took her to Diddy's home to do the interview. That, to me, was already off. I'm like, why are you interviewing somebody's house if this is your first interview with them? But I'm like, hey, I've never been a personal assistant, so maybe that's the thing. But she says that she went to Diddy's apartment and Diddy answered the door, allegedly in his underwear. And then the woman who was the head of all of HR for him at the time introduced them and then left. And I'm like, had an HR introducing you to the person that you about to work for who answered the door on the phone in his underwear. It's very weird, but I already knew. I'm like, okay. They're about to set the scene that people were very complicit. People were. They were okay with the environment that was happening. So the environment got worse from day one, and that's exactly what happened. She says that they went through with the interview. Eventually, Diddy did put on some clothes, and then she got into the job. She says her first week she worked insanely, had to switch areas, guys, sorry. But yeah, so that's exactly what happened. So then, as Mia is talking about, you know, all of the, you know, crazy work experiences, right? Like, they asked her to describe the work environment. She said that it was chaotic, it was toxic. She alleged that, you know, it was exciting at times, but because of the really high highs and the really low, low lows, like, it was just like. Oh, like, you know, like, she went through so much. She alleged that she had things thrown at her, that she was thrown against the wall. She alleged that she was thrown into a pool. She alleged that there was an ice bucket thrown at her head. She alleged that her arm was shutting the door. And then she also alleged that she was sexually assaulted multiple times. I will say, too, this testimony, I think what went into the emotion, feeling of, like, okay, this is very emotional, was the fact that normally with the rest of the witnesses, even with Cassie, like, she's looking up, even if she's not looking at Diddy or the, you know, whoever's on the scene, even if they're not looking at Diddy or the other attorneys, they're looking at at least the attorney that's talking to them. With Mia, with this witness, she literally, when I say she didn't say, she didn't look up at all. She did this the whole time as she was talking. She would look up here and there and look. She was looking at the floor the entire time. She had a very shrunken. Shrunken, timid personality. And then she went into tears when she talked about the sexual assaults. But, yes, I mean, they were establishing the fact that she worked a lot. She said that in the beginning of things, you know, she was supposed to be paid. When she. When she began at Revolt Films, or Begin Revolt Films with Diddy, she was supposed to be paid a certain amount of money. It was like $70,000 at first, and then it escalated to $100,000. And then she was supposed to make bonuses off of, like, the projects that they did, but she said she never ended up getting any of the bonuses. So that's all of them establishing, like, you know, the. The work environment thing and the forced labor and bring it in the force in that situation. Because in listening to that, I promise y' all, when I was listening to the stuff that she was saying about the labor, things like, as far as, like, she would, you know, be in a studio all night, she was put on this trial period to see if it would be last because the job is so, like, tough, so vigorous. She alleged that she would, at one point, she didn't even sleep for days at a time because she didn't want to lose her job. She didn't know if she was going to be called, and she would be asleep, so she would miss the call when she was saying all these things. I'm like, that reminds me of working in entertainment and fashion. Like, that's how my career started. Granted, I didn't experience sexual assault and those things, and I'm not excusing that, but I'm talking about just the, you know, the hours that she worked, the fear of like, oh, my God, if I don't get this exactly right, my whole career is over. And I'm sitting there, I'm like, man, a lot of this, you know, Diddy made certain decisions that have landed him to where we are today. But we also should be having a conversation about just the culture in general and, like, where things were, where they are now, and where they should never get back to. And I feel like we have had those conversations and things have changed. But I do think that there should be more onus on what was acceptable during certain times as well too. And it made me start thinking of, like, how will a jury think about that? Right? Because the jury is mixed. Different races, men, women, different age groups. So there are younger people on the jury who will be like, oh my God, working, you know, over 40 hours a week is insane. But there are people of a certain age group where it's like, if you understood what entertainment was and what that lifestyle is like, a 40 hour work week is not even like 9, 5. It's like unheard of. Like, I've never, any job I've ever had, I've never. So. And I'm saying all this to say because it's not about me, but I'm saying all this to say as a jury is breaking this down. There are many, so, so many outside factors that you have to think about. I'm really interested to see how they determine and what things actually. And I know after the jury, like, comes to their, you know, answers and sentencing is done, normally what happens is you get a couple jurors that do a couple interviews following. And when that happens, one of the main questions that I would love to hear an answer on is when you have factors like that, like, okay, these are the norms. These are then at that time, even if they led to all of this horrible behavior, this is what was accepted. But these are the facts of how things were horrible. How much weighs on. These are the facts of what was horribly done to this person versus what wasn't environment and culture that allowed it to happen. Because basically what Mia talked a lot about was people being very complicit heads of hr, you know, overlooking things when people would speak up. She alleged that there was a girl named Kayla and. And this Girl named Kayla. Mia said, look, there was one time where Deontay Nash, who was Cassie's best friend and stylist, Mia and Cassie, because she said she got really close with Cassie because she eventually became the person that would have to go and, like, make sure Cassie was okay when, you know, when things would happen. She alleged that, like, when, you know, Cassie would be beat up and put up in these hotels, she wanted to go stay with Cassie, make sure Cassie was okay. They became really, really close. But there was a girl named Kayla who, when Deontay, Diddy and Mia and Cassie all got into a physical altercation, allegedly Diddy came one. This was like a Sunday. I remember Cassie testifying about this. She said it was like a Sunday. They went out, like, day party and West Hollywood type vibes, and then they went back to Cassie's home. And she alleges that she was there packing. And while she was there packing, she fell asleep. And she alleges that Diddy was really upset when that she fell asleep, and that this was something that happened all the time. Like whenever she would fall asleep, not be answering her phones. She alleged that Diddy would show up. He'll be upset, or he was in security or like, you know, that type of thing. So Mia alleges Diddy shows up. When Diddy shows up, he's pissed off. He. She alleges that then they get into a physical altercation because he's allegedly beating the hell out of Cassie to the point where he threw Cassie across the room. Her head hit her bed. And Mia alleges her head split open and did. He then instantly snapped into, like, protector mode, like, yo, call Kayla. Have Kayla call the doctor, say that Cassie was drunk, you know, fell on her bed, and that she needs to see him asap. So she alleges that all these things happen, right? Then she alleges that that same Kayla person, right? So now Kayla is aware of what's going on. She knows what's happening. She's calling the doctors. She alleges Mia alleges that Kayla then went to HR and was like, yo, this is what's happening. It's not okay. Diddy allegedly put his hands on Cassie. Y' all need to do something. Mia says that there was a whole executive level phone call of, like, people in hr, people in leadership, all of these people who got on the phone and had a conversation about what she knew, what she didn't know. And after that, Kayla was gone, and they were having a conversation with Mia about how to deal with Kayla. Now that she had alleged these things. And I'm like, that's insane. Because at the same instance, Mia also alleged that there was an incident with Kayla and her that Diddy said to her, like, yo, look, because we let her go. She's a legend, like, that Diddy came to her and said, look, because we let Kayla go, because Kayla saw what she saw. If she files a lawsuit, you're gonna have to testify. And if you have to testify, here's what you should say. And Diddy told her to. Allegedly. Diddy told her to bring up the incident that happened between the two where Kayla got a little bit drunk at work, she got aggressive, she put her hands on Mia. It was a whole thing. Allegedly. Allegedly, Right? And then the prosecution acts like, well, was Kayla fired when she put her hands on you? And Mia was like, no, she wasn't fired. She just. We. We were made to, like, go isolate together and figure it out. But the minute that she complained about Cassie and Diddy and the alleged physical abuse that was happening, right, she gets fired. So Mia was building this whole, you know, conversation and filling in more color to the narrative of, like, when you were in this thing, this big thing that they. That they're alleging is happening with Diddy, right? There is no I'm getting out. There is no I'm just walking away. There is no I'm going to just go tell HR or I'm going to call the police, because they. At least there's no real consequences. Even when she talked about. They asked about runnings with the police, when she talked about the three times she was sexually assaulted, she says that she'd never made a sexual advance on Diddy. She alleges that, you know, she. There have been many times where she worked with Diddy in close, intimate settings, like in his apartments, in hotel rooms while he's in the bathroom, things of that nature. And nothing had ever happened. So she said she was really confused when the, you know, these instances went down. The first time, she alleges she was staying at his house because she was staying at his homes a lot because her job was so demanding. Her job was his life. So she says that she was at one of his homes, and while at one of his homes, she was asleep on a bunk bed, and he came into the bed, allegedly, and, like, forced himself on her, and there was intercourse. The second time, she alleges she was in a closet packing for him, and he came into the closet and forced her to give him head. The third time, she alleges they were on A jet. And there's like a back area where he would stay. Where Diddy would stay on the jet, like when he was going to sleep. And there's a bathroom, but it's like kind of in that back area. And she says that she was going to the bathroom and he forced himself in the bathroom, allegedly. And she said she couldn't remember the details of what happened after he forced himself into the bathroom. And she said that there are many other times when she couldn't remember everything. And then they asked her like, well, why didn't you just call the cops? Why didn't you tell somebody? Why didn't you leave all the questions that you think as these things are being alleged? And she's like. And then they ask her, you know, she's like, why would I call. Like, you don't call the police. And they're like, well, what was your run ins with Sean Combs and the police? And she said one time she was late to work, she was speeding, so the police pulled her over. And she was mad that Diddy was going to be so pissed off at her for being late, she was going to get in a lot of trouble. So she alleges that she told the cop, like, yo, this is gonna sound crazy, but Sean Combs is my boss. I'm rushing because I can't be late. The cop didn't believe her, so she called Diddy. She says when she called Diddy, put Diddy on the phone. She likes the cop fanned out so bad and she was let go with no ticket on nothing. And then she talked about another time where they allegedly got pulled over. She said it was her, Diddy in the car and in the truck. So the other people in the car too, there's. She said they were either like so speeding, allegedly, or like driving on the sideline. There was something they weren't supposed to be doing in the car. Traffic wise, they get pulled over. When they get pulled over, the cops come up to the car and she says they ran down aggressively. She alleged the cops are really aggressive, but the minute they saw Diddy in the car, all of that just changed. So she's like, you know, you get in this system of things where it's like, who are you going to tell? She honestly said, and this was the first person that I heard talk about this. Well, not first, because I. Cassie also said that she was close with Drock and his wife, but Mia said that her and Drock got really close. That Drock was like a brother to her because he was the only person she could go to about the things that she was witnessing and experiencing when it came to Diddy. And yeah, they just. They. The prosecution yesterday. The government yesterday did. Did a job of establishing. Here's what the re. Establishing, because they've done it. And that's why I'm like, do we need the prosecution, the government, to go anymore? They've done so much Dr. Drilling, drilling, drilling, drilling. I think we got it. We get it. I am interested. At first, I was saying, like, do we even need to finish court? But honestly, I am interested in seeing the defense present their case, like, bring whatever witnesses and things of that nature. Because right now I feel like that that has to be strong in order for that. That whole. Of that whole reasonable doubt thing to open back up. Because right now, it's like all the pieces to the puzzle are there, honestly. But I am interested to see that. And yesterday in court, Diddy's team made it clear to the judge that even though the. The government may rest their case sooner than they planned, Diddy's team is not doing that. Diddy's team is not gonna, you know, rest sooner. They're gonna, you know, go all the way until the end date because they want as much time as they can to present their case as they should. I mean, the man is fighting for his life, literally, so. As they should. But I think that's gonna be the only thing that turn. Turning it around. Like when you got a person on the stand saying, yo, we weren't. Cassie wasn't even allowed to go outside and enjoy herself. Sometimes without his. Not even. Sometimes allegedly without his permission at all. She talked about her and Cassie having to sneak, allegedly, to this prince party like they were in high school. And when they got there, Diddy popped up at the party, not looking for them, but he just happened to come through the party, came through the party, saw them. She alleged he chased them out of the party. She ran and hit in the bush. Mia she alleges Diddy got the. Cassie. Had Cassie on the ground, was about to go in on her, right about to beat her up, and then she alleged that princess security came and stopped it. The Diddy scene has some work cut out for them, but I'm interested to see it. Like, I'm very interested to see what the fight back is, because I feel like in the beginning of this, they were doing so good at making you think, oh, wait, maybe it wasn't the way that it's been presented. Now I don't feel like that. That everything has changed. So going back in court today. I won't be back in court today, but because I have other work obligations. But court goes back up again today. They're going to end. This is now week three. They're going to end week three today. They're going to finish out. They're going to do cross examination of the personal assistant who goes by the name Mia. Yeah. So we'll see what happens at this point. Y' all. Y' all didn't heard how I felt. I want to hear how you guys feel. Talk back. Get online at me. I'm Lauren LaRosa everywhere. I wanna. I wanna hear from y' all. Every episode, I tell y' all because I really, really mean it. At the end of the day, you guys could be anywhere with anybody talking about these things, but y' all choose to be here with me, all one million plus of y' all. And I appreciate that so much. So thank you, guys. This has been the Latest with Lauren LaRosa. I'll see you guys in my next episode. This is an I Heart podcast.