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Lauren LaRosa
You're listening to an iHeart podcast. Let's get to it. Time to do it. I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and everybody exclusive. You know, if you don't lie about that, right? Lauren came in hot. Hey, guys, it's Lauren LaRosa. And this is the latest with Lauren LaRosa. Now, y' all know I'm the homegirl that knows a bit about everything and everybody. And the Latest with Lauren LaRosa is always your, you know, your daily dig on all things pop culture and the conversations that are shaking the room. We don't even have time to check in or nothing like that today, y' all, because Diddy, court opening statements. There is so much going on, witness testimony, and I am right there on the pulse of it all. Bring you latest. So I want to get into the updates. Let's get on into it. All right, y' all, now we need to talk. Okay? Because let me tell you something. Let me tell you something right here. If what eyewitness today in court is the way that the rest of this trial is going to go for Puff, he not going to see that maximum jail time they talking about. His lawyers don't play with them at all. This was the first day of opening statements and the first time we heard any witness testimony. Right. I honestly, for one, didn't think we were going to get to any witness testimonies because I thought the opening statements were going to be so long. The prosecutors, they came out swinging. I'm not even going to hold you. So court started around, like, 9:35am I was in the overflow room for the first half, and then I actually made it into the real courtroom. Diddy was dressed in all gray with a white button up. He actually did get his hair cut a little bit. His facial hair was trimmed up a little bit. So the prosecutors opened this thing up with their opening statements. And in their opening statements and the prosecutors, for those of you guys who do not know, are the people that think Diddy belongs in jail, the government. Opening statements actually begin with, he's a cultural icon. He. He's diddy. He's larger than life. But there was another side of him that was the opening line of the prosecutor's statement. So from there, you already know where they going with. It started with Cassie, but they didn't start with the video. Prosecutors talked about a night where Cassie, you know, basically had found out that Puff was dealing with another woman. And she was like, you know, I'm out of here. And she Went to go be with another man. That man Alex Fan, who is her now husband, who I actually saw in court today. So I thought at one point Cassie was going to testify today, but it didn't happen. But they talk about how Diddy, when he found out this, got his gun, went and got, you know, a couple people that work with him and went to go find Cassie. Like, he was on like this rage. Allegedly. Like the prosecutors was like, if y' all think, y' all know, we about to tell y' all something new right here, right now. Prosecutors used their opening statement time to introduce a lot of new information. The defendants, Diddy side didn't do that. So prosecutors let us know, number one, that there is a woman named Mia, right? And this woman named Mia is a woman who used to work for Puff. She was one of his personal assistants. And the prosecutors say that Mia will testify in alleging that she was sexually assaulted by Diddy and that she basically, all of these years was scared to come out because of the power and influence of Puff. There was an escort that got on the stand as a witness during this testimony. This escort talked about being made to pee in Cassie's mouth. But this witness says that it was Cassie who asked him to do that now. And that Cassie CNN video. Now, this was tea. And this is why I'm saying Puff's attorneys ain't nothing to be fooled with. Okay? Because let me tell y' all. So the CNN video from 2016, this video I think people keep bringing into question. And for me, I knew that even though they were saying, like they. They were trying to figure out how they were going to use it in the beginning of all this. Right? We had that conversation. I knew that they were going to have to be very strategic about how they use it this day is the prosecutors, because he's not being charged with domestic violence. So the prosecutors brought that in by bringing a witness. The witness was a man who was a security guard at the Intercontinental. The security guard, when he's being questioned by the prosecutors, they established like, oh, he was a former LAPD officer, or he's a LAPD officer now, he was a former head of security. And they're doing all of this because, you know, when you're head of security working at a high level place like the Intercontinental, there are certain things that you gotta abide by very strictly. Now that you're LAPD officer, you take an oath to protect and serve. They're trying to establish his integrity. Now, this security guard from the Intercontinental, right? He is. Well, he was he was like an assistant director or something like that. Like, so he was like leadership. He wasn't the boss, but he was leadership. Right. So he still reported to somebody, but he was leadership. Right. So this man, they do a lot of questioning. He goes down recounting what he remembers from the video. He alleges when he's talking to prosecutors that when he was called upstairs, he hadn't viewed the video first. So he didn't know that they were actually physically fighting. But when he got up there, Cassie had had a purple eye. He says that he had told them that they had to go back in the room just because he didn't see it himself. Cassie was saying that she wanted to leave and Puff was saying that she couldn't leave, allegedly. And he was like, no, she's going to leave if she wants to leave. Right. He also alleged that when he walked them back to their room that they were staying in, that he saw another man in the room sitting on the bed. Now that's important because remember, Cassie is alleging that that video was her trying to get away from one of the freak offs. The defense is alleging, no, there was no freak off happening. Y' all got into it over a father. And this was a toxic response from both sides that we saw on that video. So the man is like, okay, she, Cassie's trying to get out of there. She wants to go. I'm trying to help her get out of there. Boom. That's how he's talking to prosecutors, baby. Brian still got up there talking on Puff's behalf. First thing he said was, he said, okay, so you're alleging that, you know, you were, you were, you were second to the head of security at the time, right? You worked for a company named Securitas. He's like, yeah, so he's. So Brian still was like, okay, well, would you say that your incident reports are basically like Bible, like y' all live by that you put everything there. It has to be honest, it has to be clear. It has to be very information. In the beginning of his testimony, he said they stick to the W's, the who, what, when, where, why? To give all the information. Because these incident reports can be used if someone tries to sue the hotel, if they need to take further action against someone sitting in a hotel and to just let you know what I mean, like let the rest of the team know what's going on. Right? So he's like, yeah, yep, 100%. What you're saying is correct, Mr. Steele. This is, this is the witness. So Brian Steele was like, okay, well, I got a few questions for you. Then you alleged that Cassie had a purple eye. Why wasn't that in your incident report? You alleged that you were trying to, you know what I mean, help her leave because Puff. Because Puff didn't want her to leave. Why wasn't that in your incident report? There were so many different things that they caught him up on. Y' all like it. I was sitting there like, oh, and then, right. He had alleged when the prosecutors that Cassie was trying to leave. When Brian Steele came on the stand, Brian Steele was like, oh, but wait. Because you had said that Puff was telling you that he wanted her to leave. So what are we going by here now? I'm not gonna lie. Prosecutors did their big one. They came back. They didn't really say too much in response to that. Instead, they replayed the video again of Diddy dragging Cassie back to the room. Basically, like, ain't no way you wanted her to leave and you dragging her back to the room. Right? And they. Mic dropped after that. But the way Brian still caught this man up on a cross examination. Now, let me just say too, the prosecutors themselves, they. They. They put all their stuff out in the front. So the. The man from the hotel, he. There was the original video, and then he recorded the video to then show to his wife. And they asked him like, well, why would you record the video to then show to your wife? And he was like, because basically after the events that I saw, I knew that if I just said it was, nobody would believe me. So he knows, like, he said he didn't know who Cassie was, but he knew who Puff was, right? So he knows that this is like a big deal because of who's involved. So Brian still is then making the point that like, yo, so you're sitting here telling me that you remember all these details, you remember a purple eye that you're testifying to, you know all these things on the stand from nine years ago. But in your incident report at the time of the event, which you knew was a big deal because you had people talking to you about your. He said his employees were coming into work asking to see the video. So you had people at your job talking to you about it. You recorded it to make sure you could show your wife because you didn't think she was going to believe you, but you didn't detail everything in your incident report that you're now on this stand claiming. I said, oh, that witness is done. He's no longer looking valid no more. And this is the same man that. You know what I mean, was saying, hey, Puff offered me all this money, allegedly, to get rid of the video. And that's what he said to prosecutors. Brian still got on the stand and said, wait, you told us that from the minute you stepped off the elevator when all this was happening, you kept reminding Diddy he's going to have to pay for all of this, everything that they messed up. So then you tell me that the minute you step in his room, he offers you money, and you instantly assume that it was to cover up a video because from what. From what I'm hearing, he offered you money because you told him that he had to pay for a bunch of stuff. Yo, they was. I'm trying to tell y' all right now, Diddy's legal team is not coming to play. The prosecutors, their. Their witness testimony has to get stronger because today, even with the male escort, it was like they had a good setup, and it was doing so well. And then Diddy's attorneys would come in, and then, boom. Now they looking a little all over the place or fanned out, to be honest with you. Like the male esports said at one point, he didn't even care if he wasn't being paid at certain points because he was just so excited to be a part of Diddy and Cassie's lifestyle. He didn't know who Cassie was, but she was gorgeous. He didn't find out until later, but of course he knew who Diddy was, even though he says his first couple times meeting Diddy, Diddy, Diddy would cover his face, allegedly, with a bandana and wear a baseball cap. But he was like. He knew when he heard his voice, who he was, but had never saw his face until Puff got comfortable, allegedly. Right. But that whole thing with the urination blew up the prosecutor's case because the prosecutors led their opening statement like, yo, Cassie's going to get. Understand herself and tell y' all this, man took it as far as to make another man pee in her mouth. And you get an escort on the. The. The. The escort on the. The stand. Who says no? Cassie asked me to do that. Allegedly. We gonna pick back up tomorrow with the escort. They. They ran out of time today in court with the escort. But, man, listen, they like, look, cuff is everything. The prosecutors. I mean, the defense is like, look, hear everything. Y' all think he, you know, abused drugs at one point. He was. He don't know how to control his anger. He was. He was an abuser of women domestically, but he did not. He's not a sex trafficker. He ain't an arsonist. Everything that he's in court for today, nah, we not standing on that. I now understand why Puff did not take that plea deal. Not even gonna lie. It's gonna take some major commitment. And I'm not saying this to say that I know he's guilty or not. I'm telling y' all, the sparring that I watched in court today, that man's legal team is gonna be. If it go. If the rest of court goes anything like today, that man's legal team will be the reason why he does not serve that full sentence. They did not come to play. Did not. Thank y' all so much for tuning in with me. I hope you guys feel like y' all were right there in the courtroom with me. Okay? And I'm taking y' all there every day this week. I'm gonna be bringing y' all details, and I want y' all to ask me questions. Let me know what you want me to answer for you by attending these court dates. And I tell y' all every single episode. Y' all could be anywhere talking to anybody about these things. Cuz at the end of the day, there's always a lot to talk about. But y' all be right here with me. Y' all know I appreciate y' all. It's Lauren LaRosa. This is the latest with Lauren LaRosa. I will catch you guys in our next episode. You're listening to an iHeart podcast.