Lauren LaRosa (18:52)
Now. Deontay Nash, stylist who was also styling Cassie Friend Of Cassie's, also formerly a friend stylist of Diddy also claimed this, too. Like, a lot of times he would get threats and things of that nature because of what was or wasn't happening in Cassie and Diddy's relationship and, you know, just trying to look out for her. As a friend, I regularly worried that displeasing him meant putting my family and friends safety at risk. I testified how, beyond the threat, Sean Combs frequently used violence to get his way. Over the nearly 11 years we were together, Sean Combs would hit me, punch me, stomp on my face, pull my hair, and throw my body to the ground and against the wall. The jury saw pictures of bruises on my back. They include the pictures in the sentencing package from Sean Combs kicking me and saw the deep gash. My eye, he calls. When he slammed me into a bed frame. The entire courtroom watched actual footage of Combs kicking and beating me as I tried to run away. And it was so hard watching that footage in the courtroom. Like, think of the imagery. We're watching that CNN video. And in that video, he's literally repeatedly kicking her. Like, she's just like. They're, like, helpless. You're watching her. Cassie. You're watching Cassie watch the video. And when I say she is so pregnant, I mean, she is, like, irritably pregnant. Like, she looks like she could pop any day. She's trying to get through it, holding back emotion. I'm like, there's no way. A jury doesn't. I don't care what he gets off on. Because I always felt like that Rico wasn't going to stick, even though I felt like they had some parts of it, but it was in theory. I don't feel like they had enough evidence. There was no way in my mind after seeing that image. And I'm just a person sitting in a courtroom. Y' all know I wasn't a jury juror, but after seeing that image of her, I'm like, there's no way that Diddy's team, who was great, they've been doing great at what they're doing, right? Defending him, can get that image out of a person's head. This woman is pregnant. She is here. It's obvious she does not want to be here. She's having to do this in front of her family, in front of the media, in front of all of these people. And then we're seeing bruised face and gash across the head and, you know, just swollen lips. Like, it was so much. I think for about three weeks, maybe two weeks. All we did was look at photos of her bruises from her domestic violence and hear her recount every instance of like almost. She talked about OD and at one point and just being thrown in the shower and you know, it was a lot, she says. The entire courtroom watched actual footage of Sean Combs kicking me, beating me as I tried to run away from the freak off in 2016. People watch this footage dozens of times, see my body thrown to the ground, my hands over my head, curled into a fetal position to shield me from my worst blows. The physical violence caused bruises that makeup artists paid for by Sean Combs will cover up, as well as permanent scars all over my body, she says. During my time with Combs, I was in a constant state of hyper vigilance as I was always anticipating demands for sex acts or otherwise fearing retribution for any perceived slight. My descent to substance abuse was directly correlated with his increased control over my body, my money, my freedom and my free will. I use those drugs to push me through the horrifying sex act. I spent the last seven years of my life slowly rebuilding myself, physically getting clean from the drug abuse Sean Combs force and encouraged and mentally understanding how to live with a seemingly huge amount of trauma. The horrors I endured drove me to have thoughts of suicide, ones that I almost followed through on if not for my family's intervention and urging that I seek professional care. I've been in rehab and I've taken dozens of types of therapy to comfort myself, compartmentalize and cope with the horrific memories of sexual and and emotional abuse I endured for nearly 10 years. While what he did to me is always present, I am slowly learning how to live my life free from fear and horrors I endured, and I'm doing so fully devoted to my husband and children. I still have nightmares and flashbacks on a regular, everyday basis and continue to require psychological care to cope with my past. My worries are that Sean Combs or his associates will come after me and my family, and that is my reality. I have in fact moved my family out of New York, out of the New York area, and am keeping as much of a private and quiet life as I possibly can because I am so scared that if he walks free, his first action will be swift retribution towards me and any others who spoke up about his abuse at trial. As much progress as I've made in recovering from his abuse, I remain very much afraid of what he is capable of doing in the malice he undoubtedly harbors towards me for having the bravery to tell the truth. His defense attorneys claim he is A changed man. And he wants to mentor abusers. I know firsthand what real mentorship means. And this discussed me. He is not being truthful. I know who he is or who he was to me, the manipulator, the aggressor, the abuser and the trafficker. And that is who he will be as a human. He has no interest in changing or becoming better. He will always be the same cruel, power hungry, manipulative man that he is. When I came out with my allegations in my civil case, he flatly denied them again and again. And he did. The statement at some point said that, you know, this was like an attack by the government. They were trying to railroad a black man with money. Did he really messed himself up with. I mean, you drag a woman and beat her on camera in a hallway of a very popular, ritzy, ritzy hotel, you are. You're out of here mentally. Like, there's no thinking, no logic, no. Like, this is stupid. I mean, it's stupid to put your hands on a woman like that anyway. But to do it in the way that he did. The lack of. I'm not bigger than the program. It screams it, right? But then when she came out with the civil lawsuit, the way that they responded, horrible once he came out, responded that way with the civil lawsuit, and then the video dropped. And then, you know, now he has to say, oh, I've changed, I've changed, whatever. And then we found out about Jane. Even if his team argues this is not a domestic violence case, the way that the narrative has been painted around Diddy, to me, is the biggest piece of evidence that the prosecutors could have ever been handed. And they didn't have to do anything but talk about some things and show a video. To be honest with you, Cassie getting on the stand, I think that, you know, it helped for sure. That's why she was a star witness. But seeing the video and seeing everything he did after, I think even before Cassie got on the stand, there was a very clear line of like, oh, you do what you want, huh? That is never going to farewell in court, not with everyday people and jurors. I don't care, you know, what type of person you are, what type of celebrity you are, but especially not with a judge. Especially not with a judge. And that's what makes me, you know, think. We've been having conversations about what we think the sentencing will be for Diddy in these upcoming days. And, you know, I've heard people say 10 years, more than 10 years. And I thought for a while I'm like, you know, maybe anywhere from like 2 to 4, and then he'll get the year. So he'll do about three. But with the prosecution asking for 11. And, you know, the judge repeatedly when it came to the bail conversation saying, I don't think that you're ready to be back in society. I think everything is just too soon right now. I, I think a judge is really going to feel like he needs to sit Diddy down to teach him. You're not bigger than any program here, so we'll have to see what happens. At the end of the day, there's always a lot to talk about, you guys. We are again less than five days away from the sentencing of Sean Diddy Combs, one of the biggest names in entertainment, hip hop, you know, marketing, lifestyle. You could have never have told me five to 10 years ago, you know, you could have never told me that this is where we would be in conversation around Diddy and his legacy. But we're here. I want to know, what do you guys think? How many years is Diddy going to be handed? On Friday, October 3rd, let's talk about it. Get in the comments, take it to the streets and tweets you for the tweets. Every other page I go, I'm Lauren LaRosa and at the end of the day, you guys could be anywhere with anybody having a conversation about all of this stuff, but y' all choose to be here with me every single episode. My low riders. I appreciate you guys and please go check out my Forbes article. Take it, read it, share it. All the things. I'll see you guys in my next episode.
