← The Latest with Loren LoRosa
The Latest with Loren LoRosa
Changeup in the juror’s box has the defense a bit pressed (or is this ammunition in appeals?)
00:24:15
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- [00:00]
Lauren LaRosa
This is an I heart podcast. I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and everybody exclusive.
- [00:11]
Charlamagne Tha God
You know she don't lie about that, right?
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Sonny Hostin
Lauren came in hot.
- [00:15]
Lauren LaRosa
Hey, guys, it's Lauren LaRosa. And this is the latest with Lauren LaRosa. This is your daily dig on all things pop culture, entertainment news, and the conversations that shake the room. Now we do the behind the scenes of the grind. Check in. And I just left a private, very intimate listening party for the new clips Push a TM Malice album. Let God sort them out. The album is coming on July 11, 2025. So of this year, and I gotta say of this year, because I know, you know, the clips fans have been waiting for a while for the album, but it is coming. It is a thing. And, man, when I tell y' all, it is fire. I'm like, I left there so inspired. They had this private listening event at Rock at the Roc Nation offices here in New York, and they invited. They invited me and Me and Brandon. One of y' all know Brandon. Brandon used to be on the podcast sometimes, but me and Brandon went. And, like, when I tell y' all, I am so inspired. I feel like this last three weeks, two to three weeks, Charlamagne has been yelling at me so much, just about, like, the quality of my work and making sure I stay up with things and, you know, just, like, digging deeper and just not slipping, to be honest with you. Like, there's a lot happening at once, a lot coming at me at once, and things are moving, things are going great. But, you know, it's good to have, like, people on you, like, even envy. He's always, like, checking in, like, are you good? Sending me things and suggesting things, and they're really just. It's very much mentor ish vibes, even though it's like, unk big bro. And tonight when I went to the clips listening event, I was like, I get it. Like, the longevity of their career. And not even just the longevity of their career, but just the way that they are about their talent back on the grinding. It is so inspiring. So if I'm checking in right now, I'm feeling inspired. I'm feeling, you know, intentional. I'm gonna do a full breakdown on the Breakfast Club of the event. It wasn't even, like, an event. It was. It was really like, a private, like, listening. Like, there were people. Other people there, of course, but it wasn't like, a full big major event. They're going to do an official release party, but this was just like, A private listening prior to. So I'll be doing a full breakdown on a Breakfast Club of, like, what we experienced and, you know, the amazing things that we heard and what I can reveal, we will talk about. But, you know, if I'm doing a check in right now, me recording this podcast after leaving that event. Inspired and intentional are the words. Okay? Leave it at that. No. Your girl. Love to take y' all to court. Love to take y' all to court. But getting on into the latest, you know, there is always a lot going on in court with Diddy, you know, the trial of Sean Combs. Can y' all believe that? We have been reporting on this for six weeks now. We are two weeks away, just about two weeks away from finding out the fate of one of the biggest entertainers in the world, one of the biggest hip hop names in the world, one of the biggest, you know, music producers in the world. I would have never. I think about this every day when I'm in court and I see Diddy sitting in court. I would have never in a million years. Growing up as someone who was, you know, inspired by the lifestyle that he presented and the inspiration he presented and the, you know, the hustle and the, you know, just the career and the Persona of. Of. Of Sean Combs and what that was and what that was to the culture, I would have never thought that I would be where I am today, reporting on him being incarcerated and looking at, like, literally fighting for his life at this point in court. I never thought that. I thought about that today. Like, man, like, this is wild. And I am, like, you know, I'm not family. I don't know him personally, and I feel like that I can't imagine how he feels. I can't imagine how his kids feel because they're in the courtroom every day as well. It's just insane. But, yes, we are, you know, about two weeks away from, you know, finding out the fate of Sean Combs. And people ask me all the time, like, even when I was out at the Clips event today, you know, I had, you know, a few people come up to me and just, you know, talk to me about the reporting and just being in the court, because a lot of people, you know, especially people I'm meeting, they either know him personally because they've been in the industry as DJs or hosts or, you know, whatever they do for a long time, or they've either interacted with him because of business or, you know, they are fans of him as well or, you know, were fans of the movement. And people are just so invested because he's been such a narrator of our lives and of our culture for so long. And so many people were coming up to me and asking me, you know, what I thought was going to happen and, you know, what. What they can look out for. And you know, how, like, what's. Most people want to know just what the feeling is in court, whether you're in the overflow room, whether you're in the main courtroom. People want to know, like, yo, what is it like? Like what? Like, what is that? Like, what. What is it like seeing, like, you know, all. All of the things. And today I realized I'm like, man, this trial is going to be talked about for decades to come because of things like that. Like, people just being so invested because Diddy, Sean Combs, Puff Daddy, whatever you know him as, was literally one of the most integral parts of hip hop, of music, of entertainment, of motivation, of inspiration, of lifestyle, of marketing in the last, like, 20 years. Yo, like, it's crazy. It is so crazy to see. But, you know, I keep it honest. When people ask me, I keep it honest. And what I've been saying for a while is that, you know, I think it's one to watch. You know, I have my own opinions about what I think will happen. And we'll talk more about that as the prosecution, the government, closes their arguments, which is set to happen by Friday of this week. They've already started, you know, gathering and doing the things that they're doing with their summary witnesses this week. And, you know, today was an interesting day in court because they played freak off videos for the jury, which I'm not even gonna lie to y' all when I say the government has been moving smart. They've been moving. It's like they've been like. It's like they're silent killers, to be honest with y' all. Like, I think, you know.
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Sonny Hostin
The way.
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Lauren LaRosa
That this was approached in the beginning with, you know, the. The SWAT season of home and doing the searches by land and by sea and all those things. It felt so right there in your face. And then when you get in court, you realize, well, maybe it's not right there in your face, but the government is showing you these things were there. These, you know, these. These elements were there, even if it was subtle, right? But by them showing these freak off tapes at the end, because I already told you, I felt like Jane Doe as their last, like, major, most recent girlfriend witness, I'm like, homegirl is all over the place, right? I Didn't say she doesn't speak to certain things that the government is trying to prove. But I just feel like the credibility of her, it wasn't the best taste to end off on, in my opinion. Like, if I'm just giving my opinion. Right. But then they follow up with playing these freak off tapes. And when they played them in court, it had already been decided from the first, first day, first week of official court that anything that was that, you know, sexual and content and, you know, demeaning to any parties involved or just anything like that, because, you know, they. They want to make sure these women can't be blackmailed or things don't circulate or things don't leak. And, you know, it's just a very, it's very sensitive content. They, they had already said we were not going to play them in the courtroom, like out loud. And they were like, we're going to make sure that everyone has on headphones who's able to listen to them. So the jury was able to listen to them. Not even a gallery of attorneys or anything like that. And from what I was told, you know, the jurors themselves, I mean, they have to watch it. It's a part of their job at this point. But, you know, there's been reports of some jurors giggling. There's been reports of some jurors, you know, being really into it. I was told by a friend that was in the main courtroom today that the attorneys, you know, the defense attorney Sean Com's attorneys, Diddy's attorneys, were annoyed. Like, they were so mad that those videos were being played at this point point in the case. They were visibly making facial expressions and, you know, just things of that nature. And I mean, I get it on their side, I get why they're annoyed because you got to think about it. You hear all these things about women saying, I didn't want to do it, allegedly, I was made to do it, allegedly, money caused me to do it, allegedly, you know, the fear of what he might do to me caused me to do it, allegedly. Right. And then. And if you. But you haven't seen it, you've just heard about it and you've seen, seen the alleged bruises from the violence and you've seen text messages about the alleged blackmailing and all of these things. And then one of the cherries on top is that you see video of what the physical act was. Because I don't think for a lot of us that, like, I think for me it's different. Right? Like being in the Courtroom is very different because I've experienced so much entertainment culture wise before coming into the courtroom. A lot of the, you know, the people I'm, I'm meeting and the journalists I'm meeting, this is their first time interacting with, you know, a lot of the people that are being mentioned and brought on the stand. For me, it's a bit different because living in LA and working in entertainment and being a person that's like out and about, I never seen nothing crazy. But I've been to, you know, the parties I've experienced and been around certain things and seen certain things. So I don't. And again, I don't know people personally, but to have seen that and have seen it multiple different times and, you know, over the eight years that I was in la and then to not know the gravity of it, like, even if you heard rumors about certain things, I'm sitting in court every day like, I cannot believe that this is real. So to hear all of these stories, right? And then all of the allegations that surround the stories, and you're building your thought process and your, you know, all of these things around that, and then within the final few days that the government is speaking to you, they show you what literally the visual of. Okay, now you, you've heard all of what the, you know, the force allegedly and the here's why. Right? But here's the what. Here's exactly what was made to, to go down and you see it. I'm like, oh, baby ate that. Touche. Well played, well played. Now, also in court, we had talked a lot about juror number six and whether that dismissal was going to happen or not. I've talked about it on the Breakfast Club. I mentioned it briefly here, but, you know, a little background. Juror 6 had, you know, some issues. The judge really didn't like the fact that juror number six had mentioned that he lived one place and then mentioned that he lived another. And, you know, there's like a whole jurisdiction thing of like, you know, living in New York because it's a Southern District of New York, you know, case and just different things. Right. But more importantly, because the judge didn't even mention the jurisdiction thing, the judge, more so was focused a lot on this juror, said one thing and then said another. We want to know if this juror is inconsistent, not telling the truth and not able to take direction because that matters. The judge today decided to dismiss that juror. Now, that juror was really important to Diddy and team because again, like I mentioned on the Breakfast Club. This is a black juror who is from, you know, allegedly from the Bronx, grew up on 90s hip hop. Diddy's team is alleging. It's not really diverse up in here, y' all. Like, we need this juror. Right. The judge pointed out today, though, he said, listen, you know, some of Diddy's attorneys themselves have. Have commended how diverse this jury is, so we not about to do that. But, no, that juror is not staying on. I listened to Sonny from the View just give some remarks on juror number six being dismissed. And I've seen Sonny in court a couple times. A lot, actually. I've seen her in court a lot, and I thought her take was interesting. Let's take a listen.
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Charlamagne Tha God
The game changer that just happened is that they replaced one of the jurors with an alternate because he had a shady address history. Is that what it is? Explain what that happened. This is a federal case, and you really. And it's in the Southern District of New York, so you have to live in New York. This guy was. He said he lived in the Bronx, and the prosecution found out and the government found out, and I think the defense also found out he was actually living in New Jersey. So this is. That's disqualifying.
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Lauren LaRosa
Sure.
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Charlamagne Tha God
And so could that be a mistrial, too, or. No, it's not a mistrial basis, I don't think. But the defense certainly tried to keep him. He was a black guy from the Bronx. I've been watching him. He is not buying what the prosecution. Oh, really? And so the defense really wanted to keep him.
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Lauren LaRosa
Right.
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Charlamagne Tha God
He was. He was a fan of 90s hip hop. You know, who is, who isn't. If that's the reason to get thrown off a jury, I will never serve.
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Lauren LaRosa
Exactly. Same.
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Charlamagne Tha God
But it's. It's. It's a significant loss, I think, to the. The defense in terms of the diversity of the jury. There's still eight men and four juror, four women. But now he was replaced by an older white man in his late 50s who is an architect from Westchester.
- [15:08]
Lauren LaRosa
Now, the reason why I thought this was interesting, because I'm like, you know, at the end of the day, there are other black jurors. It might not be full of black jurors, but there are other black jurors. But I thought that it was interesting because in court, Diddy himself physically waved his hand when the judge said, are you willing to waive your right to appeal if this jury is kept right. I think at this point, Diddy's team is fighting for every inch and straw that they have to make sure that this goes down the way it needs to go down. They are trying for mistrials every minute they get. They want every juror that might at any point, have any sympathy or empathy for Diddy at all. So her take was very interesting because I didn't look at juror number six being dismissed as such a deal breaker, to be honest with you guys. I feel like what will really make or break this case will be the way that Diddy's team presents their defense. Because I do think the government has done a really good job at presenting their case, if even on a smaller level. When I say a smaller level, I mean, even if it's not him spending the rest of his life behind bars, they've shown elements of the crimes that they are alleging. And I don't think that it's a race thing. I get where they're coming from, of course, and I understand that a black juror from the Bronx who listens to 90s hip hop Diddy's going to have a lot more influence over that juror. Right? But I think bigger picture here, whether white, black, 90s hip hop or not, if they're looking at the facts the way that they should be, I think that should be the focus. But I get it, though, because I think it. I would hate to be a juror on this case as well, because. Or any case, how do you just stay focused on the facts? If you are a person who grew up on Sean Combs in. In the height of. Of his heyday in New York and those things, like, it is very hard not to let personal bias or personal implications come into this. I've also been feeling like that from the beginning as well. It's like, how do you stay on social media? How do you not talk to anybody about this? How do you not let personal things come into this? I don't know the answer to that, but we will see. But from the feeling that I've been gathering just from being in the courtroom and watching the jurors and those, you know, opening days that they did all the jury selection, I'm like, some of these people on this jury don't even know who Sean Combs is. Is for real. For real. Like, they know him a bit. They might know him, you know what I mean? Like, in passing or maybe heard the name. But there were several people who weren't even truly familiar in a way, that was influential, right? Like his celebrity is not influential on them. So you got to worry about winning over those, because it's not like the majority of the jury is black. And I get it. You want to keep what you can get. Take what you can get is a model of the game when you fighting for your life. I totally understand, but I just think that Diddy's team has so much bigger things worry about when it comes to this jury and making sure that they are thinking the way that they need them to think. Now, Judge Mathis spoke to tmz. He actually said something pretty interesting because at first, you know, I. And I mentioned to you guys that Diddy had said that he was down to appeal his ability to. I'm sorry, his. He was down to wave his ability to appeal any decision that was made in court. If this juror was dismissed. Now, the juror. I mean, was not dismissed. Now the juror was dismissed. So, you know, that whole conversation goes out the window. So Judge Mathis said this about what he thinks an appeal could look like.
- [18:54]
Sonny Hostin
I think that certainly there could have been another residence that he was staying with his girlfriend. So he's going back and forth. That's frequent. And so in that sense, he could still be living within the jurisdiction of the jury pool. But additionally, I think the fact that they did not give a full hearing to the defense, to be able to bring in affidavits, to be able to bring in utility bills, things of that nature, that would prove that he's a resident of the Bronze, I think that's what should have occurred before removing him. And in fact, I think they should make a motion now to revisit it.
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Lauren LaRosa
You think that this is a good grounds for appeal?
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Sonny Hostin
Yes, I think it would be because you haven't allowed a proper opportunity to prove residency.
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Lauren LaRosa
And on the other juror getting this.
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Sonny Hostin
Text message, let's be real. Those folks on the jury, they tell someone, their loved one, whomever that they're on the jury, and then the word gets out.
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Lauren LaRosa
And I'm not gonna lie to y' all. I was literally telling someone today at the clips, the private listening that we went to, I said, because someone asked me, like, do you think Diddy is just gonna walk free? I was like, to be honest with you, I do not. I am not an attorney. But just from what I've been watching and listening to, based on the elements of the crime that the government has to prove, I do not think he is going to walk free. However, if he does, it'll be on technicalities or appeals of things that are very like, you wouldn't even think about Them something like this, like what Judge Mathis is saying, right? Because if you can prove all of that in a post conversation at like, hey, based on. Based on the facts. Because everything in court, and that's what people don't think about. It's like everything in court is based on fact, right? So based on fact. If I can prove that my residence is where I told you I was in the beginning and I was dismissed for no reason. And Diddy's team is able to make the point that they feel like the jury was a bit less diverse and more prejudice because of that dismissal. He got something there. I really think that's going to be hard for him to do that, though, because his lawyers have come out of their own mouth and talked about how diverse the jury was and how grateful they were for that. But if he can do it, he got. And I'm. Hey, at. You're fighting for your life. You're. You're doing whatever. By any means necessary. By any means necessary. Now, I like to stay very optimistic until the very end of things, and I've been trying to do that within this case, but. And maybe also too, one of the things I was thinking about today as well is like, as the government wraps their case, one of the things we got to think about is we've really only heard from the government. Even though Diddy's team has got up and cross examined and all of that, we haven't seen them lay out their case. When I tell y' all they gotta lay out their case, their. Their. The show they gotta put on gotta be better than Beyonce on the run in Renaissance. I'm trying to tell y' all it is lights, camera, action for them because the y' all, listen, let me know how y' all are feeling. I want to know if you guys agree with Sunny, right? Like, I want to take it to the streets, take it to the tweets, right? Every other page I go, if you guys agree with Sunny, that juror number six, this black juror being dismissed is a huge loss for Diddy's team, but also a game changer because of the fact that he can do the appeal. Let me know if you feel like it's incremental. It's nothing to focus on. Let me know, tweet me, Instagram, all of the things I want to know. Because as we go throughout this next. Literally this week, because Diddy's team wrote a letter and said they are going to request a mistrial if that happens. So we're going to see that happen. I don't believe that he'll be granted a mistrial whatsoever. I do think that he'll be able to be heard on appeal because of this matter. Just again, because of, like, the. Because of checks and balances, right? Because of the logistics, because of the way things go. I think he can be heard on appeal because of this, but I don't see a mistrial happening because of this. But you know, they gonna go for it. So let me know what y' all think. Y' all agree with Judge Mathis? Is this worth Diddy's team appealing and winning an appeal on something as small as this? Y' all gotta remember people like a lot of not comparing the two completely separate, but Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby came home on the technicality, not because he was proved not guilty. He came home because somebody didn't cross their T and dot their I. Lauren LaRosa. And at the end of the day, there is a lot to talk about. And y' all know I want to hear from y' all. Today's episode is definitely one of the ones where I want y' all to chime on in, tweet me @lauren larosa Instagram, you know, y' all be posting your Insta stories. Lowriders. I really appreciate it at Lauren LaRosa as well. @ the end of the day, there's always a lot to talk about. Y' all could be anywhere but anybody talking about it, but y' all choose to be right here with me. And I appreciate appreciate y' all for. I will see you guys in my next episode. This is an I heart podcast.