← The Latest with Loren LoRosa
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A
This is an I heart podcast.
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B
Short on time, but big on true crime. On a recent episode of the podcast Hunting for Answers, I highlighted the story of 19 year old Lachey Dungey. But she never knocked on that door. She never made it inside. And that text message would be the last time anyone would ever hear from her. Listen to Hunting for Answers from the Black Effect podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
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C
Let's start with a quick puzzle. The answer is Ken Jennings appearance on the puzzler with A.J. jacobs. The question is what is the most entertaining listening experience in podcast land Jeopardy truthers believe in?
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I guess they would be conspiracy theorists.
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C
That's right.
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They give you the answers and you still blew it.
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C
The puzzler. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
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E
It may look different, but native culture is alive. My name is Nicole Garcia and on Burn Sage Burn Bridges we aim to explore that culture.
- [01:16]
A
Somewhere along the way it turned into this full fledged award winning comic shop.
- [01:20]
E
That's Dr. Lee Francis IV who opened the first native comic book shop. Explore his story along with many other native stories on the show Burn Sage, Burn Bridges. Listen to Burn Sage Burn bridges on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
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D
The Internet is something we make, not just something that happens to us.
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I'm Bridget Todd, host of the tech and culture podcast. There are no girls on the Internet. In our new season, I'm talking to people like Anil Dash, an OG entrepreneur and writer who refuses to be cynical about the Internet.
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D
I love tech. You know, I've been a nerd my whole life, but it does have to be for something. Like it's not just for its own.
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F
It's an inspiring story that focuses on people as the core building blocks of the Internet. Listen to There are no girls on the Internet on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
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I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and everybody. You know, if you don't lie about that, right?
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Lauren came in hot.
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Hey, y', all, what's up? It's Lauren the Rosa. And this is another episode of the Latest with Lauren LaRosa. This is your daily dig on all things pop culture, entertainment news and all of the conversations that shake the room. Now we're going to get right on into the latest. We won't do behind the scenes of the grind. Check in today. I mean, I guess we should because we did just get a feature in Forbes back on the grind. So we going to check it behind the scenes of the grind. Real, real, real, real, real quick. If you guys did not catch any of my social media postings, I'm Lauren LaRosa everywhere, especially on Instagram, I post from Forbes that you guys should go check out shout out to Jasmine Brawley, who was the journalist that interviewed me for Forbes. And we talked about radio and you know, the conversation that a lot of people like to have, especially with me because, you know, I'm new to radio, but radio has done so much for me over this last like year, two years with the Breakfast Club about radio and is it a dying industry or not? So we did the interview there and we talked a lot about, you know, just what my process is and you know, how, you know, from the Breakfast Club to the latest with Laure, the rose of the podcast and the partnership with Black Effect Podcast Network, how we figure out, like what content fits where. And honestly, just how radio has helped me amplify all of the things that I'm doing. So please, if you have not already, go and check that out. Just Google. Lauren LaRosa, Forbes it's also, you know, I posted some of the quotes on my Instagram. I'll have the link on my bio by the time this goes live. Go check it out. It's also my Twitter and my Facebook too. It's everywhere if you haven't seen it. So I'm feeling good about that. But, you know, with notoriety comes more responsibility. I feel like every time there's an article published about me, what I do, how I report, you know, how I like to fact check as much as I can and, you know, get some clarity and get to the bottom of things. More responsibility it is to do that. And I know I always say no one can be perfect, but I am striving for it because with every article comes more eyes. So here we are, the Latest with Lauren LaRosa. Let's get right on into the topics. So up first in the latest Diddy we've been, you know, preparing. We are literally than five days away from October 3, 2025, which is the day that Sean Diddy Combs will be sentenced here in New York City. Now, here's the thing about this sentencing. Diddy's team has been asking for a very long time for charges to be acquitted for what they're basically saying is that either Diddy should be allowed to go home and walk free of all charges. There's two counts of the prostitution or the traveling in with the intent to engage in prostitution. So either all of the charges should be dropped or one of the charges or some of the things or did, he should be given a new trial. So as far as bond, and we've reported it here several times, the judge has not ever sided with the fact that he believes that Diddy is not a danger to the community enough makes the best decisions and it's just a law abiding citizen enough to even be trusted to be let out on bond. Now that's pretty telling. And I've said here too that the way that the judge rules on this acquittal can tell you a lot about what Diddy might be looking at when it comes to what his sentence may be. As of right now, for the two counts of the men act, which Diddy was found guilty on, transporting male prostitutes across state lines, Diddy is looking at up to 20 years behind bars. 10 years per charge, right? 20 years total. Diddy has been asking this. The judge has yet to decide it. The last time we were in court, which was only a few days ago, we still have not heard anything back. And I and I reached out trying to get a better understanding from, from people close to the court who would know when are we going to hear from judge, like, what does it mean that this acquittal conversation has not fully been answered and we're what, like two, maybe three days away from the sentencing? Three nights, four nights in a wake up. And from what I was told, it doesn't mean anything, the acquittal conversation and whether the judge rules to do that, not do it, allow a retrial or not allow retrial, that could come after the sentencing. So that's not even something that they're holding out the hope for. Now what they're focused on is trying to get a sentence that leans in Diddy's favor. But prosecutors say they want him to do 11 years and some months and also pay a $500,000 fine, $250,000 per count. And boy, is Diddy up against a lot. Because the main thing that is cited here in the documents filed by the government is what the judge kind of, not even kind of. I was in the courtroom when the judge specifically pointed to the fact that leading up to Diddy's arrest, like, I mean, the week leading into the day that the feds picked Diddy up off of the street, Diddy was still engaged in a lot of the acts that led a jury to find him guilty of the two men. Acts that he's facing right now. And a lot of the acts that led a judge to believe he shouldn't be out on bail, if even just awaiting trial. When I talk about these acts, I'm talking about from what the judge has said, they deemed Diddy dangerous. Not just because of the Cassie video and seeing him stump her out in that video, but in this document. The sentencing document that the government has submitted is over 160 pages. Try to read as much as I could before I came in here. So we will be doing an update. I owe you guys, like, a thorough breakdown of all of this before we go into sentencing because I want you guys to be as in the know as you can so that our sentencing conversation is a lot easier. But everything that I read points to Diddy making decisions, knowing that he was under federal investigation. The prosecutors are heavily pointing to that. And that only makes sense strategy wise. That's smart for them because they already know the judge believes that. And if you're leaning on that and the judge already believes that, you can almost assume the judge is going to rule in the favor of where he's been having conversation at up until this point, which is you can't operate as a, as a man in the community making good decisions. We gave you that chance. You were awaiting to come here for trial. And these are all the things that happened they specifically point out. After the Cassie beating video broke via CNN, back in May of 2024, Diddy got online. He posted some statements, and in the statements in the video, he said this.
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It's so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life. Sometimes you got to do that. I was up. I mean, I hit rock bottom, but I made no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I'm disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I'm disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help. I had to go into therapy, going to rehab, had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I'm so sorry, but I'm committed to be a better man each and every day. I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm truly sorry.
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Now they call this ironic because they're like, you said you were a better man, that you had talked to God and you'd been doing the work, only to find out some months later, you get into it with Jane. And I will say in court, Jane said on the stand herself that she did physically put her hands on Diddy first. But the prosecutors point back to you know, him getting into it physically with Jane, which led to him putting his hands on her. Not the same way as Cassie, but, you know, it's the same instances, domestic violence either way. But this was different. And Diddy's team points out this was different because he was hit first in this circumstance. But prosecutors point out he busted down five doors trying to get to her throughout this, you know, what they call an attack, Right? How is he upstanding citizen? How can we trust that he will come home and do all the things he needs to do and really understand that you're not bigger than the program because he was waiting to come and see you, judge, and he couldn't even understand that Diddy has really gotten himself into some trouble. And I think a lot of people keep having conversations about what does and does not pertain to these charges. In the cases that the prosecutors are submitting in the same sentencing conversation to show that there are people who have been placed behind bars for 10 plus years for these same charges. What they're leaning on is that it's not just simply prostitution on his face. It's the use of power, the use of previously applied force that scares these victims, as the prosecution alleges they are, scares them into having to do whatever is placed before them. And because of this, we cannot trust that this man talking about Diddy will not come home and feel himself again and feel his power. How do we know that? It's been only but so much time now. In addition to all of this, there are a ton of letters that have been submitted with these filings from people involved in the case, people who've testified in the case. It's like the opposite of a character statement. So these statements are speaking to why people would be scared as hell if Diddy is able to come home in any short amount of time. So you have Deontay Nash, who is a stylist, best friend of Diddy's, who was styling Cassie, who submitted a letter. He also recently filed a lawsuit against Diddy and alleged sexual claims and, you know, various things. You also have Cassie, who submitted a letter, which, again, she was their star witness while on the stand. And majority of the decision making from the judge has been based around Cassie and the incident that occurred there and what Diddy applying fear looks like in this situation and Cassie's example of that. But she says she's still having nightmares about Diddy and urges that they lock him up and throw away the key. So she says, dear Judge Sobranian, I have been in a cycle of thought and then over thought writing this letter to you. If there's one thing I have learned from this experience, it is that victims and survivors will never be safe. Although I can hope for justice and accountability, I've come to not trusting anything. I hope that your decision considers the truth at hand that the jury failed to see. For four days in May, while nine months pregnant with my son, I testified in front of a packed courtroom in the most traumatic, horrifying chapter of my life. I testified that from age 19, Sean Combs used violence, threats, substances and control over my career to trap me in over a decade of abuse. He groomed me into performing repeated sex acts with hired male sex workers during multi day freak offs which occurred nearly every week. I was forced into lingerie and heels, told exactly how to look, implied with drugs and alcohol so he could control me like a puppet. These events were degrading and disgusting, leaving me with infections, illnesses and days of physical and emotional exhaustion before he demanded it all again. Sex acts became my full time job, used as the only way to stay in his good graces. I testified that I learned to read Sean Comb signals knowing that when he spoke of freak offs, he was demanding them and that refusing meant punishment. Losing my car, my phone, or worse. He controlled every part of my livelihood and threatened to destroy my reputation by leaking sex tapes, a threat he repeated often. His power over me eroded my independence. His power, she says, over me eroded my independence. And that is what the prosecution is hoping that a judge takes from all of these letters, but specifically this letter. His power over me eroded my independence and sense of self until I felt I had no choice but to submit. When he was believed I had wronged him or was not sufficiently responsive. He also threatened people around me and those close to me, including my family. 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 over my eye he caused 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 the 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. Is obvious she does not want to be here. She's having to do this in front of her fans, 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 ODing 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 watched this footage dozens of times, seeing 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 into substance abuse was directly correlated with his increased control over my body, my money, my freedom and my free will. I used those drugs to push me through the horrifying sex acts. I spent the last seven years of my life slowly rebuilding myself, physically getting clean from the drug abuse Sean Combs forced 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 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 or 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 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 disgusts 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'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, or 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 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 sentence dispensing 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 before the tweets.
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Every other page are gold.
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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.
- [21:17]
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Short on time, but big on true crime. On a recent episode of the podcast Hunting for Answers, I highlighted the story of 19 year old Lachey Dungey. But she never knocked on that door. She never made it inside. And that text message would be the last time anyone would ever hear from her. Listen to Hunting for Answers from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [21:48]
C
Let's start with a quick puzzle. The answer is Ken Jennings appearance on the puzzler with A.J. jacobs. The question is what is the most entertaining listening experience in podcast land Jeopardy truthers believe in?
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D
I guess they would be conspiracy theorists. That's right, they gave you the answers and you still blew it.
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C
The Puzzler listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [22:20]
E
It may look different, but native culture is alive. My name is Nicole Garcia and on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges we aim to explore that culture.
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A
Somewhere along the way it turned into this full fledged award winning comic shop.
- [22:33]
E
That's Dr. Lee Francis IV who opened the first native comic book shop. Explore his story along with many other native stories on the show Burn Sage, Burn Bridge. Listen to Burn Sage, Burn bridges on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [22:49]
D
The Internet is something we make, not just something that happens to us.
- [22:52]
F
I'm Bridget Todd, host of the Tech and Culture podcast. There are no Girls on the Internet. In our new season, I'm talking to people like Anil Dash, an OG entrepreneur and writer who refuses to be cynical about the Internet.
- [23:03]
D
I love tech. You know, I've been a nerd my whole life. But it does have to be for something. Like, it's not just For Its Own Sake Week.
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F
It's an inspiring story that focuses on people as the core building blocks of the Internet. Listen to There are no girls on the Internet, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [23:19]
A
This is an iHeart podcast.