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- [00:02]
Narrator
Seriously popular. The following episode explores a number of allegations regarding the artist Diddy. He denies all charges and has pled not guilty to sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
- [00:14]
Kayla Brantley
Welcome to the trial of Diddy. I'm Kayla Brantley.
- [00:17]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
And I'm Hermania Rodriguez Poleo.
- [00:19]
Kayla Brantley
We'll be back in a second.
- [00:26]
Narrator
Foreign.
- [00:30]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment.
- [00:51]
Kayla Brantley
Of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent.
- [00:53]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
To $15 per month required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available.
- [00:57]
Kayla Brantley
Taxes and seeful terms@mintmobile.com the biggest secret.
- [01:01]
Narrator
In the entertainment industry that really wasn't a secret at all.
- [01:06]
Dan Bates
At the height of his career, Sean Diddy Combs had it all.
- [01:10]
Kayla Brantley
Everything Diddy touched turned to gold.
- [01:12]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Now he faces multiple federal charges in New York including sex trafficking and allegedly running a criminal enterprise. Another woman has now come forward alleging.
- [01:23]
Narrator
Combs of sexual assault.
- [01:24]
Kayla Brantley
Music mogul and rapper Sean Diddy Combs.
- [01:26]
Narrator
She claims she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Combs.
- [01:30]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Oh, this guy is dangerous.
- [01:32]
Kayla Brantley
From freak offs to the mysterious list, the shocking case that has gripped the world is finally here and we'll be bringing you every detail as it happens.
- [01:42]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Welcome to the trial of Diddy.
- [01:49]
Kayla Brantley
So, Hermania, we are back with week two of the trial and there is so much to get through. The trial is moving so quickly and we've had so much several witnesses take the stand over the last few days and even some celebrity witnesses. It's currently 1:07pm on Thursday in New York and rapper Kid Cudi is currently on the stand testifying about his brief relationship with Cassie. We will bring you more of that later on.
- [02:12]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
That's right, Kayla. The jury has been getting a lot of information this week. Earlier this week, they were taken through the hall of personal belongings recovered from Diddy's mansion in Miami when it was raided by the cops last year. So today we're going to talk to our reporter who was in the courtroom when those guns, bullets, Drugs, lingerie and 7 inch high heels were shown to the jury.
- [02:33]
Kayla Brantley
We'll be hearing from a stripper named the Punisher who said he was paid up to $2,000 to have sex with Cassie for Diddy's entertainment.
- [02:41]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Yeah, and We've also got the testimony of one of Diddy's personal assistants who helped clean up hotel rooms after the freak offs, but he quit after seeing him allegedly beat up his girlfriend. Welcome to the trial of Diddy, a Marvel supervillain.
- [03:03]
Kayla Brantley
Like I said, Hermionia, this trial is moving quickly, and every day it feels like it comes with bombshell after bombshell. So there is a lot to cover. But currently, Scott Mascudi, he's known as Kid Cudi. If you know his songs, he's a rapper. He began his testimony on Thursday. He's the rapper and producer that Cassie dated at the end of 2011 when she and Diddy were on a break.
- [03:24]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Yeah, Kayla, it was quite a moment. Kid Cudi turned up to court today looking like James Dean. He was wearing jeans, a white T shirt, and a leather jacket. He was also smoking a cigarette as he entered the courthouse. He said he met Cassie in 2008 and they became close a couple of years later after Diddy asked him to do a song with her. He confirmed they started dating in 2011 when she was on a break from seeing Diddy. He told a jury about an incident on December 22, 2011, when Cassie asked him to pick her up because she said Diddy had found out about them. He said they went to a hotel, but not long after, he took a call from Capricorn Clark, who was one of Diddy's employees that he and Cassie were friends with. He said Capricorn was upset because Diddy had forced her to go with him to his house and she alleged that he had broken in. He said he immediately got into his car to return to his property. On the way, he said he called Diddy and told him he was a motherfucker for breaking in into his property. He said Diddy was calm and told him he just wanted to talk, but he decided to call the police. He said his security cameras had been moved and his dog locked in his bathroom. Christmas gifts he'd bought for his family had also been opened.
- [04:34]
Kayla Brantley
He said that afterwards, he ignored Diddy's texts and told him he didn't want to talk. But a few weeks later came the infamous Porsche firebomb. His Porsche was completely bombed and blown up with a Molotov cocktail. This is the first incident that was included in Cassie's civil claim back in November 2023, but it is the first time it's been confirmed. And the jury were shown pictures of the damaged convertible. They saw that the roof was completely slashed, opened, and there was black burn marks on the red leather of the driver's seat and the driver's door. And then there was a bottle of. Some kind of inflammatory liquid and a cloth were found on the ground beside the vehicle. There was also laughter in court when he was asked what his reaction to the incident was, and he replied simply, what the fuck?
- [05:19]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Yeah. The rapper then said that he reached out to Diddy and told him that they needed to talk. He said they arranged to meet at Soho House in Hollywood the next day.
- [05:28]
Narrator
Sean Combs was standing there staring out the window with his hands behind his back like a Marvel super villain.
- [05:35]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
He said it was just himself and Diddy at the meeting. There were no bodyguards or any other staff. He said they discussed the, quote, whole story of how he and Cassie started to date. He said he told him Cassie had said they'd broken up and he took her word for it. He said Diddy was very calm throughout, which was weird and very off putting. Eventually, he said Cassie came into the room and that made him upset because he realized that she had gone back to him. At the end of the meeting, he said they shook hands and he asked him what he was going to do about his car.
- [06:05]
Narrator
I asked him when our hands were clasped together. He looked back at me with a cold stare and said, I don't know what you're talking about.
- [06:12]
Kayla Brantley
Then came cross examination from Diddy's lawyer, Brian Steele. That's when Muscudi admitted that he had left the door to his home unlocked when the alleged break in occurred in December 2011. He said that Cassie had actually told him that Diddy physically abused her, but he never saw any of it for himself. Kid Cudi said that he actually really did love Cassie and that he believed that she had played him because she had still been with Diddy while they were dating. And as I explained at the top of the episode, we will be talking to Dan Bates. He is our incredible reporter who's inside the courtroom doing all of the hard work, reporting back in real time exactly what's going on. We wanted to talk to him because this week the jury was shown loads of exhibits by the prosecution. These are items that were recovered from Diddy's home in Miami when they smashed down the gates and executed a search warrant last year. So, Dan Bates, you are outside of the Manhattan courthouse right now. I know it's a very rainy day.
- [07:06]
Narrator
Yeah.
- [07:07]
Kayla Brantley
So we appreciate you hopping on. So can you talk us through, through some of the most interesting or even shocking things that police found when they raided Diddy's Miami mansion. These things were then shown to the jury.
- [07:20]
Narrator
Yeah, that's right. So we heard from Gerard Gannon, who was a special agent with Homeland Security, and he talked us through the raid on Diddy's Miami mansion in March last year. And just to give you a bit of kind of context, you know, this mansion is on Star island, which is a celebrity enclave. Jennifer Lopez has a house there. Gloria Estefan has a house there. Shaquille o' Neal used to live there. You know, Diddy's house is worth $40 million. He actually owns the adjoining property, which is worth a similar amount of money. You know, this is a very, very, very exclusive celebrity enclave just near south beach in Miami. And what Agent Gannon told us was that in March last year, they conducted the raid in the afternoon. They knew that Diddy's family and he were going to be away from the home. They normally do raids about early in the morning, about 6am but they knew he was going to be out. And that's when they raided the house. And the way they did it was quite controversial in court. They actually got a sort of SWAT style armored vehicle, busted down the gates, and then entered the property. And the jury was shown a photograph of both of the gates. And you can see the right hand side one was mangled. It had been out of shape, and it was basically broken by this armored vehicle. Didi's lawyers sort of tried to kind of, you know, make a big deal out of this, saying, well, this was overkill. But, you know, Agent Gannon said that this was standard practice. And then Agent Gannon walked us through what they found in the house with a mixture of photographs of what they found and actual physical exhibits in a cart next to him in the court. First of all, he took us through Diddy's sort of main closet, which, frankly was so large, it was about the size of my apartment in New York. And what they found in there was disturbing. They found parts of AR15, assault rifles wrapped in towels. One of them had a sort of red sight on it, which Agent Gannon said would have made it easier to hit the target. And they also found that the serial numbers had been scratched off. They also found boxes of platform shoes, bags of baby oil, Astroglide lubricant, women's lingerie, sex toys, and rope. Essentially, this is what prosecutors would have described as a freak off kit. It's all the ingredients for these kind of sexual performances which he allegedly coerced women into having with him. So that was the first room that they searched in. So in total, Agent Gannon said that they found 13 pairs of platform shoes. And, you know, from this cart next to him, he pulled out various exhibits. And one of them was a pair of red, high 7 inch platform shoes. And he kind of held them up, you know, by the heels with one in each hand. And another dramatic moment in front of the jury was when he cut open a bag containing the top part of the AR15 assault rifle and held it up with two hands for the jury. You know, the jury were paying a lot of attention during this. It was a very dramatic moment in court. Agent Gannon then took us to Diddy's bedside dresser, where they found a sort of small Gucci pouch. And inside were several small clear bags with pills capsules, which tested positive for drugs like ketamine, cocaine, and mdma, which is a pure form of ecstasy. Some of the ecstasy tablets had imprints on them like Tesla or Supreme, the fashion brand. Agent Gannon then described going into the bathroom when there was a small wooden box with Puffy written on it. And inside were more capsules, more drugs, including some brown pills which had the sort of ingredient from magic mushrooms in them. There are also weird scrawlings in lipstick on the mirror, you know, sort of motivational messages, the messages of love for Puffy. It was just. Just bizarre. And then finally, we. We went to the. The guard shack where there was a red suitcase, and inside was. It was a gun. The serial number was on this one. But in another dramatic moment, Agent Gannon actually sort of had the gun in court, and he took it out of the bat, took it out of the box and held it up for the jury to see. And he actually walked up and down the sort of well of the court, showing it to the jury. So that was another dramatic moment in court. But overall, essentially, this was free cough kits and everything that Diddy would need to hold free coughs. And, you know, perhaps the most damning evidence of all was. Was the hallway closet, you know, where we found about 20 bottles of baby oil, 30 bottles of Astro Glide. You know, we saw more sex toys, more lingerie, and it was just, you know, it was, you know, I think, bizarrely, there were even rubber ducks in there with the bottles of baby oil. I mean, you know, previous witnesses have talked about sort of pools of baby all. So, I mean, it was very, very, you know, striking, very graphic. And the jury were paying a lot of attention while this was being explained to them.
- [11:34]
Kayla Brantley
Yeah, and Dan, you are one of the few people who do have access to the courtroom. What was kind of the Vibe. And what were everyone's reactions once these exhibits were shown?
- [11:47]
Narrator
As these exhibits were being shown, it was pretty business. Like in court, if the jury did feel shocked or appalled or anything, they weren't really letting. They were just paying very close attention. When Agent Gannon sort of, you know, walked the gun up and down the well of the court, you know, they were watching, you know, keeping their eyes trained on it, paying very close attention. So whatever they were feeling inside there was, you know, no, no sign of it. You know, Diddy was paying attention as well. I mean, I don't think it was a good day for him. I mean, this evidence was pretty damning. It wasn't a good look at all. And, you know, he was just, yeah, sort of talking to his lawyers a lot, passing lots of notes. I think he was suggesting things for cross examination. But yeah, it was, it was very business. Like in court, there wasn't much shock or anything like that.
- [12:27]
Kayla Brantley
It's so interesting seeing those photos of the baby oil because that was one thing that really, when these raids happened, that was what everyone was talking about, the amounts of baby oil. And now you see it corroborated with the testimony that these witnesses have given. And another thing that was striking to me was the writing on the mirror. Can you talk a little bit more about that?
- [12:48]
Narrator
The messages scrawled in lipstick on Diddy's bathroom mirror were things like, onward motion, what do you want? And I love you, Diddy. And, you know, there seemed to be different handwriting. It wasn't clear if it was him writing this or someone else. But it was just bizarre. I mean, like, it just raised a lot of questions. And the overall picture was kind of concerning, bizarre, weird. And you were left thinking, you know, what. What the hell is he doing with all this stuff in his house? I mean, this guy made it. He's a multi, multimillionaire, you know, he's living in one of the most exclusive parts of the country. And yeah, he's got all this stuff in his house, like, like this kind of gangster lifestyle. Like he doesn't need AR15, he doesn't need these, you know, this stuff. I mean, unless he's having freak offs. And like you say the fact that all the witnesses so far have said, you know, freak offs, baby oil, and there you are, it's in his house, he's ready to go, you know, and we saw baby oil in his hotel room in New York as well, when he was, you know, getting arrested. So everywhere he goes, he seems to have baby oil with him.
- [13:47]
Kayla Brantley
Well Dan, thank you so much for joining us. I know you have to run back into court, so we will be following along on the live blog. Thank you so much.
- [13:55]
Narrator
See you later.
- [13:56]
Kayla Brantley
We'll be back right after this.
- [14:07]
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Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
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- [14:44]
Kayla Brantley
Next witness on the stand was Sheree Hayes. He's 51 and he's been working as an exotic dancer and a stripper in New York for 30 years. He goes by the stage name the Punisher. He said he was given this nickname as a teenager when he used to play basketball. The Punisher said he advertises his services online and his job was to attend bachelorette parties and perform strip teases at house parties for birthdays and any other celebrations.
- [15:09]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Yeah, the Punisher, who by the way, is a pretty famous stripper in New York City, said that in the fall of 2012, Cassie Ventura hired him to create what he called a sexy erotic scene for herself and Diddy. He said she used the name Janet and asked him to come to Trump Tower in New York where they were staying. This apparently was Diddy's favorite hotel in.
- [15:29]
Kayla Brantley
New York, but he said that when he got to the hotel there were no guests and what he was asked to do was very different than his typical work.
- [15:36]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
The Punisher said that he and Cassie began applying baby oil to their bodies before a man who he did not realize at the time was Diddy entered the room. He said the man was nude, save for a Muslim veil or burqa that he was wearing over his face. He said he could only see the man's eyes and that he was carrying a bottle of lubricant and at points he began to masturbate. Hayes said the encounter lasted about 45 minutes and ended when Diddy left the room. He said he was handed another twelve hundred dollars and he left.
- [16:05]
Kayla Brantley
Yeah, and then he went on to tell the jury that he was contacted a second time by the couple. And it was only during this encounter when he turned on the television in the hotel room and saw a welcome message for Sean Combs, that he realized exactly who he'd been hired to work for. He said he went on to perform for the couple up to 12 times, usually always early in the hours of the morning and always at hotels in New York. He said the encounters took place over a period of just under three years and each could last for to eight hours at a time. He said he was paid either $1,200 or $2,000 a time.
- [16:39]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Prosecutor Meredith Foster asked him about the encounter. Their exchange has been voiced by actors.
- [16:45]
Narrator
After the first few encounters. What did you understand you were being hired to do?
- [16:49]
Sheree Hayes
It always started the same. It was to create a sexy scene, like I said before. But I understood it could escalate into more sexual activity, whether it be oral sex or penetrative sex.
- [17:02]
Narrator
During these encounters at a high level, could you describe what would happen?
- [17:07]
Sheree Hayes
It was pretty much a similar pattern. It would start in some sort of seated couch scenario where we would put baby oil to kind of create a Look. Me and Ms. Ventura would kind of put oil on ourselves, put it on each other and kind of create a sexy atmosphere.
- [17:23]
Narrator
And was Mr. Combs always involved? Yes. What would he be doing?
- [17:28]
Sheree Hayes
Similar. Like the first occasion, he would at some point come into the room, sit in the distance, give subtle directions to Ms. Ventura based on, like I said, angles, lighting, positionings, and sometimes the sexual activity. There was one time we were actually having sex and he dropped, like, a stack of money on the bed and he said, I like this shit. One other time he came over and threw some condoms on the couch where we were interacting and said, I'm ready to see you fuck her. So that was kind of an instruction at that point, too.
- [18:04]
Kayla Brantley
What was his tone when he said.
- [18:05]
Narrator
I'm ready to see you fuck her?
- [18:07]
Sheree Hayes
Assertive, aggressive.
- [18:09]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
The punisher then told the jury that he thought it was a fetish and didn't have a thought process on whether Cassie enjoyed what was going on. He said his understanding was that it was a sexy scene that was enjoyable for Diddy. But he did say that he heard her sigh and wince at times, as if in frustration had been directed to perform by him.
- [18:28]
Kayla Brantley
The punisher said that he didn't really do drugs or anything like that, but he was offered alcohol and marijuana. And then he pretended to inhale the smoke because, again, he's not a drug user. So he was never actually under the influence. And he also said that he never saw Diddy or Cassie take drugs and that they never really appeared intoxicated. He did admit that he just didn't have much experience with narcotics. But he said he took Viagra. Because sometimes the pressure of having to have sex in front of Diddy made him nervous and really struggled to perform.
- [18:58]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
That's right, Kayla. And at this point, this offered a moment of levity in the trial when Hayes was asked about a self help book he'd written for men with similar problems entitled In Search of Freezer Meat.
- [19:10]
Kayla Brantley
That is quite the title there. And naturally there was lots of laughter in the courtroom. Hermonia. And then laughter came again when Donaldson questioned him about it.
- [19:18]
Narrator
It.
- [19:19]
Kayla Brantley
This exchange begins with Donaldson first, congratulations on your book.
- [19:23]
Sheree Hayes
Thank you.
- [19:24]
Narrator
Good job. Good job. That's hard to do. What's the title again?
- [19:28]
Sheree Hayes
In Search of Freezer Meat.
- [19:29]
Narrator
Freezer. M E A T. Yeah, like you.
- [19:31]
Sheree Hayes
Put meat in the freezer. Freezer Meat.
- [19:35]
Narrator
In search of freezer, as in hard meat.
- [19:37]
Sheree Hayes
What's harder than freezer meat?
- [19:38]
Narrator
Just want to understand. I got it. I got it. Good title.
- [19:41]
Kayla Brantley
Hayes said that Cassie and Diddy were not named in the book, but he said he had referred to his encounters with them over six of its 182 pages. He accepted that certain details were not entirely accurate and admitted that he had sensationalized Cassie's enjoyment in his writing. Quote for entertainment.
- [19:58]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Yeah. And he also denied that he developed feelings for Cassie and their sessions. But he did admit that he believed he was the only person she performed with for Diddy. He claimed he had, quote, dry humped hundreds of thousands of women in his job as a dancer and knew how to, quote, read the room. He said that during all the sexual encounters, it seemed like Cassie was consenting and he never got any cues from her that she was in any discomfort. And he said on at least one occasion he thought she enjoyed having sex with him, but agreed it was like they were actors in a movie with Diddy as the director. Although he also accepted he never saw them filming any of their sessions. We'll take a break here, ladies. You'll end up shopping for your guys deodorant.
- [20:49]
Dan Bates
Right.
- [20:49]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
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- [21:22]
Kayla Brantley
We also had another former Member of Diddy's staff give evidence this week? That was his former personal assistant, George Kaplan. He told jurors that he, quote, desperately did not want to come to court and that he was forced to testify because federal prosecutors had subpoenaed him. Initially, he said he would refuse to answer any questions, and he wanted to invoke his fifth amendment right, but the government granted him immunity. So effectively, he was left with no choice to take the stand and testify.
- [21:51]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Yeah, he agreed with Diddy's lawyer, Mark Agnifolo, that he'd been reluctant to take the stand because he had, quote, nothing against Sean Combs. In fact, when he was asked directly if he did not want to testify, he replied 100%.
- [22:04]
Kayla Brantley
But like we said, he was given no option. And prosecutor Maureen Comey began by asking him about his role. He said he worked for him for two years, from December 2013 until December 2015, and earned $125,000 during that time. But the hours were tough. He worked up to 100 a week, he said, organizing Diddy's life, his business affairs and his belongings at his home, his office, and his recording studio. He said he never worked harder in his life than when he worked for Diddy. And while he was working for Diddy, he said it was basically common for Diddy to threaten his job and that he once got in his face for bringing him the wrong brand of water. Here's Maureen Comey asking the questions.
- [22:45]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Their exchange has been voiced by actors about. How often do you remember Mr. Combs threatening your job?
- [22:51]
Narrator
Maybe monthly.
- [22:52]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
What types of things do you remember Mr. Combs saying when he would threaten your job approximately monthly, that he was.
- [22:58]
Narrator
Only to be surrounded by the best and that those around him at the time were not performing at that level.
- [23:03]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
What was his tone when he said these things?
- [23:05]
Narrator
Sometimes angry, sometimes motivational.
- [23:08]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Kaplan said that one of his jobs was traveling ahead of Diddy and setting up the hotel rooms. He said in New York, it was usually Trump Tower. In Miami, it was the SLS in South Beach. He said the hotels were usually booked under the name Frank Black, which he said was chosen because it was a reference to Biggie, whose nickname had been Frank White. He said Diddy would stay in the hotel room, usually with a female partner, for anything between 12 hours and two days, and it would be his job to, quote, polish or clean it up afterwards. He said he did this to help protect Diddy's public image. What do you remember seeing when you went into these hotel rooms after Mr. Combs finished his stay in Them lots.
- [23:47]
Narrator
Of empty bottles, empty Gatorade bottles, empty liquor bottles, and often baby oil.
- [23:53]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Where did you see baby oil?
- [23:54]
Narrator
On the table, on the floor, on the bed, around the room. And what, if any, powder do you.
- [23:59]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Remember seeing in any of these hotel rooms?
- [24:01]
Narrator
There was a single occasion where I came across some sort of brown crystallized powder that I don't know what it was, and I got rid of it.
- [24:09]
Kayla Brantley
Kaplan said that twice he agreed to meet a drug dealer and pick up narcotics for Diddy. Once in Miami when Ecstasy pills were delivered to Diddy's home, and another time in la. He also said he was occasionally asked to carry cash and one time looked after $50,000 on Diddy's private jet. And then he said it was in the bedroom of that jet during a flight in LA in 2011 that he once saw Diddy physically attack Cassie. He recalled how he was sitting with his back to the bedroom door and he heard a glass of smash and a, quote, tremendous commotion. He said that when he looked behind him, Diddy was standing over Cassie and she had her legs up as if to try and push some distance between them. He said that she screamed, quote, isn't anybody seeing this?
- [24:52]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
He said after they landed, he saw Cassie crying and Diddy asked him to go to the pharmacy to get some anti swelling medication. He told the jury neither he nor any of Diddy's bodyguards intervened or called the police. He said he was only 23 at the time and that getting involved would be bad for his career.
- [25:09]
Kayla Brantley
Yeah, but Cassie wasn't the only woman that he said he saw Diddy get violent with. He said that he saw Diddy get violent toward Gina Huhn while they were staying at his mansion in Miami. He said Diddy was angry and he was actually throwing apples which were part of an ornament in the hallway. He said that he saw him throw them very hard at her and that the tension in the air was very scary. And then later in the middle of the night, he said he heard Gina's voice and. And screaming and a commotion outside of the property. But again, he said he did nothing because he wanted a successful career and he just thought Diddy's behavior was normal for the entertainment industry.
- [25:42]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Kaplan said he told Diddy's chief of staff, Christina Koram, about what he had witnessed, and she agreed that it was disappointing. But he said he could not stand by that behavior and he decided to quit the job. He said it was around the same time that his father was diagnosed with cancer and he used that as the excuse when Diddy asked him why he was leaving.
- [26:01]
Kayla Brantley
Yeah. And at this point, Diddy could be seen nodding in the courtroom as Kaplan told the jury that working for the rapper had been, quote, an incredible thing and a, quote, once in a lifetime opportunity. He said he considered Diddy to be a God among men and an inspirational business mogul who taught him to have a work ethic and lessons that he still uses today. He said Diddy had an extremely infectious vibration and people couldn't help but feel excited when they were around him. He said his friends told him he was craz because, quote, this was my Harvard and I was blowing it.
- [26:36]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
It was quite something, Kayla. He also told the jury that he still wishes Diddy a happy birthday every year. But ultimately, he said he was not comfortable with the physical violence that he'd witnessed and he did not want to, quote, be responsible for fixing up Cassie or Gina after they had been hit. He said resigning was, quote, vexing because he respected Diddy, but he said he knew in his heart of hearts it was the right decision.
- [27:01]
Kayla Brantley
So not only did the jury hear from witnesses, but they also heard from an expert this week. That was Dr. Dawn Hughes. She's a clinical and forensic psychologist who specializes in trauma and traumatic stress. And we should say here that this isn't the first big case she's been involved in. She also testified in the very famous Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trial back in 2022.
- [27:22]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
She talked to the jury about domestic abuse and specifically why it was, quote, very common for women to stay in abusive relationships. She said there was a number of factors that caused them to feel trapped, including physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. She said women who are beaten by their partners become frightened, which makes it harder for them to leave.
- [27:41]
Dan Bates
So when we are hit, harmed, beat up, the normal human emotion that gets arisen is fear. We feel scared. And it's very hard to take that fear away once you've been hit. So what happens is the victim, the brain, organizes around that fear, and that fear is now organized around the relationship. So they're always sort of walking on eggshells trying not to do something to get hit. Fear is also a very debilitating emotion. When you feel anxiety, sort of butterflies in your stomach, that's the low level fear. When you feel like, oh, my gosh, I'm going to die on this roller coaster, that's the high level fear. So if you're in high level arousal and high level fear, you're not really able to start thinking about these other big deal things on your plate that you have to do like leaving an abusive relationship.
- [28:35]
Kayla Brantley
She said sexual abuse could also stop women leaving an abusive relationship.
- [28:39]
Dan Bates
Sexual abuse is so inherently damaging. It's a very private harm and very much debilitates a person's psychological functioning. Sexual abuse is one of the highest types of traumatic stressors that we know can result in ptsd. They experience a tremendous amount of shame, humiliation, degradation. They don't want to talk about it. They don't even want to think about it in their own brain. They don't want to hear it come out of their mouth. And if it's something you can't even talk about these unspeakable acts, it prevents them from getting the help to get out of that relationship.
- [29:17]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
The expert said many victims are put down and made to feel, quote, like a piece of crap by their partner, which impacts their self esteem. Others don't leave because they are financially dependent on their abuser.
- [29:28]
Dan Bates
That's very important. You need the psychological resources to leave, but you also need the tangible resources to leave. What we see in a lot of these situations of domestic violence, there's a lot of financial control. So if you don't have access to tangible resources, money or an apartment, you're left with a feeling of, where am I going to go? Am I stuck here? And that makes it very difficult to leave.
- [29:54]
Kayla Brantley
Dr. Hughes said that abusers often love bomb their victims with affection or presents and gifts to keep them in a relationship, and that it's more difficult for victims to disclose what's going on if their abuser has wealth, access and privilege. She also told the jury about a phenomenon called a trauma bond, which what she said is when somebody loves their partner in spite of the violence and.
- [30:16]
Dan Bates
The abuse, it's like a slot machine. You press the button, you're going to lose most of the time. But when you hit it, that's the feeling you want. And you keep going back because you want that good feeling. They want that good partner that they got fell in love with and that becomes an immense trauma bond.
- [30:35]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Another one of Diddy's lawyers, Jonathan Back, who cross examined Dr. Hughes, tried to suggest she was, quote, a professional witness who'd made a, quote, cottage industry out of testifying in court. She agreed that she was being paid $6,000 a day to testify, but she said only 2/3 of her income come from court work and her fees were the going rate.
- [30:59]
Kayla Brantley
So that's it for today. Thank you for listening and tune in to our next episode every Tuesday and Friday.