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- [00:02]
Marjorie Hernandez
Seriously popular.
- [00:04]
Daniel Bates
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. The biggest secret in the entertainment industry that really wasn't a secret at all has finally been revealed to the world.
- [00:26]
Marjorie Hernandez
At the height of his career, Sean Diddy Combs. He had it all. It seemed like everything Diddy touched turned to gold. Now the once untouchable hip hop mogul is fighting for his life as he faces multiple federal charges in New York, including sex trafficking and allegedly running a criminal enterprise.
- [00:46]
Daniel Bates
Music mogul and rapper Sean Diddy Combs has faced four different lawsuits in recent weeks alleging sexual assaults. Can be seen grabbing Ventura and throwing her to the ground.
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Unknown Host
Oh, this guy is dangerous.
- [00:58]
Marjorie Hernandez
Every woman has now come forward.
- [01:00]
Daniel Bates
Alleged Combs of sexual assault. She claims she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Combs.
- [01:05]
Marjorie Hernandez
I'm DailyMail.com journalist Marjorie Hernandez, and over the last six months, I've been investigating this incredible story and speaking to the people in the eye of the storm. Welcome to the trial of Diddy.
- [01:20]
Unknown Host
Hi. We're here on some breaking news. We have reporter Daniel Bates in front of New York federal court and he was covering Diddy's appearance today. Hi, Dan. Thanks so much for joining us on the pod.
- [01:35]
Daniel Bates
Yeah, no worries.
- [01:37]
Unknown Host
Can you tell us exactly what happened this morning? Why was he in court today?
- [01:42]
Daniel Bates
So Diddy was in court for a pretrial hearing which takes place just over a month before the trial is due to start. And it was to deal with a number of matters that kind of, you know, crop up before these kind of, you know, trials take place, housekeeping documents and so forth. But the big news was Diddy's appearance. In previous hearings, he's had dark colored hair and, you know, it looked very much like he dyed his hair, but this time it was a shock of white hair with some gray bits. He was noticeably heavier. And, yeah, he seems to have just given up on dyeing his hair. So Diddy's rocking a new look. And I'm not sure if he's going to stick with this for the trial, but he looked significantly older, significantly heavier set. So dramatic change in his appearance. You know, with just weeks to go.
- [02:27]
Unknown Host
Until the trial, what did his demeanor look like outside of his appearance? Did he look stressed or did he.
- [02:33]
Daniel Bates
Look well in court? Diddy. Diddy's a performer. I mean, I've seen him in court a few times now. You know, he comes into court and he smiles at everyone. You know, it's like, it's like a light goes on and he's a completely different person. You know, he was waving at one of his sons and daughters here in the public gallery. And at the end of the hearing, his mum came in a bit late and he saw her, he blew her a kiss, he sort of put his hand on his heart and she blew a kiss back to him. But, you know, he's hugging his lawyers, he's saying hi to people. You know, it's like he's in the club, you know, he's just, he's everybody's friend, you know, and it's like, I mean, you know, you could argue that this is a bit of PR on his behalf, but there's no jury there yet. So, I mean, he's, he puts on a show every time. And today was no different.
- [03:15]
Unknown Host
You talk about the jury and from my understanding, they actually talked about Vaadir and there's some discussion obviously about as a trial trial that comes forward. Can you talk about exactly what they discuss in terms of jurors and questioning jurors?
- [03:33]
Daniel Bates
Yeah, I think there's going to be about two weeks of jury selection and then the question of whether or not the jury is going to be sequestered came up. I wasn't quite clear as to whether or not that was actually going to happen, but it looks like we're going to have quite a lengthy jury selection process. I mean, you know, two weeks for a federal case is quite long. But with a high profile case like this, you know, it sometimes can take that long. I mean, you can expect Diddy to hire jury consultants, you know, to ask extensive questions about feelings towards him, whether or not they know anyone related to him, different locations. You know, it's going to be a long, lengthy process. And, you know, given the high profile of the case, I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few hiccups as well. But it seems that we're going to get weeks of jury selection before the trial even starts, you know, sometime in midnight. Sorry.
- [04:19]
Unknown Host
Now, one of Deddy's attorneys, Mark Agnifolo, he mentioned about sequestering and as you mentioned, sequestering. But did they talk about just Voir Dare or throughout the trial as well?
- [04:31]
Daniel Bates
Well, again, it was, it wasn't quite clear. I think it was just during Voirdaire. I mean, I don't think the jury are going to be sequestered for the whole trial, but, you know, it's possible it may be for Voirdair. So, I mean, it's an Unusual move for a judge to do that, if indeed that is what happens. I mean, but I think it reflects the extremely high profile nature of this case. I mean, I've seen plenty of juries who are anonymous. I remember, you know, multiple Trump cases and, you know, so it's not unusual. But I mean, if the jury is indeed sequestered, then then that would be quite unusual.
- [05:03]
Unknown Host
Right. I've heard obviously going back to O.J. simpson case, that jury was sequestered, but I've never heard of during the jury selection process that they would be sequestered.
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Daniel Bates
Yeah, like I said, I think it sort of remains to be seen what has actually decided on that. But you know, it would indeed be unusual.
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Unknown Host
What other things popped up in terms of new, I guess, details within the case? I heard that there was some discussion on medical records.
- [05:34]
Daniel Bates
Yeah. I think right at the end, Marc Agnifolo talked about, you know, a voluminous amount of medical records that they'd obtained and that's something they're going to be working through. And there was also a discussion about the, you know, the recording obtained by CNN of Diddy attacking Cassie Ventura, his ex girlfriend in 2016 at a hotel. You know, the judge didn't make a decision as to sort of whether or not that's going to be admitted. But Agnifolo said that the recording was deceptive and that it had been manipulated by cnn. He said that it had been made to look faster than it actually was and it was out of sequence. The prosecution described it as a critical piece of evidence and both sides said that they're going to try and work things out as to whether or not, whether or not it's admitted. But I mean, what's clear is that it's a much disputed piece of evidence that is central to the case. Prosecutors said that they're going to have witnesses testifying about it. You know, we may see Cassie herself give evidence. That's not clear yet, but it seems like there's going to have to be a major ruling from the judge at some point as to whether or not that comes in. The other thing that caught my ear was a mention by the prosecutor of disclosing witnesses names to the prosecution. Sorry, to the defense, which they haven't done yet. And the prosecutor said that these witnesses are understandably terrified about the prospect of their name becoming public or being disclosed to the defense. So it seems that those names are going to go over to the defense, but for attorneys eyes only and not for the public at this stage.
- [07:02]
Unknown Host
So it's Going to be sealed? More than likely.
- [07:05]
Daniel Bates
Yeah. I mean, I think it's. It's. It's. I don't even know if anything's going to be entered. Anything that will be entered onto the docket would be sealed. And attorney's eyes only is a sort of special category that judges can impose to add an extra layer of security to ensure that these things don't leak out.
- [07:20]
Unknown Host
Really, a lot of things happen, you know, these pretrial hearings, but seems like there was a lot of discussion from today's hearing.
- [07:28]
Daniel Bates
Yeah, Yeah. I mean, you know, they can be a little boring, you know, and it's. It's. It's. It's. It's often administrative and, you know, sort of dealing with, like, the kind of logistics and, you know, timings for stuff. But, you know, you get nuggets. You get an insight into what's coming later. And obviously, like I said, Diddy's appearance was a real shock. I mean, he, you know. You know, I don't know if it's a ploy to look like an elder statesman or sort of look, you know, more, you know, kind of, you know, sort of to have a different vibe to him, but it was a change, and it's quite close to the trial, so we'll have to see what happens next time. There is actually dye available in the federal prison system. In the commissary, prisoners can actually buy dye. So if he did want to reverse it and go back to his old.
- [08:10]
Unknown Host
Look, he could do so that's available on the commissary list. Interesting.
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Daniel Bates
Yeah.
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Unknown Host
Well, who gets to dye his hair, though? He has to do it himself, I guess.
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Daniel Bates
I think there's a barber. There's a barber there. I mean, prisoners need haircuts, too.
- [08:28]
Unknown Host
Appeared. Correct me if I'm wrong. Obviously, there was a superseding indictment that was filed. Did he also enter a plea of not guilty?
- [08:35]
Daniel Bates
Yeah, I was gonna say that was. That was the other thing. It was. New claims were made about under the racketeering charge and allegations of forced labor and threatening staff. And, you know, when someone is hit with new charges, they have to formally plead to them, you know. And did he? Did he stood up and he was asked by the judge if he'd read the document. He said yes. He asked if he was asked if he understood it, and he said yes. And he entered a plea and said in a loud voice, not guilty, you know, and then he sat down again, and he didn't really speak for the rest of the hearing and just sat sort of sitting Next to his lawyers on the, on the, on the bench. But yeah, it was a sort of formal plea of not guilty to these updated or superseding allegations.
- [09:14]
Unknown Host
Anything else we haven't covered, Dan, that you'd like to add?
- [09:17]
Daniel Bates
Yeah, the only other thing was his, his, his. His mother came into court a bit later. She walked out of court, she didn't comment, she didn't say anything and neither did his son and daughter as they left. But, you know, it seemed like someone from Diddy's family has been in court every time. And I think it was a real boost for Diddy to see his mum because she wasn't there when the hearing started and she came in late and when he turned around at the end, he saw her and, you know, was sort of tapping his heart and blowing her kisses. So that seemed to give him a boost.
- [09:44]
Unknown Host
But obviously, again, the big reveal of him looking. I read other reports that say he looked bloated.
- [09:52]
Daniel Bates
Noticeably heavier. I would say noticeably heavier. His weight's gone up and down over the years, but compared to last time, you know, his stomach and his chest, he was noticeably sort of, you know, heavier around there.
- [10:02]
Unknown Host
And it wasn't too long ago that he actually was sent to the jail hospital because of. He had knee issues, from what I understand.
- [10:11]
Daniel Bates
Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, the MDC is a, is a, is a tough, tough prison. I mean, I remember when Ghislaine Maxwell was in there and her lawyers were filing complaints every week about the horrible food, you know, the fact that, you know, the microwave meals were melting into the plastic. Her hair was falling out because she was so stressed. She was getting a light shone into her face every 15 minutes, you know, and it's, I mean, it's, it's, you know, this is a guy who's used to living in, you know, multimillion dollar mega mansions, you know, in this jet set, you know, private jet lifestyle with private chefs. And now he's eating, you know, the kind of stodgy food in the ndc. I mean, I mean, I think that anyone would struggle to maintain their figure on that diet.
- [10:52]
Unknown Host
Well, wonderful. Thank you again, Dan, for taking the time out to speak to us.
- [10:56]
Daniel Bates
Sure, no worries.
- [10:57]
Unknown Host
That's it for now. Thanks again to Daniel Bates for coming to us live from Quartz and we'll have more next week.