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- [00:00]
Kayla Brantley
Welcome to the trial of Diddy. I'm Kayla Brantley.
- [00:03]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
And I'm Hermania Rodriguez Poleo.
- [00:05]
Kayla Brantley
We'll be back in a second.
- [00:18]
Narrator
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- [01:00]
Mark Agnifolo
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- [01:09]
Kayla Brantley
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- [01:15]
Kristi Slavic
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- [02:15]
Mark Agnifolo
The biggest secret in the entertainment industry that really wasn't a secret at all.
- [02:21]
Kristi Slavic
At the height of his career, Sean.
- [02:23]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Diddy Combs had it all.
- [02:25]
Kayla Brantley
Everything Diddy touched turned to gold.
- [02:27]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Now he faces multiple federal charges in New York including sex trafficking and allegedly running a criminal enterprise.
- [02:35]
Alex Chester Iwata
Another woman has now come forward alleging Combs of sexual assault.
- [02:38]
Kayla Brantley
Music mogul and rapper Sean Diddy Combs.
- [02:41]
Mark Agnifolo
He claims she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Combs.
- [02:45]
Alex Chester Iwata
Oh, this guy is dangerous.
- [02:47]
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.
- [02:57]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Welcome to the trial of Diddy.
- [03:01]
Kayla Brantley
Welcome back to the trial of diddy. Today is July 1, 2025 and it's getting down to the wire. We are officially in jury watch as the jury in the US vs Sean Diddy Combs case is currently in deliberations after hearing the closing arguments from the prosecution and the defense teams.
- [03:22]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
That's right, Kayla. And there has already been a bit of chaos during deliberations after the jury sent a note to the judge on Monday saying one juror appeared unable to follow instructions. In his response, Judge Aaron Subramanian wrote, quote, I received your note. I remind every juror of their duty to deliberate and their obligation to follow my instructions on the law. With that instruction in mind, please continue deliberating. Now. After the judge responded to the jury's note on Tuesday, Diddy walked out of court, looked at his mother in the public gallery and motioned to his body, telling her, I love your fit, referring to a striking green and off white pattern jumpsuit that his mother, Janice was wearing. On Tuesday, Diddy also told his mom, quote, relax, it's going to be all right, as she seemed agitated by the lawyers discussing various legal matters in court.
- [04:17]
Kayla Brantley
Yeah. And also this morning, there was a spat between the judge and Diddy's lead attorney, Mark Agnifolo. And this was on how to respond to a question that the jury had. So the note from the jury asked if a person could be convicted of possession with intent to supply narcotics if another person asked for the drugs. Now, the judge here proposed referring the jury to a few paragraphs of the jury instructions. And according to the judge, the defense proposal referring the panel to all the instructions about possession with intent could cause confusion and mislead the jury. Agnifolo objected and said that a narrow response would be a, quote, mistake. And he suggested that a broader instruction be given. The judge responded by saying, quote, that's not the question the jury asked. He then asked Agnifolo, quote, have you looked at the question? And warned that a broader response could leave the jury, quote, at sea?
- [05:09]
Narrator
Yeah.
- [05:09]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Agnifolo, though, then kept pushing and he said he didn't think this idea went far enough. Now, here's when things got really spicy because then the judge really snapped, saying, quote, it doesn't matter if you think it goes far enough. Can you do what I'm asking or do you not want to? Agnifolo then agreed that he could and asked the judge if he could give an example to that. The clearly annoyed judge simply replied, no.
- [05:36]
Kayla Brantley
Yeah. And right now, we're all in anticipation of the verdict. And so West Coast News editor Marjorie Hernandez, she had an exclusive interview with Alex Chester Iwata this is the girl who encountered Diddy when she was 13 years old. Alex was one of four members of an up and coming girl group when they met at a Nickelodeon event in the 90s. She said that she always found Diddy, quote, kind of creepy and that being around him just never really felt good to her. But she didn't have the exact language to verbalize it at the time because she was only 13 years old.
- [06:11]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
That's right, the group had joined the Bad Boy Records roster of talent and it opened up a world of eating disorders and emotional trauma, according to what she said. Now, at the age of 40, Chester Iwata is in therapy and telling her story.
- [06:26]
Kayla Brantley
All right, so now let's bring it back to closing arguments last week. So on Thursday, June 26, the prosecution kicked off its closing arguments with Mary Christie Slavic. Prosecutor Slavic took the jury through all of the charges against Diddy, reminding them of every jaw dropping detail from the witness testimonies. Now, if you remember, there were 34 four witnesses in total. And on Friday, Mark Agnifolo, Diddy's lawyer, attempted to unravel and poke holes in the witness testimonies during the defense's closing arguments. As a reminder, Diddy has pleaded not guilty on all charges. Welcome to the trial of Diddy Judgment Day.
- [07:17]
Narrator
BetterHelp Online Therapy bought this 30 second ad to remind you right now, wherever you are, to unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders, take a deep breath in and out. Feels better, right? That's 15 seconds of self care. Imagine what you could do with more. Visit betterhelp.com randompodcast for 10% off your first month of therapy. No pressure, just help. But for now, just relax.
- [07:58]
Mark Agnifolo
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- [08:07]
Kayla Brantley
How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the ban or visit usaa.com autodiscounts restrictions apply. Circling back to Thursday, Prosecutor Slavic came out immediately and called Diddy, quote, the leader of a criminal enterprise. She said that the jury heard in detail how he never takes no for an answer and he used manipulation, power, violence and fear to get what he wanted. She said that at the heart of his brutal crimes is sex trafficking. Here is Kristi Slavik, voiced by an actor.
- [08:48]
Alex Chester Iwata
Over the last several weeks, you've learned a lot about Sean Combs. He's the leader of a criminal enterprise. He doesn't take no for an answer. And now you know about many crimes the defendant committed with members of his enterprise. Kidnapping of one of the defendant's employees. Arson by trying to blow up a car. Forced labor, including of an employee the defendant repeatedly sexually assaulted. Bribery of a security officer to keep damning evidence against the defendant buried. And, of course, the brutal crimes at the heart of this case. Sex trafficking.
- [09:23]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Slavic then brought back the 2016 InterContinental Hotel incident with Cassie and the 2024 incident at Jane's house. She said that while these incidents are eight years apart from they are chapters of the same book.
- [09:36]
Alex Chester Iwata
These two incidents are separated by eight years. But they're not separate stories. They're chapters in the same book. The story of Sean combs and the criminal enterprise he led, made up of his inner circle. Again and again, that criminal enterprise serviced the defendant's every desire. Through a methodical pattern of violence, coercion, and manipulation, the defendant counted on silence and shame to keep his crimes hidden. He thought that his fame, wealth, and power Put him above the law. But over the course of this trial, his crimes have been exposed.
- [10:17]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
She said that diddy used money and influence to cover his crimes and that no one in his inner circle could stop him. Slavik took this opportunity to begin giving the jury a roadmap of Diddy's criminal history, Starting with racketeering.
- [10:30]
Kayla Brantley
Yeah, Hermania. She told the jury that they may have only heard about racketeering in the context of the mafia or organized crime, but that the concept itself is pretty simple.
- [10:40]
Alex Chester Iwata
The law recognizes that when someone commits a crime as a part of a group, what the law calls an enterprise, they're more powerful and more dangerous.
- [10:51]
Kayla Brantley
Slavic said that diddy was a very powerful man, but that he became more powerful and more dangerous because of, quote, the support of his inner circle and his business. She unpacked the idea of Diddy being the head of an enterprise, Even breaking down the definition of what it truly means.
- [11:08]
Alex Chester Iwata
So what is an enterprise? It's not a complicated or special thing, as I expect the judge will tell you later. Under the law, an enterprise is just a group of people who come together for a common purpose of engaging in a common course of conduct. And that's exactly what happened here. A group of people whose common purpose was to serve and protect the defendant. The defendant was at the top of this enterprise.
- [11:37]
Kayla Brantley
The prosecutor said that Diddy's enterprise was his, quote, kingdom, and that everyone in diddy's kingdom was there to serve him, and that included helping him cover up crimes for the sake of his power, reputation, and his brand. She also said that serving him also meant fulfilling all of his fantasies and desires, including ones that were sexual.
- [11:56]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
To further drive home her point, Slavic pivoted to the 2023 incident involving kid Cudi. She said that Cudi was targeted specifically over Diddy's insane jealousy because Cudi was seeing Cassie at the time. She said that Diddy was the only person powerful and vicious enough to commit such an act. She also brought up the incident at Mel's Diner involving his longtime nemesis, Suge Knight, in which Diddy and his employees allegedly armed themselves with weapons to confront Knights. She said, this is not a normal job. Here's Slavic again, voiced by an actor.
- [12:29]
Alex Chester Iwata
After David James and Drock saw Suge Knight at that diner, they immediately drove home and Drock told the defendant, and then Drock and the defendant changed their clothes and armed themselves with guns. They jumped back into the car with David James in the driver's seat and told him to drive back to the diner. The defendant rode in the backseat with three guns in his lap. Remember, David James told you about that? Suge Knight was gone by the time that they got back to the diner. But that incident made clear this was not a regular job. This was not a regular security detail.
- [13:08]
Kayla Brantley
One of the more passionate moments in Slavic's closing was her reminding the jury of what they heard over several days of firsthand testimony from Cassie. Slavic said that while Cassie and Diddy were in relationship with an incredibly intense bond for close to a decade, the relationship was not normal. She said that Diddy regularly threatened and beat Cassie. She said that he forced drugs on her until she became reliant on them. She said that he forced and coerced her to have sex with escorts in front of him and it became her job. Here's Slavic on Cassie's testimony, voiced by an actor.
- [13:44]
Alex Chester Iwata
Cassie Ventura and Sean Combs were in a relationship for about a decade and had an intense bond. But as you heard many witnesses talk about, their relationship was not normal. Throughout the decade that they were together, the defendant regularly threatened and beat Cassie. He plied her with drugs and at some point she became reliant on them. And while she was on drugs, the defendant forced and coerced her to perform sex with escorts in front of him. Like with Jane. It became her job. It became her shame. When Cassie met the defendant, she was an unknown 19 year old aspiring singer. He was a 37 year old established record executive at the top of the game. The defendant was her boss. A person who called all the shots and chose what was next for Cassie's career. A man almost 20 years older than her. She described him as larger than life. He was worldly. He introduced her to drugs and taught her different ways to have sex. The age difference, the power inequality, and Cassie's naivete. Those dynamics drove the defendant's relationship with Cassy. And that was intentional. The defendant said that he had Cassie right where he wanted her. She was young. And here on the slide, he remembers the defendant saying she was very moldable. And that's exactly what the defendant did. He molded her.
- [15:16]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
She said that Diddy wanted, quote, total compliance, and he thought he had found that with Cassie. She said that in an effort to control Cassie, Diddy was physically and psychologically abusive. Slavic said that. The defense wants to call it, quote, domestic violence and say that it has nothing to do with the crimes. But the defense is missing the point. She said that the freak offs with Cassie happened before and after, after violent episodes and that they were intertwined. She said that the cloud of abuse by Diddy was always hovering over Cassie's head.
- [15:47]
Kayla Brantley
Yeah, and then Slavic went into the many moods of Diddy. She said that on some days, he was explosive and violent, which kept Cassie uncertain and feeling trapped. She said that it gave Diddy control over her and that within the first year, he started physically abusing Cassie. She said he left her with black eyes, bruises, and busted lips. She said that when it got really bad, he forced her to hide in hotel rooms to heal. She said that any one of these attacks could have been terrifyingly life changing for Cassie, but it became normal at that point. She said that the violence was so unpredictable that it was destabilizing. She said that Cassie told the jury in her own words, quote, make the wrong face. The next thing I know, I'm getting hit in the face. We'll be right back after this.
- [16:44]
Narrator
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- [17:26]
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- [18:38]
Kayla Brantley
Welcome back to the trial of Diddy. Prosecutor Slavic's almost five hour closing argument went through each charge and count that Diddy faces. She concluded her closing driving home the count one racketeering charge. Here is Slavic voiced by an actor.
- [18:53]
Alex Chester Iwata
For count one, you have plenty of acts in furtherance of the racketeering conspiracy. Capricorn was kidnapped in New York. The defendant sexually assaulted Mia for the first time in New York. There were many other freak offs that happened in New York, both at hotels and in Cassie's apartment. The defendant lived in New York for part of the time period included in count one and continued to come to New York frequently up until he was arrested here in New York in September 2024. At the time of his arrest, he was staying at the Park Hyatt in Midtown Manhattan and law enforcement recovered illegal drugs from his hotel room. In short, there are many ways that you can find a venue for count one.
- [19:42]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
On Friday, Mark Agnifolo stood up on behalf of the defense to deliver his closing argument. Agnifolo focused on trivializing the prosecution's argument by asking the what is this trial? Here is Sagniphilo, voiced by an actor.
- [19:57]
Mark Agnifolo
This trial is a tale of two trials. It is a trial told from the mouths of witnesses. It is a trial told from the text messages. There's the trial told from the videos. In a word, there's a trial that's told in the evidence. That's one trial. The second trial is a very different trial. The second trial is the trial is told from the mouths of the prosecutors and the trial told from the mouths of the prosecutors is very different. Nothing like the trial told from the evidence. Now that you've heard the evidence, I'm going to ask you to reach certain conclusions and I'm going to back them up over the next few hours. The first conclusion I'm going to ask you to reach is that this case is badly, badly exaggerated. It's made up In a word, from the mouths of the witnesses, from the evidence, from the text message, what do you see? What is that trial? What's the trial of the evidence? It's personal. Use drugs. That's what it is. That's just what it is. It's nothing else. What's the trial of the evidence? The trial of the evidence is a lifestyle. You want to call it swingers, you want to call it threesomes, whatever you want to call it, that's what it is. That's what the evidence shows. That is not what the prosecutors are saying to you.
- [21:13]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Agnifolo praised Diddy for being a self made man who ran wonderful, sophisticated, real businesses. He said that his employees did not always like him, but they actually loved him. And that one of them felt suicidal when she was no longer employed by him.
- [21:28]
Kayla Brantley
Agnifolo said that Diddy was doing the work of diversity, equity and inclusion in 1993, at 24 years old and not because the government told him to. In the first of many sarcastic jabs, Agnifolo aimed at Jane, one of Diddy's exes, who dated him for three years until his arrest in 2024. The woman who was using the pseudonym Jane claims that she was forced into dozens of freak offs. Agniphilo said Jane has a beautiful house for her child and that Diddy generously pays her $10,000 a month rent. He said that Diddy takes care of people and added about Jane's testimony against Diddy, quote, I don't know what she's doing today, but I hope she's having a nice day in the house he's paying for.
- [22:09]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Agniphila went on to criticize the raids on Diddy's LA and Miami homes, directing the jury's attention, sitting in the public gallery, noting that they were home when federal agents showed up at the LA property. He began to poke fun at the discovery of 900 bottles of Astroglide lubricant and the 200 bottles of Baby oil found. Here's Agniphilo, voiced by an actor.
- [22:32]
Mark Agnifolo
They found it. Boxes of Astro Glide. Take it off the street. Streets of America. Safe from Astroglide. Thank goodness they found the Astro Glide. They got five Valium pills. Way to go, fellas.
- [22:55]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Agnifolo went on to say that there is nothing about Diddy's business that can be considered criminal. So to make it look criminal, the feds used loads of yellow crime scene tape. Here's Agnifolo, voiced by an actor.
- [23:07]
Mark Agnifolo
There's nothing about the business to make into a criminal case. So what do they do? They take yellow crime scene tape and wrap it around his bedroom. Crime scene. Your bedrooms, your hotel rooms, where you go with your girlfriends. Crime scene. A lot of yellow tape. We need a bigger roll of crime scene tape. Where's the crime scene? The crime scene is your private sex life. That's the crime scene.
- [23:31]
Kayla Brantley
Agnifolo told the jury the case was about love, which he noted had been mentioned 881 times so far in the trial. He said that the trial was also about jealousy, infidelity and money. He went on to speak about Cassie, saying that she claimed to be forced into hundreds of freak offs and then sued him for $30 million. She said that Cassie is, quote, nobody's fool and that she's sitting somewhere in the world on 30 million. Agnifolo then referred to Cassie as the winner of this case. Here's Agniphilo, voiced by an actor.
- [24:03]
Mark Agnifolo
If you had to pick a winner in this thing, it's Cassie. Cassie. Flat one. It's no secret he's in jail. It's like a slaughter. It's not even close. It's 100 to nothing. Anyone telling you Cassie, she's a victim, she's naive, she couldn't see what's coming. Let's look at the facts.
- [24:19]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Agniphilo said that, quote, we own the domestic violence when it came to Cassie and if Diddy had been charged with that, he would have pleaded guilty. He said he did what he did and he is going to fight to the death to defend himself for what he didn't do. With a raised voice. He said that the freak offs were a part of their relationship and no one was forcing her.
- [24:42]
Mark Agnifolo
This was their life. Nobody's forcing her to do this. She's a woman who likes sex. Good for her. She's beautiful.
- [24:49]
Hermania Rodriguez Poleo
Agnifolo closed his 26 minute argument with the most talked about situation since Cassie's lawsuit, the Notorious Freak Offs. Agnifolo minimized them, saying that they were merely, quote, date nights on video. Here is Agnifolo, voiced by an actor.
- [25:05]
Mark Agnifolo
They're essentially a date night. The hotel rooms are beautiful and the music is nice. Among the beautiful music Diddy put on was R and B singer Bryson Tiller and Usher. It's a nice mood. What you have is this beautiful evening. The music is nice and the mood seems friendly and easygoing. They're hanging out, they're eating food. At one point, Cassie is eating watermelon. That was the escape as much as.
- [25:30]
Kayla Brantley
The intimate Agnivolo said that the Freak off videos were, quote, not aggressive. He said the physical intimacy is very standard and very typical, quote, homemade porn. He also said that Diddy isn't the only man in America to make homemade porn and that he's under the impression that this is a, quote, pretty popular thing these days. Well, that's it for today's episode of the Trial of Diddy. And as we await to await a verdict from the jury, please keep an eye out on the Trial plus for the full extended interview with Alex Chester Iwata. And for more exclusives on the case, be sure to subscribe to the trial plus@crimedesk.com if you haven't already. Stay tuned for the verdict.
- [26:23]
Alex Chester Iwata
You.
- [26:27]
Mark Agnifolo
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