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- [00:02]
Kayla Brantley
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.
- [00:17]
Marjorie Hernandez
The biggest secret in the entertainment industry.
- [00:20]
Kayla Brantley
That really wasn't a secret at all.
- [00:23]
Dion Best
Has finally been revealed to the world.
- [00:26]
Marjorie Hernandez
At the height of his career, Sean Diddy Combs 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]
Kayla Brantley
Music mogul and rapper Sean Diddy Combs has faced four different lawsuits in recent weeks alleging sexual assault. Combs can be seen grabbing Ventura and throwing her to the ground.
- [00:56]
Marjorie Hernandez
Oh, this guy is dangerous. Woman has now come forward. A legend comes of sexual assault.
- [01:02]
Kayla Brantley
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.
- [01:24]
Kayla Brantley
Hey, I'm Kayla Brantley, reporter at large for Daily Mail in Manhattan.
- [01:27]
Marjorie Hernandez
And I'm Marjorie Hernandez, west coast news editor for DailyMail.com in Los Angeles.
- [01:32]
Kayla Brantley
And welcome to episode nine of the trial of Diddy. On this week's episode, we speak to Dionne Best, aka D1. Best was a member of the Crip set based in LA's Mid Wilshire area. Known as the Mansfield Crips because of their location on the west side of Los Angeles. They had some affiliation with Hollywood and ended up making inroads into the entertainment industry.
- [01:54]
Marjorie Hernandez
Yes, but Bess got to know Diddy through another connection. Before Keefe D. Bess was one of the people Puff called in the late 1990s when he would come to LA and need, quote, unquote, protection due to his ongoing beef with Suge and the Blood Gang. So in those early days, the only way Diddy could run around LA was to get an okay from the Crips, who then would protect him. Bess also managed a handful of hip hop artists and signed a few to Bad Boy before he himself himself ended up going to prison. He's now been out of the gang life for many years, has turned to the church and leads a football league for kids in la.
- [02:33]
Kayla Brantley
But before we get into our interview with Deon, let's get an update on what's happened in Diddy's cases since our last episode.
- [02:39]
Marjorie Hernandez
Yeah, so this week, Diddy's attorneys have requested that each and every potential witnesses in the federal trial against him be completely barred from speaking in public about the case. Diddy's lawyer submitted a letter to the federal judge overseeing his sex trafficking and racketeering case and asked to place a gag order on the witnesses, citing, quote, a deluge of improper pretrial publicity. They have claimed that statements made by certain individuals are, quote, undermining Mr. Combs right to a fair trial and the integrity of the grand jury proceedings. This comes after one apparent grand jury witness gave a press conference that included, according to his attorneys, false and outrageous claims about Diddy's involvement in alleged sexual assault of both celebrities and minors.
- [03:33]
Kayla Brantley
Daily mail wrote about this story, pointing out how lawyers have hit out specifically at one of Diddy's former friends, Courtney Burgess, who has claimed in online interviews that he's seen videos of major celebrities being, quote, versus victimized at Diddy's notorious freak off parties.
- [03:49]
Marjorie Hernandez
That's right. And Burkus had claimed the videos were on a flash drive kept by Diddy's late ex, Kim Porter, who died in 2018. Now, Diddy's lawyers have said, quote, these stories have spread rapidly through the media and created the impression that such videos exist, which is false, and that the government is actually crediting his sensational claims, which is profoundly prejudicial.
- [04:16]
Kayla Brantley
And Diddy celebrated his 55th birthday behind bars this week. And there's a story regarding that, too.
- [04:23]
Marjorie Hernandez
Well, of course there is, Kayla. It's been reported that Diddy has been heard on a call from prison this week as his children rang to wish him happy birthday. On Monday. Diddy's son Justin combs shared a video in which Diddy could be heard on the phone talking with his kids. Quincy Brown, Justin, Christian, King, Chance, Jesse, Delilah, and love. This is one of the first times his voice has been heard since his arrest back in September, which is odd to think about when we're all used to hearing him so often.
- [04:56]
Kayla Brantley
Yeah, and in that video, you can hear Diddy saying things like, I love you guys so much. I can't wait to see you all. He tells them how proud he is of them, especially the girls. Um, he says, thank you all for being strong. Thanks for being by my side, for supporting him. He continues to say that he loves them, that he has the best family in the world, and he actually says that he's happy and thanks them for the call.
- [05:19]
Marjorie Hernandez
Yeah, it kind of makes you wonder how many more Diddy's birthday messages will be coming from jail. You know, as we mentioned a moment ago, he turned 55 this week and will face a jury in the spring of 2025. So Diddy is now, and has been for the past seven and a half weeks, he's been incarcerated at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center. And also his requests for bail have been denied, and he's facing a life sentence if he's convicted of all the charges. The minimum possible term if convicted of all three offenses is 15 years behind bars, which means Puff would be nearing 70 years old by the time he would be released.
- [06:01]
Kayla Brantley
And as always, we should make it clear that Diddy and his attorneys have always maintained the rapper's innocence. And they provided Daily mail with the statement that he has never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone, whether they be, quote, man or women, adult or minor.
- [06:17]
Marjorie Hernandez
And that's right. And with that being said, let's dive into our interview with Dion Best. Can you explain how, again, going back to. Puff would call you and then you met Biggie at that point? Right.
- [06:37]
Dion Best
So, you know, by this being my hometown, I knew how to maneuver through the community, through the streets, and I had a way of, you know, let's just say, like, everybody's aware that Suge night. And, you know, Puffy had a situation. Sugar's a big guy. I'm not a big guy, but I had the type of relationship with Sugar that I could, you know, say, you know, should, you know, you know, ease up, and, you know, he would respect the situation.
- [07:14]
Marjorie Hernandez
Oh, so you also. Because Suge also grew up around the.
- [07:17]
Dion Best
Area, not necessarily the area, because he's from Compton. This is a distance from even where we are now. Where we are now. This is the scene. And my. My neighborhood is close to the scene. So it's like one of those things, like, they have a party across the street during the time back. Back in that time, it was called the. The Roxbury. It was a club right across the street. If they had a party there or a night, the hot night, my guys, myself, we're gonna be there because this is my area.
- [08:00]
Marjorie Hernandez
Yeah. And can you tell us about that time when Big would come and you said that they had performed at one point.
- [08:06]
Dion Best
So as I was walking in, it just brought back memories, made me smile, because I remember the first night Big performed one of his songs. It was across the street at the Roxbury, and I happened to be on stage with him. It was. It was nice. It was cool. You know, people were like, oh, you know, Big. You know, he's a good guy.
- [08:30]
Marjorie Hernandez
So you really had a close. Pretty close relationship with Big at That point.
- [08:38]
Dion Best
I had a very close relationship with Big. I was actually with him tonight. He was murdered. You know, he was nothing like his music. I would say for him. He probably wrote music according to the lifestyle that he saw around him. Very humble guy, very cool guy, laid back, not a rah rah person.
- [09:08]
Marjorie Hernandez
What was Puff like at that point, Sean?
- [09:13]
Dion Best
He was a little different. Me personally, and not knocking him. You know, some people like bananas, some people like cherries, some people like grapes. He just wasn't the type of person that I enjoyed hanging out with.
- [09:30]
Marjorie Hernandez
Can you take us back to that night when Biggie was murdered? Where were you coming from?
- [09:35]
Dion Best
It wasn't about where we were coming from. It's about where we were. Everyone pretty much has heard the story. I want to say it was a after party for the BET Awards right down the street, Wilshire and Fairfax, at the auto show Museum. Leaving the museum party, he was. He was shot multiple times. It always puzzles me, and I think about it constantly. Constantly. No matter how long Big has been gone, I think about it. The party ended because the fire marshal came in and shut it down. Because it was just so many people. When the fire marshal shut the party down, we were together, we took a couple of photos and we began to leave. I never understood how he wasn't with me when we exit through the door. I never understood it. Today, I think about it more today, meaning in the last year that I felt like somebody literally lowered him away from me. Like, like pulled him away and like, let's go this way. But, you know, it's all saying, when you're in Rome, you do as the Romans. And I tried to explain that to him. You know, man, you. You can't just be moving around by yourself. You know, we. We know the culture. Unfortunately, in gang culture, people die. Unfortunately. You have some people who have a certain type of mentality or attitude characteristic that they don't care about the next person or who's around, or even if they might miss and hit someone else. And with that comes, especially when you live around it, when your friends have lost their lives to these situations. You understand how to navigate through these streets. I'm here. I'm thankful.
- [11:53]
Marjorie Hernandez
And you obviously being from the neighborhood.
- [11:56]
Dion Best
Exactly.
- [11:56]
Marjorie Hernandez
That's why he. He will call you every time he's in town.
- [11:59]
Dion Best
Right, Exactly.
- [12:01]
Marjorie Hernandez
And why. Why was it going back to that night when he passed away? Why was it so important for him to have been right next to you at all times?
- [12:09]
Dion Best
I truly believe that he would still be alive after that night. I Don't know what the future would have brought. But that night he'd have made it home safely. He'd have made it to his hotel or place of residence, wherever he was sleeping. He would have made it home safely. Made it there safely that night, had.
- [12:34]
Marjorie Hernandez
He not separated from you that night.
- [12:36]
Dion Best
Oh, definitely. You know, anything we do, it's tricks to the trade. You know how to troubleshoot things, you know how to maneuver around certain things.
- [12:47]
Marjorie Hernandez
Did Big tell you anything in particular before? Obviously before Big was murdered, did he tell you what he was going through with Puff and Bad Boy at that point and what he had planned?
- [12:59]
Dion Best
To me, you never hear people ask this question. And I saw so many interviews, but he. He never said to me what was going on with Puff and Bad Boy Entertainment. And it was a question of if you understood the business. You already knew what was going on. You know, some people don't understand if you come in with a kind heart, good intentions, these relationships, they will last. And I don't. I don't think that his relationship as far as the business with Puffy was fair. And I think that made, you know, Biggie unhappy. So I felt that he was going to do his own thing after. I felt Big was going to do his own thing after the three album.
- [13:56]
Marjorie Hernandez
Contract was over, that he would have left.
- [13:59]
Dion Best
Oh, definitely. Yeah, definitely. You could see you already had Junior Mafia being started. You had Lil Kim then he understood. He's the hot guy now.
- [14:10]
Marjorie Hernandez
Yeah. And can you tell me how detrimental that would have been if Big would have left Bad Boy and Puff?
- [14:16]
Dion Best
You kidding me? Oh, man. Over.
- [14:19]
Marjorie Hernandez
Yeah.
- [14:21]
Dion Best
Now, this is just my opinion.
- [14:24]
Kayla Brantley
Big.
- [14:24]
Dion Best
Big leaves. Puff's not a star. I don't even know what happened with Craig Mack. I don't know what happened with Mace, but you could see the conflict with Mace. But Biggie leaving, did he ever tell.
- [14:41]
Marjorie Hernandez
You that he had any issues with Puff at that point?
- [14:44]
Dion Best
No, no, no. I don't think he. He really had a issue. I mean, of course he didn't know that he was going to be murdered. I don't think that he thought Puffy was going to do anything to harm him. So it was. It was no, no reason to.
- [15:00]
Marjorie Hernandez
Do you think that Puff is behind his murder?
- [15:06]
Dion Best
I don't want to answer that. I don't. I don't want to get into that.
- [15:09]
Marjorie Hernandez
Still, obviously he was your friend and still hard, even 30 years later to talk about it.
- [15:15]
Dion Best
Well, it's not hard to discuss the situation, but with. With the street moxie that I have, that's not A conversation that. That I should have on a podcast. You know, some of these guys get on these podcasts and talk about so many things. I'm like, man, that's. Yeah, man.
- [15:35]
Marjorie Hernandez
Ever, obviously, ever since he's gone to jail and is facing very serious crimes, there are a lot of people coming out of the woodwork to talk about their dealings with Puff.
- [15:46]
Dion Best
So that's why I'm here. I'm not here to actually talk about Puff and his allegations. I'm here to talk about a different section of his allegations. The rico. The RICO Act. And. And what I feel to believe involves his mother, Janice Combs.
- [16:11]
Marjorie Hernandez
What about his mother?
- [16:14]
Dion Best
So the RICO act is about holding people accountable for systematic actions. You know, these actions have caused financial hardship, emotional hardship, with not only myself, but other artists in the business through what I feel was fraudulent and coercive activity. And I think that Janice Combs falls under those guidelines.
- [16:46]
Marjorie Hernandez
Can you. How was she involved in it?
- [16:48]
Dion Best
Mace gives a very good example. So Mace has been, you know, going through what conflict he has with Puffy, and he makes a statement. He says, how can we talk about anything, etc. Etc. Everything is in your mother's name, right?
- [17:06]
Marjorie Hernandez
He said everything that Puff had made in Bad Boy, he had put under his mother's name? Allegedly, yes. Yeah. Are you saying the same thing, that whatever dealings you've had with Puff was under her name, his mother's name?
- [17:21]
Dion Best
I'm saying that I brought with me three multi platinum plaques of artists that I've had the opportunity to have my company write songs, and somehow his mother ended up with my publishing rights.
- [17:37]
Marjorie Hernandez
And those are which three?
- [17:38]
Dion Best
So I have here behind me, I have this right here. The Notorious B.I.G. born Again for Dion Best, for D&Mac music.
- [17:52]
Marjorie Hernandez
Those are the plaques that you see for your involvement in the album.
- [17:57]
Dion Best
Yes.
- [17:57]
Marjorie Hernandez
Or the song.
- [17:58]
Dion Best
Yes.
- [17:58]
Marjorie Hernandez
Can I see?
- [17:59]
Dion Best
Yes.
- [18:00]
Marjorie Hernandez
So you have this. This is Born Again. This was Biggie's album.
- [18:04]
Dion Best
So then we have here a Black Rob's life story, man. Rest in peace, Black Rob. Black Rob was. He was an all right guy, man.
- [18:16]
Marjorie Hernandez
Black Rob obviously was also their bad boy. And this is the album, right? Life Story. And then you have a third one there with you.
- [18:24]
Dion Best
Third one here. This is Bad Boy Entertainment, Puffy's album Forever, right here.
- [18:36]
Marjorie Hernandez
So in. In the contract, again, when you signed, actually said it was Janice, it went to Janice's. Mrs. Coombson, can you. Can you explain that again?
- [18:47]
Dion Best
So for me, here's where, you know, things get a little tricky. I'm not gonna say complicated but during this time, I had a partnership, a partner in my company, and I felt. I still feel my partner betrayed me. I got caught with a. In possession of a handgun, and I went to prison for four years. And at that time, my partner signed some things over.
- [19:21]
Marjorie Hernandez
So your partner had signed it over to Bad Boy, and then Bad Boy had put it under Janice's name, Is that.
- [19:27]
Dion Best
Yes, ma' am.
- [19:28]
Marjorie Hernandez
Okay. Allegedly. Okay, so allegedly. Right. So now what are you planning at this point?
- [19:36]
Dion Best
So my law team, we've gotten together and discuss certain information, and they feel that we need to move forward with following the RICO act with Janice Combs.
- [19:53]
Marjorie Hernandez
Puff's mother.
- [19:54]
Dion Best
Puff's mother.
- [19:55]
Marjorie Hernandez
Are you also planning to sue him as well, or just her and her company?
- [20:01]
Dion Best
So because all of my publishing rights went to Janice Combe, we're gonna file the RICO act against Janice Combs, and we'll see where this conspiracy and fraudulent activity leads us.
- [20:16]
Marjorie Hernandez
Have you. Have you at any point had spoken to Janice or Puff? When was the last time you spoke to him?
- [20:22]
Dion Best
I probably haven't spoken to puff in 20 years. My lawyers have not yet reached out to Janice Combs or any of her attorneys at this point. But maybe in the next few days, someone will be contacted.
- [20:43]
Marjorie Hernandez
Yeah.
- [20:56]
Kayla Brantley
Dion, I do want to kind of shift to the allegations now against Diddy. You know, the allegations of abuse, sexual abuse, you know, drugging, rape. And though you haven't seen him or spoken to him in 20, 30 years, was there any evidence of that back then?
- [21:14]
Dion Best
Again, I don't. I don't want to touch on that. I'm here to discuss the. The. The. The RICO act that we're following against Janice Combs. But I'll answer that question briefly. So I don't take involvement in those parties. I've never been to a Sean Combs or P. Diddy or Pup daddy freak off party, because those things are not of my interest with him. I was more of, I don't want to hang out with you and jlo. I don't want to party with you. I need you to sign on the dotted line. I need my money. And that was my relationship with him, just as I can probably tell. You can probably tell the arrogance that Sean Combs possessed. And I just stayed away from that. I will say for me as a man and growing up in Los Angeles, California, with the type of codes that we have to honor when you have gang affiliation surrounding you. The video of Cassie broke my heart. It was sad. I have two daughters, a mother, sisters, aunts. But it's like wow. You can kick on Cassie, but you don't want to stand up to Suge. You know, those were the things that crossed my mind.
- [22:56]
Kayla Brantley
So can you say that you were surprised by these charges or his arrest?
- [23:00]
Dion Best
Not surprised. Not at all. Not at all surprised. You know, when, when, when you have a relationship with the streets, it comes with a code. So we already know the number one code is no snitching. And though, you know, people still snitch, but we have a code that you don't even want to see your worst enemy behind bars. Jail is not nice. It's no guarantee that you're gonna come home from jail. But there's also a code that follows under the no snitching clause. Man, you do the crime, you gotta do the time, you gotta be a stand up guy, you gotta go handle it.
- [23:50]
Marjorie Hernandez
But again, looking back at the times where you spent with them, you didn't see, see any of that?
- [23:55]
Dion Best
No, none of that. I've. I've been to. Again, here we are on, on Sunset. Let's say I was at the House of Blues with him one night. Casual night, suits and ties, blazers, slacks. But it was more professional. And, and other than that, I would rather hang out with Black Rob Mace, of course. Biggie, I used to be around him when he dated JLo, Jennifer Lopez. It was just the, the, the attention. I didn't, I didn't need to be around that.
- [24:36]
Marjorie Hernandez
What was that like when going out with them?
- [24:38]
Dion Best
Oh, man. Okay, so one, one place we used to go play basketball, I want to say at Westwood Rec. So we went to play basketball. You're already dealing with enough people who's mesmerized by seeing him out. You know, whether they driving down the street, honking the horn, but on the court, you know, everybody's like, okay, we got diddy out here. But then to have JLO out there as well, it's like, man, you know, everybody's looking. Males, females, the little dog in the park. I mean, you know, everybody is.
- [25:20]
Marjorie Hernandez
You know, it was a scene.
- [25:22]
Dion Best
A scene. Yeah.
- [25:24]
Kayla Brantley
And Dion, why now? Why speak out now?
- [25:28]
Dion Best
You know, timing is everything. And I believe Cassie is my belief that Cassie showed us all. You know, you come to a point where enough is enough. And because of laws and the rules and regulations dealing with law, it allows you in some. Most situations, no statute of limitations. So we just felt like my lawyers and I felt like this would be the time to go back and ask for what you've lost, because now people see the behavior and what type of person he Was see before. And, you know, I'm gonna say we, we, we, as people who probably voted yesterday, we tend to let things get out of hand, and we don't really believe what's going on, especially with people who are famous, infamous, or. Or financially well off, that we have to wait till it's a time that people will believe, like, okay, this person now is capable of this, committing this crime.
- [26:39]
Marjorie Hernandez
If you had a chance to speak to him, what would you say to him?
- [26:42]
Dion Best
Nothing, really. I felt like the coercion and the fraudulent activity that happened with me in my life, it enhanced my will to keep moving because it was things that after this is when I went back to school and obtained my education because I had to keep going. I had to find a way to be successful and be able to take care of my family. This was the situation where I knew I couldn't result the violence. I have no words for him, no empathy, no sympathy. It's just, you know, but if I saw him, I probably would, like, stay strong. That would be my only words. Stay strong.
- [27:29]
Kayla Brantley
Well, Marjorie, that was really insightful, and it's so cool to be able to speak to somebody who was so close to Diddy and so close to Biggie at the time of, you know, Biggie's height, and that Diddy was really starting to make a name for himself before all of the glitz and glamour of who he is now.
- [27:48]
Marjorie Hernandez
Right. It was really interesting to talk to somebody who was there also in one of the most pivotal parts of Diddy's life, which is the death of his friend Biggie and his biggest artist at the time. And you can tell also that Dion really is still affected by it 30 years later. To have seen or to have been there at the time of when Biggie was shot, and also now, just like all the other allegations, he's come forward that, you know, exclusively. He told us that he is also planning to possibly look into legal actions against not Diddy, but his mother, Janice Combs, and his allegations that Puff essentially have put everything in Janice's name. So it'll be interesting to see what happens there.
- [28:46]
Kayla Brantley
Thank you again to Dion Best for joining us on the show this week and next week, we've lined up a great guest who, while not really knowing Diddy, can speak with absolute clarity on claims of abuse happening within the entertainment industry.
- [29:00]
Marjorie Hernandez
They certainly can. Until then, thank you for listening. Please share your thoughts on the trial of Diddy on Apple or Spotify and follow us on TikTok at DailyMailCrime. We're live every Friday and we'll be back next week. Goodbye, Sa.