Speaker 1: Hey, the folks, welcome to this episode of Amy and
Speaker 1: TJ covering the Diddy trial roads. We have been talking
Speaker 1: about this for the past week. We got the first
Speaker 1: full week of testimony. No doubts at all, Cassie Venturists
Speaker 1: testimony is gonna be talked about for quite some time.
Speaker 1: We wrote it talking about it bombshell after bombshell after
Speaker 1: bombshell for days on the stand.
Speaker 2: That's right. And she, of course is the prosecution's star witness,
Speaker 2: and she is the one who brought the lawsuit to
Speaker 2: begin with, that created the criminal investigation that ensued and
Speaker 2: is the reason why Sean Ditty Combs is on trial
Speaker 2: now facing five federal charges.
Speaker 1: Yeah, she finished on Friday. We should let folks know.
Speaker 1: She wrapped up and they made sure they had her
Speaker 1: done by noon, by lunchtime on Friday because frankly, she's
Speaker 1: eight and a half months pregnant and they were concerned
Speaker 1: she might have the baby this weekend. That did nice.
Speaker 2: She did not know, but you know, three days of
Speaker 2: testimony for anyone testifying about anything would be overwhelming and difficult.
Speaker 2: But she was reliving the most atrocious, grotesque, unimaginable events
Speaker 2: that I don't think anyone could have an easy time retelling,
Speaker 2: and yet she's doing it while she's eight and a
Speaker 2: half months pregnant, and she's talking about suicidal thoughts. She's
Speaker 2: talking about parties, sex parties that lasted for four days,
Speaker 2: physical injuries, traumatic mental injuries. I mean this and all
Speaker 2: with her husband in the courtroom watching her detail heinous,
Speaker 2: heinous crimes that she says happened to her.
Speaker 1: And so that's where we finished up on Friday with
Speaker 1: her testimony. But then they called someone else down, Richard,
Speaker 1: who is a member of Danity Kane, the group that
Speaker 1: was on making the band that did he put together.
Speaker 1: She testified, and we'll get into some of her testimony
Speaker 1: in just a moment, but as far as we understood,
Speaker 1: she was being cross examined today the day the recording
Speaker 1: this here on Monday, so we'll have some more details
Speaker 1: of her testimony when the day concludes. But rome's one
Speaker 1: major I guess, I guess a major development on Friday
Speaker 1: when Cassie finished with all of her testimony that was
Speaker 1: again bombshell after bombshell, graphic and gripping. We then heard
Speaker 1: from her personally. She didn't come out and to an
Speaker 1: interview but her attorney came out and released a statement
Speaker 1: and a pretty powerful statement that gave us a little
Speaker 1: bit of an insight into just what the experience had
Speaker 1: been for her in testifying for the past several days.
Speaker 2: Yes, so she and this is a very smart thing
Speaker 2: to do. I think the last thing she would want
Speaker 2: to do is stand in front of reporters or do
Speaker 2: an interview after everything she went through. So she released
Speaker 2: a statement that everyone could read, and she got to
Speaker 2: say what she wanted to. She said, this week has
Speaker 2: been extremely challenging, and that would be an understatement completely
Speaker 2: at this point for her. She said, this week has
Speaker 2: been extremely challenging, but also remarkably empowering. She said that
Speaker 2: she hoped that her story my testimony has given strength
Speaker 2: and a voice to other survivors and can help others
Speaker 2: who have suffered to speak up and also heal from
Speaker 2: abuse and fear. That's remarkable. And she also went on
Speaker 2: to say for me, the more I heal, the more
Speaker 2: I can remember, and the more I can remember, the
Speaker 2: more I will never forget. I want to thank my
Speaker 2: family and my advocates for their unwavering support, and I'm
Speaker 2: grateful for all the kindness and encouragement that I have received,
Speaker 2: that is, you know, you felt for her when she
Speaker 2: was on the stand, but I thought her her statement
Speaker 2: was very empowering to so many other people who were
Speaker 2: listening to her. A lot of people we heard who
Speaker 2: had nothing to do with Shaun Didecombs but have experienced
Speaker 2: their own traumas actually felt triggered by hearing her actually
Speaker 2: get on the stand and talk about what she went
Speaker 2: through as an abuse victim.
Speaker 1: And we've had a conversation here here lately, plenty of
Speaker 1: conversations about where do people draw the line between someone
Speaker 1: being an accomplice and someone being a willing participant and
Speaker 1: someone actually being a vict them And it's probably not
Speaker 1: as simple as this or that one way or another.
Speaker 1: And we've talked to other people who look at Cassie
Speaker 1: and other who who were around did he who I
Speaker 1: think a lot of people would classify as victims. Well,
Speaker 1: we have other people saying these people were complicit as well.
Speaker 1: These folks went along with it and in some way
Speaker 1: were accomplices. It's a very complicated conversation to have, but
Speaker 1: it shouldn't just be black or white. You're either you're
Speaker 1: on this person's side or not on that person's side.
Speaker 1: It's just this case is proving to be a little
Speaker 1: more complicated, a lot more excuse me, complicated than that.
Speaker 2: Right, there is a there is a line, or maybe
Speaker 2: even a blurred line at this point as you point
Speaker 2: out between being a victim and being an accomplice at
Speaker 2: one point or just being complicit. You know, there's just
Speaker 2: there is a lot of gray area, and I think
Speaker 2: a lot of people who have been groomed and who
Speaker 2: were young at the time can absolutely understand that blurry line.
Speaker 2: By the way, Ventur did finish her statement, and this
Speaker 2: was this was important too, because she's asking, she's asking
Speaker 2: for privacy. She said, I'm glad to put this ch
Speaker 2: after of my life to rest as I turned to
Speaker 2: focus on the conclusion of my pregnancy. I asked for
Speaker 2: privacy for me and for my growing family. She already
Speaker 2: has children, now she has another baby on the way.
Speaker 2: And the hope is that by her actually coming forward,
Speaker 2: putting a face to it, saying what happened to her
Speaker 2: in unbelievable detail, that she can finally put this to
Speaker 2: bed and get justice.
Speaker 1: This is what they are trying to establish this week,
Speaker 1: and we've had a lot of conversations with folks ropes
Speaker 1: who are questioning, like, wait a minute, this is I
Speaker 1: see him as an abuser on the video, but this
Speaker 1: is not what this case is about. So why is
Speaker 1: she up there speaking and testifying so much to abuse
Speaker 1: when he's not charged for domestic violence. But they are
Speaker 1: establishing their case a racketeering case, They're establishing a prostitution case,
Speaker 1: a sex trafficking case by showing that this guy was
Speaker 1: in command and control. She has more insights into these
Speaker 1: free colls than maybe anybody, and so they're trying to
Speaker 1: establish a case by showing, hey, yes, she went through this,
Speaker 1: she experienced this. That sets whatever up for the jury
Speaker 1: who was going to have an emotional reaction to her.
Speaker 1: But folks, they are building a case, their case that racketeering,
Speaker 1: that sex trafficking. She is very much in the middle
Speaker 1: of that. Even she wasn't a victim of it, she
Speaker 1: can establish I guess the whole the coersion, the racketeering,
Speaker 1: the rico case that they are trying to put together.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she absolutely admitted to seeking out some of these
Speaker 2: male escorts and bringing them in and then doing what
Speaker 2: she was told. She says. By Sean Diddy, Coombs herself.
Speaker 2: And you know, we've talked about this a lot because
Speaker 2: her husband, Alex Fine, was asked to be removed from
Speaker 2: the courtroom while she actually detailed what the most heinous
Speaker 2: thing that was done to her, perhaps you could say,
Speaker 2: at least from a legal standpoint, And again Diddy is
Speaker 2: not charged with this specific crime, but she said that
Speaker 2: she was raped by him. And that was the one
Speaker 2: moment that her husband walked out of the courtroom, and
Speaker 2: not because he wanted to, but because the defense and
Speaker 2: the prosecution came to an agreement that he would do
Speaker 2: so because Combe's lawyers did not want him in the
Speaker 2: courtorate because they say they might actually call him back
Speaker 2: to the stand when they get their turn at defending
Speaker 2: Shan Didnycomb. So we will see what happens with that.
Speaker 2: But in the meantime, her husband did also release a statement.
Speaker 2: They didn't release a joint statement. They put out statements
Speaker 2: separate from one another. But I actually really loved to
Speaker 2: hear what Alex had to say, so we're gonna read
Speaker 2: them for you. Here. He said, over the past five days,
Speaker 2: the world has gotten to witness the strength and bravery
Speaker 2: of my wife freely being herself and freeing herself of
Speaker 2: her past. There have been speculation online surrounding how it
Speaker 2: must feel for me to sit there and to listen
Speaker 2: to my wife's testimony. I have felt so many things
Speaker 2: sitting there. I have felt tremendous pride and overwhelming love
Speaker 2: for Cassie. I have felt profound anger that she has
Speaker 2: been subjected to sitting in front of a person who
Speaker 2: tried to break her him and all of those who
Speaker 2: helped him along the way. Please know this, you did not.
Speaker 2: You did not break her spirit nor her smile that
Speaker 2: lights up every room. You did not break the soul
Speaker 2: of a mother who gives the best hugs and plays
Speaker 2: the silliest games with our little girls. You did not
Speaker 2: break the woman who has made me a better man.
Speaker 2: He said, That's some powerful stuff. I think that's something
Speaker 2: that I think every wife would want to hear from
Speaker 2: the man who is standing by her and with her
Speaker 2: detailing the most horrific time of her life.
Speaker 1: I have to remember you all, this is the gentleman.
Speaker 1: This is her husband, yes, but this is the guy
Speaker 1: who did He paid for as her personal trainer initially.
Speaker 1: This is how he became came into her life and
Speaker 1: became a friend. This is also the guy. According to Cassie,
Speaker 1: they were dating when the alleged rape took place. She
Speaker 1: was already dating her now husband when she went and
Speaker 1: had a goodbye dinner with Ditty one night, she took
Speaker 1: her back to her home, and that's what she said
Speaker 1: the alleged rape took place. So her husband has been around.
Speaker 1: I'm sure she told him about this, but as part
Speaker 1: of the reason that they didn't want him in that courtroom,
Speaker 1: he has some knowledge of what was going on in
Speaker 1: her life around that time because they were dating.
Speaker 2: That's correct, and to that point they had been dating.
Speaker 2: I don't know how serious they were dating at that point,
Speaker 2: because then she did admit on the stand that after
Speaker 2: the alleged rape that she did have consensual sex again
Speaker 2: with Diddy after that. But ultimately, obviously they stopped dating
Speaker 2: and she did continue on with Alex and they got
Speaker 2: married and now they have children. She has another one
Speaker 2: on the way. Obviously. Alex's statement goes on from there.
Speaker 2: He went on to write, I did not save Cassie,
Speaker 2: as some have said. To say that is an insult
Speaker 2: to the years of painful work my wife has done
Speaker 2: to save herself Cassie saved Cassie. She alone broke free
Speaker 2: from abuse, coercion, violence, and threats. She did the work
Speaker 2: of fighting the demons that only a demon himself could
Speaker 2: have done to her. All I have done is love
Speaker 2: her as she has loved me. Her life is now
Speaker 2: surrounded by love, laughter, and our family. This horrific chapter
Speaker 2: is forever put behind us, and we will not be
Speaker 2: making additional statements. We appreciate all the love and support
Speaker 2: we have received, and we ask that you respect our
Speaker 2: privacy as we welcome our son into a world that
Speaker 2: is now safer because of his mom. That's powerful.
Speaker 1: This I don't know what to because this might not
Speaker 1: be over necessarily. There are a lot of tentacles to
Speaker 1: this story, and there are a lot of people who
Speaker 1: are still in the midst of legal wranglings of some
Speaker 1: kind having to do with day civil lawsuits.
Speaker 2: How many civil lawsuits are there.
Speaker 1: We couldn't keep up. It was dozens because they were happening,
Speaker 1: so that I don't know the official count. There are
Speaker 1: so many, but Cassie's name is going to come up
Speaker 1: plenty in those lawsuits and in stories in the future.
Speaker 1: And there are plenty of people who do believe that
Speaker 1: Cassie was complicit. I don't think anybody's arguing that she
Speaker 1: was a victim at all. But after hearing her testimony,
Speaker 1: you can't help but get emotional and your heart go out.
Speaker 1: And look, if you see the video she's refered of
Speaker 1: this man. But to think, you know, as it's over,
Speaker 1: she can turn the page. She can like you can
Speaker 1: close this chapter of what you're doing with Diddy and
Speaker 1: you're going to have a baby soon, and it seems
Speaker 1: like everything's going to be washed away, but it's you
Speaker 1: would hope that for her and her family. I hope
Speaker 1: they find some peace in this very important time for them.
Speaker 1: But there is so much of this story, and we're
Speaker 1: learning so much more as we're covering it day in
Speaker 1: and day out, that this is going to be with
Speaker 1: a lot of people for a long time, the rest
Speaker 1: of their lives. But the legal part might be with
Speaker 1: them for a long time.
Speaker 2: You do make a good point because to have that
Speaker 2: many lawsuits and have to have her be an integral
Speaker 2: part of them, because she was, by all accounts, with
Speaker 2: Diddy by his side throughout all of these so called
Speaker 2: freak offs and participated in them. And most people would
Speaker 2: say willingly, But the question is is it something that
Speaker 2: you're doing willingly if you're under the influence, if you're
Speaker 2: under the threat of your own life, under the threat
Speaker 2: of harm by him, physical harm, which again is undeniable.
Speaker 2: That certainly happened to her without question. But where does
Speaker 2: the responsibility lie. Where does the legal responsibility lie with
Speaker 2: someone when they're being coerced, when they're being traumatized, when
Speaker 2: they're being abused, to then be able to make sure
Speaker 2: it doesn't happen to someone else, or you don't participate
Speaker 2: in an event or in a freak off where someone
Speaker 2: else is harmed for someone else is abused. It's very tricky,
Speaker 2: it's very complicated, and it certainly is not a black
Speaker 2: or white issue.
Speaker 1: And we would really encourage people. I know there are
Speaker 1: salacious headlines. They've been out there. As soon as he
Speaker 1: was arrested, all you saw was baby oil, baby oil,
Speaker 1: baby oil. Look, this goes way beyond some damn baby oil.
Speaker 1: And it's so important to have a conversation that goes
Speaker 1: much more in depth than just the headline. So we
Speaker 1: do we encourage everybody. Please, folks, don't just stop at
Speaker 1: a salacious headline and listen to some of these stories,
Speaker 1: listen to some of these people, listen to go read
Speaker 1: a lot of this testimony if you get a chance to.
Speaker 1: It's just this is so complex. Fame and power and
Speaker 1: coersion and money and sex and kinks and drugs and consent.
Speaker 1: All these things are playing and it's just not I'm
Speaker 1: on this side or that side. It's just not that someone.
Speaker 2: The more Tju and I learned about this, the more
Speaker 2: people we talk to, the more interviews we have, the
Speaker 2: more testimony we read, the more my heart just hurts.
Speaker 2: And I think about all of the folks who were victims,
Speaker 2: truly victims. They were young, they were hungry, they were inexperience,
Speaker 2: they wanted to be famous, they wanted to do their art,
Speaker 2: they wanted to get into this industry, and Sean Diddy
Speaker 2: Combs was their way in. And so you do what
Speaker 2: you're told. You follow along because you think that's what
Speaker 2: you're supposed to do. And sometimes you know, when you're young,
Speaker 2: you don't follow your gut. You do what someone tells
Speaker 2: you to do. And that is so much of what
Speaker 2: we have been hearing, and that's what just breaks your heart.
Speaker 2: Anyone who's a parent out there anyone who's ever tried
Speaker 2: to make it in the entertainment industry or who has
Speaker 2: a child who wants to This is some scary stuff
Speaker 2: because it is far reaching. It went on for decades
Speaker 2: and no one spoke up enough where they were actually
Speaker 2: heard and believed, where any sort of policing authority even
Speaker 2: got involved. I mean, that's what's so mind blowing to me.
Speaker 2: The more people we talk to TJ, the more people
Speaker 2: who knew about it. There were videos, there wasn't this
Speaker 2: wasn't just rumors or gossip, there was actual evidence.
Speaker 1: Well that was fear. We talked to say, fear you're
Speaker 1: fearful of your career not taking off, or fearful of
Speaker 1: losing a career, but you have we I think every
Speaker 1: person we talked to has a physical fear. They had
Speaker 1: a real fear of being physically harmed in some way
Speaker 1: by Diddy or his circle of folks. It was just
Speaker 1: that much power in what he was doing at the time.
Speaker 1: So again, these we just encourage you while to please
Speaker 1: listen to the stories, listen to people, and and don't
Speaker 1: be so inclined to say I'm on this side or
Speaker 1: that side, team this person or team that person. That
Speaker 1: always sucks when those come out. We do want to
Speaker 1: let you know though, that Dawn Richard that we mentioned,
Speaker 1: she did get on the stand a prosecution witness. She
Speaker 1: was a member of Dannity Kane. But she has been
Speaker 1: testifying Robes that she witnessed a particular incident in which
Speaker 1: did he threw a skillet that were making eggs, actually
Speaker 1: threw a skillet at her and she curled up on
Speaker 1: the ground in a fetal position trying to protect herself
Speaker 1: from him. She went on to testify that he actually
Speaker 1: dragged her by the hair upstairs after that. At that
Speaker 1: point she heard things breaking and fighting and yelling and screaming.
Speaker 1: But that's been a lot of what she was testifying
Speaker 1: to And again Monday, as we were recording this, she
Speaker 1: was back on the stand this morning.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she was being cross examined, and we heard from
Speaker 2: the defense team questioning her because look, we've seen this
Speaker 2: a lot, and this is nothing new when it comes
Speaker 2: to people who have claimed to be abused. Memories just
Speaker 2: go away just in order to survive, in order to
Speaker 2: deal with you compartmentalize, and then you forget. So his
Speaker 2: defense team was pointing out she wasn't as open about
Speaker 2: the drug use and the narcotics and the ketamine and
Speaker 2: the cocaine and just all of the things we're hearing
Speaker 2: about until recently, and she went out and said that
Speaker 2: the more and this is actually kind of what Alex
Speaker 2: was saying about his own wife's testimony, the further she
Speaker 2: gets away from it, the more she starts to remember.
Speaker 2: But initially she just pushed everything down and away and
Speaker 2: genuinely forgot it because she wanted to. And so now
Speaker 2: the memories are coming back. Now she's remembering more abuses,
Speaker 2: more violations, more drug use, and so they're questioning that.
Speaker 2: They're questioning her credibility because she has changed her story.
Speaker 2: She has added more detail and given more scenarios of
Speaker 2: what happened that she hadn't initially.
Speaker 1: That's their job as a defensive team. You can it
Speaker 1: always happens, right. You hear one side and you're like,
Speaker 1: oh my goodness, yes he's a monster, and you hear
Speaker 1: the other side and they put a little doubt in there.
Speaker 1: So that's what's happening. We will continue to keep an
Speaker 1: eye on what's happening with this trial. It is what
Speaker 1: everybody ropes. Even you don't have to turn on a TV.
Speaker 1: If you have any friend, you only have to look
Speaker 1: at your phone. Anybody in your world, everybody's talking about
Speaker 1: this trial.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and because you know, so many people claim to
Speaker 2: have been hurt, not just hurt, but devastated lives, ruined careers,
Speaker 2: ruined mental health, like just blown to shreds. This has
Speaker 2: been life altering for a lot of folks. And some
Speaker 2: of the folks whose names you might not ever hear,
Speaker 2: who don't want to insert their names and don't want
Speaker 2: to raise their hand and don't want to be a
Speaker 2: part of the testimony or the lawsuits, they're out there too.
Speaker 2: And you know, it's remarkable when you start to really
Speaker 2: really investigate what may have happened for decades. It's the
Speaker 2: best way I can describe it as I just it's sickening,
Speaker 2: but it's eye opening, and I think it's important to
Speaker 2: remember and to recognize that this happens, and we all
Speaker 2: have to be a part of making sure it doesn't.
Speaker 2: We have to give people a voice, we have to
Speaker 2: believe people at times, and we have to make sure
Speaker 2: that the right people are investigated, not just because you're powerful,
Speaker 2: they're rich, that you somehow get to evade justice or
Speaker 2: you get to be above the law, and we're seeing
Speaker 2: that all play out in court, all.
Speaker 1: Right, so folks, please stick with us. We will continue
Speaker 1: to keep you updated about the ditty trial. But now
Speaker 1: I'm TJ. Holmes, and I.
Speaker 2: Mean the robot. Thanks for listening, Have a good day.
Speaker 1: Ikeation pushed the GAT