Speaker 1: Hey, folks, it is Thursday, July tenth, and didty he
Speaker 1: got a key to the city and now he had
Speaker 1: to give it back. Howard University gave him an honorary degree.
Speaker 1: He had to give that back to But you know what,
Speaker 1: he doesn't have to get back his four hundred million
Speaker 1: dollar fortune. And with that, everybody, welcome to this Didy
Speaker 1: update episode of Amy and TJ. Rose. We talk about
Speaker 1: it was such a big win for him in the
Speaker 1: courtroom with that verdict. That verdict gave him a very
Speaker 1: big win in his finances.
Speaker 2: That's correct because had he been convicted of the more
Speaker 2: serious charges sex trafficking and of course those that Rico charge,
Speaker 2: racketeering and conspiracy, the Feds would then have been able
Speaker 2: to justify seizing every piece of property that was used
Speaker 2: while committing those crimes, including his mansions, including his private
Speaker 2: plane where there were alleged incidents happening, including pretty much
Speaker 2: everything he owns to transport and participate in his life,
Speaker 2: because that would have been a part of his criminal enterprise.
Speaker 3: You can argue, Rose that that's everything, every bit of
Speaker 3: bad boy, every bit of his business, is every bit
Speaker 3: of everything you were reaping benefits all of this was
Speaker 3: a whole organization working and they could go after that money.
Speaker 1: I didn't piece it together at the time because I
Speaker 1: think most of us were thinking about verdict and jail time. Yes,
Speaker 1: but this is enormous for Sean Combs to be able
Speaker 1: to hold on to assets, a huge fortune. Look, yes,
Speaker 1: we're going to get into some of the stuff that
Speaker 1: is going out. Money is not coming in as quickly
Speaker 1: or at all or at all. And again, but it's
Speaker 1: weird to think. Yes, so much was lost during his trial,
Speaker 1: and so many victims and so much pain, But financially speaking,
Speaker 1: this was enormous for him to hear not guilty on racketeering.
Speaker 2: It's true because this was one of the wealthiest black
Speaker 2: men in the world, fair to say, certainly in this country,
Speaker 2: and there was so much at stake, and he was
Speaker 2: facing losing his freedom but also everything he had earned
Speaker 2: throughout his life, perhaps that he wanted to pass on
Speaker 2: to his children and their children. They talked about. The
Speaker 2: prosecution talked about him having an enterprise, and that a
Speaker 2: criminal enterprise, and that was certainly not believed necessarily by
Speaker 2: the jury or a lot of folks who were listening.
Speaker 2: But he did have an empire, so to speak. I
Speaker 2: mean he was called a music mogul.
Speaker 1: And it all started, of course with music. You go
Speaker 1: back to the nineties, a lot of people didn't maybe
Speaker 1: initially know the name Puffy or p Diddy, but Notorious
Speaker 1: Vig Biggie Smalls. Like, even if you didn't know his music,
Speaker 1: which most people do, you still remembered how he was killed,
Speaker 1: how Tupac was killed. Right, he was such a part
Speaker 1: of the culture. You know him did he was right
Speaker 1: behind him producing those albums and pushing and pushing and
Speaker 1: pushing one of the biggest stars hip hop has. So
Speaker 1: that's where it started. But Robes he took hip hop
Speaker 1: and music and hits, and then he built an empire.
Speaker 1: And that's why we call him a mogal. Now had
Speaker 1: he had a long list of things that he was successful.
Speaker 2: Yes, it wasn't just Bad Boy records, but he also
Speaker 2: had Remember the clothing line Sean John that was everywhere.
Speaker 2: I feel like I still see it sometimes on the
Speaker 2: streets of New York. He had a television network, Revolt TV.
Speaker 1: Network, based down in Atlanta. I remember going by that
Speaker 1: place before. I had friends that worked there.
Speaker 2: Definitely heard about his alcohol companies right, Sarrak vodka daily
Speaker 2: on Tequila Soirak I'm more familiar with and those that
Speaker 2: got those, Yeah, and just I was just looking at
Speaker 2: the ads. Actually he no longer is a part of
Speaker 2: them or affiliated with them, but it's very sexy, it's
Speaker 2: very European and he was certainly a big promoter of
Speaker 2: it until all of this. And I didn't know this,
Speaker 2: but he had a water company, Aqua Hydrate.
Speaker 1: Alkaline water company, owned it with Mark, I believe, and
Speaker 1: then they ended up building it up, selling it for
Speaker 1: a mint and still had shares in it. So he
Speaker 1: was doing great. And look, don't take our word for it.
Speaker 1: There are people who keep up with these numbers. He
Speaker 1: was a regular at Forbes. He was on list after list,
Speaker 1: year after year, and as recently rose as two thousand.
Speaker 1: That wasn't that long ago. He was still making the
Speaker 1: list as one of the most well paid celebrities.
Speaker 2: In this country, highest earning celebrities. He made the list
Speaker 2: on two thousand, but I'm sorry. He made some pretty
Speaker 2: incredible lists after that. On Forbes five back in twenty seventeen,
Speaker 2: the richest in Hip hop eight hundred and twenty million dollars.
Speaker 2: That's how much. Forbes said he was worth in twenty seventeen,
Speaker 2: and that put him.
Speaker 1: Number one on the list of hip hop earners that year,
Speaker 1: that above who else, Doctor Dre. I think jay Z
Speaker 1: was number two. I think Kanye is on the list
Speaker 1: to keep going through. I think now, I mean Drake
Speaker 1: was getting going at that point. Those are the name
Speaker 1: some of the biggest names, and he was number one
Speaker 1: on top.
Speaker 2: Of the all number one twenty nineteen. He was reportedly
Speaker 2: worth seven hundred and forty million. That's what you keep
Speaker 2: hearing people refer back to. And most folks say he
Speaker 2: was well on his way to billionaire status. And I
Speaker 2: believe there were folks within the Combs camp who said,
Speaker 2: before all of this happened, before the allegations first surfaced
Speaker 2: from Cassie, he had a billion I don't think it
Speaker 2: was ever proven, but they definitely said he was a
Speaker 2: billionaire when that lawsuit came about just what a year
Speaker 2: and a half ago, thirteen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a year and a half ago. I mean, so
Speaker 1: he was doing well. If he's not on top of
Speaker 1: the music industry anymore, in the past couple of years,
Speaker 1: he was still doing well. The latest estimates had his
Speaker 1: value at least at trial time, if you will, at
Speaker 1: around four hundred million dollars. So that's what we're talking
Speaker 1: about him going into this trial, if you will, if
Speaker 1: you believe the estimates, he was sitting on about four
Speaker 1: hundred million dollars. So lawsuit start getting dropped, and then
Speaker 1: Cassie's lawsuit drops.
Speaker 2: He settles that one twenty million dollars out of pocket.
Speaker 1: Start doing some math there, twenty million dollars out of
Speaker 1: pocket and nobody knows what these civil lawsuits, how that's
Speaker 1: gonna go down. But that's a lot of lawyers, a
Speaker 1: lot of lawyers.
Speaker 2: Even if you aren't paying out, even if you don't
Speaker 2: even reach a settlement and you make them go away,
Speaker 2: you're still paying your lawyers to handle each and every
Speaker 2: one of those lawsuits. And this is actually a true statement.
Speaker 2: When you google and you try to find out just
Speaker 2: how many civil lawsuits there are now against Diddy, it's
Speaker 2: too many to count. I don't know that anyone has
Speaker 2: an accurate number, that's but dozens and dozens is what
Speaker 2: people typically are reporting. But that's kind of insane when
Speaker 2: you think about it. There are so many lawsuits against you,
Speaker 2: I'm sure they're all in the millions, and there are
Speaker 2: too many to count.
Speaker 1: So that's lawyers. Forget the settlements that might come, but
Speaker 1: that's lawyers. There isn't even an estimate of how much
Speaker 1: that can cost him. So he's sitting on four hundred million.
Speaker 1: It's minus twenty for Cassie. Now, how much does his
Speaker 1: defense team cost? The best in the business? Was it
Speaker 1: eight of them? I think, working NonStop for you since
Speaker 1: about twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2: I cannot even imagine how much. I know how much
Speaker 2: the little bit of lawyers fees that I had to
Speaker 2: pay for a couple of days worth of work, and
Speaker 2: that was seven figures, So I can't imagine what is
Speaker 2: it one hundred million dollars now I'm discussing, No, but
Speaker 2: at least at least fifty million, twenty five million.
Speaker 1: They well, the estimates of the experts out there say
Speaker 1: it's at least eight figures. Obviously in the eight figures,
Speaker 1: but ten fifteen is where they land. I don't know,
Speaker 1: how does that sound high? Does it sound low? That's
Speaker 1: a lot of money, no matter what.
Speaker 2: Well, there were so many lawyers too, with all big
Speaker 2: names and big firms and pair.
Speaker 1: Of legals, and that everybody's working around the clot you
Speaker 1: know what, it worked. Whatever he spent, it was worth it.
Speaker 2: It was worth it. It was an investment in his freedom.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, So money isn't coming necessarily back in music though
Speaker 1: he is still and has been making it for the
Speaker 1: past couple of years. If you have not noticed, Diddy
Speaker 1: has put out I guess a critically acclaimed or at
Speaker 1: least Grammy nominated album just in the past couple of years.
Speaker 2: Twenty twenty three love album Off the Grid Grammy nominated,
Speaker 2: and as a part of that whole process he had
Speaker 2: and I didn't realize this jenomena, the Age of Pleasure.
Speaker 2: He was a part of that, and she actually was
Speaker 2: nominated as well. The same year twenty twenty three, he
Speaker 2: had two Grammy nominations.
Speaker 1: So they don't have a lot, at least on the
Speaker 1: slate of bad Boy artists. You can't name it to
Speaker 1: have big projects or have big tours of doing anything
Speaker 1: big at this point. But bad Boy is still operational
Speaker 1: as of two years ago, put out two albums that actually.
Speaker 2: Were critically acclaimed.
Speaker 1: We're critically acclaimed.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: That does not mean necessarily that bad Boy Enter two
Speaker 1: is bawling at this point, but his streaming music is everywhere,
Speaker 1: I mean, his own stuff, but he's a producer on
Speaker 1: so much. He's just so present all over in streaming
Speaker 1: and robes, at least at this point most I mean,
Speaker 1: he's not disappearing from the streaming sites.
Speaker 2: No, not at all. In fact, this was an interesting tidbit.
Speaker 2: His music saw a twenty percent boost in US streaming
Speaker 2: between April and May of twenty twenty five. Why then, hmmm,
Speaker 2: because it's so interesting. Apparently, if you're making headlines, even
Speaker 2: for all the bad, worst reasons, you can imagine people
Speaker 2: are interested and click on your music and listen to it.
Speaker 2: And that is exactly what happened. In fact, an article
Speaker 2: said that you actually could watch the numbers, the streaming
Speaker 2: numbers jump when key moments were happening in the trial.
Speaker 2: Throughout the trial in May, so when Cassie testified, they said, boom,
Speaker 2: they saw a spike in his music. When Kid Cutty testified,
Speaker 2: spike probably in both of theiric music. But it was
Speaker 2: completely tied to headlines and interest in people going on
Speaker 2: and saying, let me take a listen to that.
Speaker 1: Can we admit I've listened to Cassie songs in the
Speaker 1: past two three months and I haven't listened to a
Speaker 1: Cassie song in years probably, So whatever that is, it
Speaker 1: just gets to you and you just automatically start listening.
Speaker 2: Well, I start listening to lyrics differently too, because now
Speaker 2: suddenly they don't sound the same to me. So that's
Speaker 2: been interesting. I think there's some sort of interest in
Speaker 2: that too, Like what was he saying? Was he telling
Speaker 2: us what he was doing? Was he was he acting
Speaker 2: like he was someone else? Or is the person who
Speaker 2: we're hearing all about behind the scenes from a sexual
Speaker 2: standpoint not that different from the guy who's singing those lyrics.
Speaker 1: It sounds different. We had some stuff on. Yes, I
Speaker 1: didn't sound like the Diddy. We no, no, we now.
Speaker 2: Know, but I will say, but people are fickle. They
Speaker 2: don't stick with you.
Speaker 1: Funny enough.
Speaker 2: This last month in June, you know, when the trial
Speaker 2: was kind of waiting and interest it got a little
Speaker 2: more boring with connecting the dots and people who were
Speaker 2: testifying about things other than baby oil and freak offs.
Speaker 2: There was a five to ten percent decrease in downloads
Speaker 2: from the months before, so people were like, eh, I'm
Speaker 2: over it.
Speaker 1: I haven't seen though that there has he's taken a
Speaker 1: hit necessarily like a backlash, you willga.
Speaker 2: No, quite the opposite. No, not. In fact, if you
Speaker 2: say they were a twenty percent jump in April and
Speaker 2: May and they're only dropped five or ten percent in June,
Speaker 2: they're still up from before.
Speaker 1: Since his arrest, and says the Cassie video, even I
Speaker 1: don't remember doing stories about people running. They some brands
Speaker 1: were running from him. But I don't remember listeners or
Speaker 1: stories about his streaming or have huge dips or anything
Speaker 1: like that. I don't know if it ever happened with him.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean we've had this conversation plenty when other
Speaker 2: artists have been charged with heinous crimes, from Michael Jackson
Speaker 2: to who's the most recent, Smokey Robinson. You know, I
Speaker 2: think people actually probably start listening more, they start getting fascinated,
Speaker 2: they're reminded by it. And yes, some people, of course
Speaker 2: are going to be turned off by it and never
Speaker 2: listen to them again. But I don't think that's most people.
Speaker 2: I think most people do the opposite.
Speaker 1: What do we do with that? And I'm doing We've
Speaker 1: done it subconsciously. I don't even I'm looking a wow
Speaker 1: at twenty percent jump. What are people thinking? Well, I'm
Speaker 1: thinking about myself. I do the same damn thing. This
Speaker 1: morning we were reporting on allegations against Smokey Robinson. We
Speaker 1: played nothing but Smokey Robinson songs probably that morning just
Speaker 1: cut like subconsciously, it just came on.
Speaker 2: Apparently we're just like everyone else, because it shows very
Speaker 2: clearly that that is indeed what people do. It's true
Speaker 2: and you know what, that's just I think human nature.
Speaker 2: And what about did he sun putting out music?
Speaker 1: Was it King Comb's King Kombs Never Stop and it
Speaker 1: had the song? Did he free on it? I don't
Speaker 1: know that could read. This is the timing and poor
Speaker 1: taste and seeming to take advantage of a moment. But hey,
Speaker 1: he wanted to put something out and express himself as
Speaker 1: Dad's life is on the line. But yeah, that's out now.
Speaker 1: I don't know how that's doing.
Speaker 2: I did find it interesting that the project that King
Speaker 2: Combs and Yay Kanye released together was released by do
Speaker 2: you know this company? Goodfellas Entertainment. I just thought that
Speaker 2: was oh so ironic given how they were trying to
Speaker 2: convict Didy on racketeering and conspiracy charges normally reserved for
Speaker 2: members of the mafia or mob. So just the fact
Speaker 2: that Goodfella's entertainment released that just wasn't lost on me.
Speaker 2: That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I could you piecing it all together? Well, folks, stay
Speaker 1: with us. We got a couple more things to piece
Speaker 1: together here, Sean John, You remember that clothing line. It
Speaker 1: seemed to be everywhere for a long time. Well, we
Speaker 1: can tell you one place you certainly won't find it.
Speaker 1: When retailer says uh uh no more and reco what
Speaker 1: exactly is that? And how has he now been saved
Speaker 1: from losing his four hundred million dollars? All right, folks,
Speaker 1: we talked about did he's music. We've talked about his
Speaker 1: estimated worth. We've talked about streaming numbers. We've talked about
Speaker 1: what he is losing, if you will. Robes, we were
Speaker 1: talking about Sarrac and d Leon, his liquor companies. I
Speaker 1: believe he did. He's not involved with Sarac anymore.
Speaker 2: No. They He actually got into a legal dispute. He
Speaker 2: didn't feel like he was being fairly represented, and so
Speaker 2: as a part of that legal dispute and was a
Speaker 2: part of the settlement, he gave over the rights to
Speaker 2: both of those liquors. So they're still going strong, but
Speaker 2: just zero affiliation with Ditty anymore.
Speaker 1: And he was everywhere promoting that for a long time,
Speaker 1: and that thing took off.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, allegations that he wasn't given the same support
Speaker 2: as other celebrities and that he was only being used
Speaker 2: basically to make an appearance of diversity versus actually making
Speaker 2: an investment in diversity. So he was very upset about that.
Speaker 1: Well, it worked because I was all about the rock
Speaker 1: locker and some of those flavors for a little while.
Speaker 1: He also has Sean John the clothing line. Now this
Speaker 1: wasn't Sean. This was an early one that people got
Speaker 1: away from when the Cassie video came out.
Speaker 2: Yes, I definitely stopped seeing that really very often, but
Speaker 2: specifically Macy's. Yes, cut ties with him and just it basically,
Speaker 2: what do they say, it's on pause? They didn't really
Speaker 2: say it's over dormant. It's dormant that I used on pause.
Speaker 2: But so perhaps they're hoping it could come back. But
Speaker 2: it was all the rage in the ninety I just
Speaker 2: was it the oughts? Is that what we call it?
Speaker 2: The two thousands? Yeah, I'm trying at the aughts. I
Speaker 2: feel like that's where I saw so many Sean John
Speaker 2: clothing everywhere.
Speaker 1: It was everywhere, and I haven't seen it lately, so
Speaker 1: that's kind of going away. So he doesn't have a
Speaker 1: throat music industry, he doesn't have a thriving liquor industry anymore,
Speaker 1: he doesn't have a thriving clothing line anymore. So what
Speaker 1: does did? He does? He is able to hold onto
Speaker 1: his money. But again we keep saying Rico, Rico, Rico, Rico.
Speaker 1: Racketeer influenced corrupt organizations is what that stands for. And
Speaker 1: again it was specifically created to go after mob bosses.
Speaker 1: It's particularly created so the guy at the bottom running
Speaker 1: on the street doing the bidding of the guy at
Speaker 1: the top, Well, the guy at the bottom isn't the
Speaker 1: only one that's going to get in trouble. It's the
Speaker 1: guy at the top. That is essentially what RICO is.
Speaker 1: You're running an enterprise, okay, did he has not been
Speaker 1: found guilty of running an enterprise and robes This was
Speaker 1: everything because a big part of RICO, they have specific
Speaker 1: laws attached to them that they forfeit your loss. Correct
Speaker 1: that right can take your shit.
Speaker 2: They can take it all because they say if it
Speaker 2: was either used in the criminal process or whatever crimes
Speaker 2: to your community, it was a part of that transportation, entertainment, whatever.
Speaker 2: If anything was happening in any of those properties that
Speaker 2: you owned, that they could then be seized. And also
Speaker 2: if any of your profits that you gleaned from having
Speaker 2: or been committing criminal acts, if you're using that to
Speaker 2: purchase things, they can take that away from you as well.
Speaker 2: So you know all, I only know this from watching
Speaker 2: mob movies, and you know, the wives of like, all
Speaker 2: of a sudden, their homes are being that's accurate, taken away,
Speaker 2: their cars are being taken there. They're trying to hide
Speaker 2: their jewelry. This is what movie was that was it?
Speaker 2: The Godfather trying to hide things that the government won't
Speaker 2: take it. That's how I'm like, yeah, you're right, that
Speaker 2: does happen.
Speaker 1: No, you're right, And I watch mob documentaries and that's
Speaker 1: exactly how it goes down on those as well. Yes,
Speaker 1: they will take everything. They're going to go after everything
Speaker 1: with robes. This is interesting. Now they could go after
Speaker 1: something of his that he used in prostitution. The law is,
Speaker 1: but he didn't fly.
Speaker 2: Them to him, but he flew Cassie and Jane on
Speaker 2: those planes, which were a part of the prostitution.
Speaker 3: I wonder.
Speaker 2: I know he didn't get charged with sex trafficking, but.
Speaker 1: That plane, Oh oh no, this doesn't count.
Speaker 2: It doesn't doesn't know it's only the male. So I
Speaker 2: don't know for a prostitution they could because we'll see
Speaker 2: how this goes. But there have been legal experts who
Speaker 2: believe the prosecution is going to try and have his
Speaker 2: past deeds that he admitted be considered in sentencing. So
Speaker 2: I wonder if they could also consider past deeds that
Speaker 2: he admitted, including domestic violence or any of the above,
Speaker 2: if those happened in any of his properties, could they
Speaker 2: then go after those properties?
Speaker 1: Is it worth it to them at this point? Maybe
Speaker 1: they think they might be seeking more justice, or they
Speaker 1: might be saying, do we need to take another l
Speaker 1: We've already stretched ourselves and see where God is? Do
Speaker 1: we need to do this again and get more egg
Speaker 1: on our face? Who knows?
Speaker 2: We shall see, but I'm sure at the very least
Speaker 2: it does look like from most financial experts, most legal
Speaker 2: experts will say that not only did did he dodge
Speaker 2: a huge basically a huge bullet in terms of his freedom,
Speaker 2: but he also dodged a huge financial one as well.