It has been quite the tumultuous past 6 months for Sean 'Diddy' Combs.
The longtime musician and mogul caught his first of a series of haymakers on Nov. 16th, 2023, as his former girlfriend Cassie filed an explosive lawsuit against Combs, alleging a myriad of disgraceful crimes from the time period that the two were involved from 2007 to 2018, including but not limited to: rape, physical abuse, and even the blowing up of Kid Cudi's vehicle after learning of Cudi's romantic interest in Cassie. The lawsuit carries a trigger warning.
Cassie: "After years in silence and darkness, I am finally ready to tell my story... this was an opportunity to speak up about the trauma I have experienced and that I will be recovering from for the rest of my life."
Diddy and his camp settled with Casandra "Cassie" Ventura in remarkably quick fashion; less than 24 hours after the lawsuit hit the mainstream, to be exact. Diddy's lawyers maintained that the swiftness with which the lawsuit was settled doesn't signal admission of wrongdoing in any way from Diddy, and while that may technically be true... in terms of Diddy's credibility and innocence in the court of public opinion? The damage was already done.
There have long been rumors and whispers of Diddy's criminality and sexual deviancy for years, ever since his reign at his record label, Bad Boy in the late '90s. If you're a believer in "wherever there's smoke, there's fire", Cassie's lawsuit provided vindication for many in the industry, as well as for outsiders & spectators like myself. There were also many that thought that the disgusting & heinous allegations levied in that lawsuit were only the tip of the iceberg as it pertained to Diddy. Time has appeared to have proven those people exactly right.
Diddy got hit with a subsequent lawsuit during the last week of February -- this one being levied by a producer of his, Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones.
Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones' lawsuit against Diddy carried details in it that proved to be explosive in the world of popular culture.
This lawsuit was extremely notable, not just because it cast more aspersions onto Diddy -- it painted quite the picture of the level of debauchery with Diddy's confidants and counterparts as well, including his sons Justin & Christian "King" Combs, Yung Miami, and Cuba Gooding Jr. The suit also pointed to music industry stars Usher & Meek Mill being sexually involved with Diddy. Kory David & I first covered this lawsuit and its collateral damage in an earlier episode of The Recess Bell Podcast.
It now appears that these two lawsuits from Ventura and Jones served as a serious precursor for what would be heading Diddy's way next. Here's the thing: civil cases (like lawsuits) only carry financial penalties for its defendants, NOT any jail time like cases tried in criminal court do. Civil court cases don't carry criminal charges, yes. But what a compelling civil case such as the aforementioned two can do for law enforcement is give them a solid baseline on how to proceed in a criminal investigation.
Clearly, the FBI & Homeland Security took advantage of that baseline, and provided enough probable cause to carry out raids on BOTH Diddy's Beverly Hills, CA & Miami, FL homes on March 26th. The raids sent shockwaves across the country, as it was declared that the raids were in connection to an investigation into sex trafficking & drug trafficking, with a possible RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) to be levied against Diddy.
Yet & still, the only arrest that has been made to this point in connection to Diddy has been ex-Syracuse Orange hooper Brendan Paul, who has been allegedly serving as Diddy's drug mule, international & domestic, for years.
Brendan Paul, who played for Syracuse Orange basketball from 2018-20, was arrested almost immediately after the raids of Diddy's homes.
That didn't stop myself, Kory and Justin Greenberg from discussing Diddy's Disaster in detail. Check out our conversation below.
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