Things are already getting pretty spicy in the Shawn “Diddy” Combs case, with the trial hitting roadblocks before it ever truly got underway. A major development occurred when the judge decided to delay jury selection because the prosecution’s star witness isn’t returning phone calls and is refusing to show up in court. We don’t know if that means Diddy got to them, but without this person testifying, there’s just not a lot for the prosecution to work with.
Judge Arin Submaranian expressed concern that selecting jurors before the weekend could lead to them getting “cold feet” and dropping off the panel before Monday’s start. This fear was underscored when one potential juror actually sent an email asking to be left off the panel due to personal well-being issues. It makes you wonder – are people getting to these jurors? People are worried about their own safety. While 12 jurors and six alternates have since been selected and sworn in, what’s interesting is that this jury is NOT sequestered. This means that any of these people could potentially be gotten to if someone wanted to.
Opening statements have now begun, with Prosecutor Emily A Johnson laying out the case. The prosecution claims Diddy is a man who spent the last 20 years running a criminal enterprise with the help of bodyguards and staff. They brought up Cassie (R&B artist Cassie Ventur), Diddy’s ex-partner, detailing an alleged incident where Combs reportedly found out she was seeing another man, broke into his home, searched for Cassie, and “pummeled her brutally”. Cassie will likely be mentioned frequently throughout the trial. The prosecution also claims Combs forced Cassie to hook up with male escorts and then blackmailed her with footage of these encounters. We believe all of that happened; we’ve heard about that guy who was allegedly involved.
Combs is charged in a five-count indictment including trafficking, racketeering, and transportation related to alleged sexual encounters. He has plead not guilty. If convicted, he faces 10 years to life in prison.
Despite the severe charges, we remain confident that Diddy will not do much time in jail, if at all. He’s not on trial for that alleged incident with Cassie; that’s already been settled. The focus has to be on the facts of this specific trial. And if that missing star witness doesn’t provide strong testimony, we just don’t believe he’s going to see much jail time. Based on the evidence out there right now, we’ve essentially seen mountains of what seems like hearsay.
Over three days of jury selection, dozens of New Yorkers testified about what they’d learned about the case online, through word of mouth, news reports, text conversations, and even Joe Rogan’s podcast or satirical songs. It seems they dig deep into potential jurors’ online activity.
Interestingly, Diddy, who was once the life of the party known for lavish gatherings and countless celebrity friends, now has very few A-list supporters. You have to wonder why. Maybe it’s because many of them were at these parties and don’t want to be associated. Being around Diddy now could potentially get you implicated in the case. Being associated with Combs in this federal case is risky and could tarnish the images of A-list celebrities. While many A-listers are steering clear, some exceptions include Kanye West and former Bad Boys producer Stevie J, who called many of the civil lawsuits bogus. Stevie J said he’d be surprised if they weren’t, and we’d be very surprised too; they seem bogus to us.
In other news related to the case, R&B singer Al B. Sure has stated he is willing to testify against Diddy. Al B. Sure believes that the passing of Diddy’s late ex, Kim Porter, was Diddy’s doing. He’s promoting his upcoming memoir and says he knows the truth and has no issue taking Diddy down. We happen to believe that’s likely; not a lot of 45-year-old millionaires die from the flu. However, it’s important to remember that how he treats women generally is not what’s on trial here.
Beyond the federal charges, Combs has also faced over 50 civil lawsuits alleging bad behavior. One notable case was filed by Cassie Ventur in 2023 and was privately settled within a day. Our take is that they got paid off – you can make a lot of stuff go away if you throw enough money around.
We believe that Diddy is likely a “burned asset” – meaning he was providing information to the US government, which allowed him to operate with impunity. We believe this allowed him to continue things like taking the life of his ex-girlfriend or ex-wife in exchange for compromising information on Hollywood celebrities. This is similar to what many believe happened with Jeffrey Epstein. If that’s the case, he probably has no chance at all in this trial.
We’ll be watching closely as the trial progresses and will bring you updates.
