In a court case that's beginning to feel like a dark Netflix series rather than a place for justice to be done, the trial of hip-hop kingpin Sean "Diddy" Combs has now escalated to the point where his antics are more than just extravagant celebrity cavalier nonsense but they or calculating sexual manipulation.
On Day 28 of his federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial in New York, jurors had the evidence-based rug pulled right out from under them by inspector Joseph Cerciello of Homeland Security Investigations, who walked them through an incriminating digital breadcrumb trail. Otherwise, it was everything from hotel bookings to high-dollar escort negotiations, prosecutors say, that Diddy used his powerful business empire to grow a secret world of sex-fueled power plays.
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The most arresting moment, perhaps? Texts of Diddy negotiating rates with Cowboys 4 Angels, a luxury male escort agency. Valued at a billion dollars, the music tycoon was rumored to have given the app maker a text message earful: 'Stop raising my rate. I am a long-timer."
But the testimony was not finished. The jurors saw 50 explicit video files labeled "freak-off," according to the filing recorded between Dec. 17 and Dec. 21, 2021. Prosecutors say these recordings weren't just personal keepsakes but a means of control to keep participants quiet.
One escort (who had been flown in from Atlanta, allegedly) also stayed at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in New York, costing nearly $3,000 and billed directly to Diddy's American Express. Another trip was arranged at the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas. Diddy's Chief of Staff, Kristina Khorram, is reported to have also booked a room and left Plan B on the nightstand. Yes, that was, in fact, part of the testimony.
And then there was that notorious baby oil text. Court attendees listened to a voice recording of Diddy, who, according to testimony, could be heard saying: "More baby oil, 20 bottles of baby oil in this m###########." It was a surreal and darkly comedic moment that seemed to shock the courtroom and very likely to have entered legal history as a strange new phrase.
All of these texts, videos, financial records, and voice memos are part of a larger pattern; prosecutors allege that Diddy is using his influence, his wealth, and his staff to arrange and bankroll sexual encounters while maintaining leverage over all involved.
And this was more than celebrities and escorts. Cerciello says Diddy even wire-transferred $5,000 to his former girlfriend, whom he identified only as "Jane," and arranged her transportation via Bad Boy Entertainment. In the meantime, she gave her own money to pay for someone else to take a flight, someone whom the court identified as Cabral.
With the government expected to conclude its case on Tuesday, this chapter of the Diddy saga is coming to a turning point. What remains, however, is a dim picture of a man who, at least according to prosecutors, viewed business and exploitation as one and the same and tried to drown it all in baby oil.
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