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Prosecutors are firing back at efforts by Sean “Diddy” Combs to bar an infamous 2016 surveillance video from his upcoming sex trafficking trial, calling it a “desperate” attempt to avoid “crushing” evidence.
With his trial looming next month, Diddy’s attorneys argued last week that the clip — showing him assaulting his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel — has been deceptively edited and would “unfairly confuse and mislead the jury.”
But in a response filing Friday, prosecutors say those arguments are “overblown” and are merely a pretext to prevent jurors from seeing “some of the most damning evidence of his sex trafficking.”
“The defendant has been overwhelmingly concerned with the existence of the video surveillance since the assault occurred and has taken great measures to ensure it was not released,” prosecutors write. “Now facing trial, the defendant attempts to keep this devastating proof from the jury. His grasping arguments to preclude this crushing evidence should be quickly dismissed.”
Combs was indicted in September, charged with running a sprawling criminal operation that aimed to “fulfill his sexual desires.” The case centers on elaborate “freak off” parties in which Combs and others would allegedly ply victims with drugs and then coerce them into having sex, as well as on alleged acts of violence to keep victims silent.
Jury selection is currently set to start on May 5, with opening statements scheduled for May 12. If convicted on all of the charges, which include sex trafficking and racketeering, Combs faces a potential life prison sentence.
The Cassie video, which aired on CNN in May, showed him attacking her at the Intercontinental Hotel in March 2016. The clip drew far more public attention to the accusations against the star — who was then only facing civil lawsuits — and prompted an apology from Combs shortly after it aired.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable,” Combs said at the time. “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry.”
In the lead up to the trial, Combs’ lawyers have repeatedly targeted the Cassie tape, accusing prosecutors of unfairly leaking it and alleging that CNN had unfairly edited it. Last week, they formally moved to ban it from the trial, calling it “inaccurate” and “unreliable” because of edits that were “specifically designed to inflame the passions” of viewers.
But in Friday’s response, the feds said those issues were quibbles that could easily be fixed at trial, not valid reasons to withhold the tape from jurors entirely. They pointed out that Combs himself had apologized over the clip and had not disputed its content; and they said that any problems with finding the original footage were caused by Diddy’s own efforts to destroy it.
“It is by the defendant’s own hand that the original version of this damning footage no longer exists: it was deleted and given to the defendant as part of a cover-up orchestrated by the defendant and his co-conspirators,” prosecutors write. “The Court must not reward the defendant for his actions by precluding the video that remains available despite the defendant’s obstructive efforts.”
Cornell University has canceled Kehlani’s upcoming performance, which the singer was slated to perform on campus at the university’s annual Slope Day on May 7. According to The New York Times, Cornell president Michael I. Kotlikoff emailed students and faculty on Wednesday (April 23) to make his decision to cancel Kehlani’s performance official. Explore Explore […]
Five For Fighting‘s Grammy-nominated “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” became an anthem of solidarity and a No. 14 Billboard Hot 100 hit in 2001 after it was repurposed as a tribute to the victims and first responders of the horrific Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. The gentle piano ballad on which band mastermind John Ondrasik sings “I’m more than a bird, I’m more than a plane/ I’m more than some pretty face beside a train/ And it’s not easy to be me” in his homage to heroes who have the right to bleed provided succor at a time when Americans were wounded to their souls over the deadly assault.
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Now, Ondrasik’s song has gotten a second life as a means to call attention to the estimated 59 Israeli hostages still being held hostage in Gaza in the wake of militant group Hamas’ murderous Oct. 7, 2023 attack in which around 1,200 Israelis were murdered and 250 were taken hostage.
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Ondrasik told NPR on Wednesday (April 23) that he re-wrote some of the song’s lyrics at the behest of the mother of 24-year-old hostage Alon Ohel. “When they reached out, I’m like, ‘of course. I’m honored to do this.’ And very quickly, it became clear that ‘Superman’ should be the song,” Ondrasik said, noting that some original lines, such as “Find a way to lie about a home I’ll never see” didn’t fit the assignment.
“I couldn’t have that line, ‘a home I’ll never see,’ because we all hope and pray they will see – and many of the hostages have come home,” said Ondrasik, who traveled to Israel last April to perform the song in Tel Aviv’s so-called “Hostages Square” on Ohel’s piano; he also released another song, “OK (We Are Not Okay)” last year to honor the hostages. The new “Superman” lyrics find him singing: “Found a way to fly to a home I will soon see.”
Ondrasik, 60, who is not Jewish, told NPR that for him, “this is a moral issue. It’s not political. It’s not religious. Everybody should be demanding to release the hostages. It’ll put much more pressure on Israel to end this war.”
The singer uploaded a new video for the song to YouTube on April 14 — two days after the start of the Passover holiday — with a message of hope, writing, “The strength and perseverance of our hostage families, while enduring over seventeen months of unimaginable torment and devastation, often seems Superhuman. I am honored to collaborate with current hostage Alon Ohel’s mother Idit, brother Ronen, and family and friends with this new version of ‘Superman’ to support Alon and all hostages and their families.”
Check out the new video Ondrasik recorded with footage from Hostage Square below.
Northern Irish hip-hop group Kneecap have responded to calls from Sharon Osbourne to have their U.S. work visas revoked following their airing of anti-Israel messages during the trio’s second Coachella weekend appearance. In an email to Rolling Stone, group member Mo Chara (born Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh) said that the messaging was in keeping with their career-long views on Palestine.
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He said the group have talked about Palestine “at every single gig since the band’s formation, long before [the deadly Hamas attack on Israeli civilians] October 2023 as the oppression and brutal occupation of Palestine has been ongoing for 77 years.”
Kneecap claim that their anti-Israel messages were censored on the livestream of their set during the first weekend of Coachella, but at the end of their show last Friday (April 18) they closed by projecting the phrases: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people… It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F–k Israel; free Palestine.” The audience then reportedly broke into a “Free Palestine” chant.
“Not the only thing that was cut – our messaging on the US-backed genocide in Gaza somehow never appeared on screens either,” Kneecap wrote on their social feeds in response to reports about the first weekend feed cut. “Back next Friday Coachella and it’ll be sorted,” they promised before the controversial second weekend set.
“We believe we have an obligation to use our platform when we can to raise the issue of Palestine, and it was important for us to speak out at Coachella as the USA is the main funder and supplier of weapons to Israel as they commit genocide in Gaza,” Chara told RS. “As I said from the stage, ‘The U.S. government could stop the genocide tomorrow.’ It’s important that young Americans hear and know it.”
He added that the band didn’t initially realize their political statements were not viewed when the YouTube livestream was cut off. “We only heard about it the next day and haven’t heard from anyone officially,” he said. “It’s not surprising, large companies don’t like to hear the truth unless it suits their narrative and pocket.”
Chara said the “Free Palestine” chant is something that “happens at all of our gigs from Spain to Scotland and Ireland to Iceland because people know what’s happening is wrong and are angry about it. The crowd chanting ‘Free Palestine’ at Coachella was a message of solidarity to the people of Gaza from regular Americans who want to see an end to the genocide, despite their government’s arming and funding Israel.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, insiders claimed Goldenvoice CEO Paul Tollett was “blindsided” by Kneecap’s actions. In lengthy note condemning Kneecap’s actions, Osbourne decried what she called the politicization of Coachella, saying that this year’s shows will be remembered “as a festival that compromised its moral and spiritual integrity… Goldenvoice, the festival organizer, facilitated this by allowing artists to use the Coachella stage as a platform for political expression,” she said of the event, where a number of other acts, including Green Day, Bob Vylan and Blonde Redhead, respectively, altered lyrics to reflect the plight of Palestinian children and displayed Palestinian flags on stage. “At a time when the world is experiencing significant unrest, music should serve as an escape, not a stage for political discourse,” Osbourne said.
“While festivals like Coachella showcase remarkable talent from around the globe, music’s primary purpose is to unite people. It should not be a venue for promoting terrorist organizations or spreading hate,” London-born Osbourne added, ending with a call for the “revocation of Kneecap’s work visa.”
“As someone with both Irish Catholic on my Mothers side and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage on my Fathers side, and extensive experience in the music industry, I understand the complexities involved,” Osbourne, who has managed husband Ozzy Osbourne for more than 45 years, added. “Goldenvoice’s claim of being ‘blindsided’ by Kneecap’s performance seems implausible given the circumstances. I know for a fact that certain people in the industry had written to Goldenvoice, airing their concerns around the booking of Kneecap.”
In the wake of Hamas unprovoked attack on Israeli citizen on Oct. 7, 2023 in which nearly 1,200 mostly civilian Israelis were killed and nearly 250 were taken hostage, Israel has waged a devastating war against the militant group in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in which a reported 50,000 people have been killed and most of the territories’ infrastructure has been decimated. One of the most devastating attacks on Oct. 7 was a raid on the EDM Nova Music Festival celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, where Hamas militants killed 364 civilians, as well as wounding and sexually assaulting scores more.
Kneecap’s actions at Coachella are in keeping with what has been described as a long-held solidarity between the people of Northern Ireland and Palestinians based on the 800-year British occupation of Ireland that lasted until 1921.
Organizers of the Nova Festival have invited Kneecap to view the Nova Oct. 7 6:29 a.m. – The Moment Music Stood Still: The Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Los Angeles — a chronicle of the Hamas attack on the music fest brought to the U.S. by HYBE America CEO and former Justin Bieber manager Scooter Braun — to “experience firsthand the stories of those who were murdered, those who survived, and those who are still being held hostage,” according to RS, which reported that Chara did not respond to questions about whether they’d accept that offer.
The call from Osbourne to have Kneecap’s visas revoked for their anti-Israel sloganeering comes as the Trump administration has been targeting universities for defunding and revoking the visas and/or deporting students who it says participated in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
Kneecap, which also features members Naoise Ó Cairealláin (stage name Móglaí Bap) and JJ Ó Dochartaigh (stage name DJ Próvaí), are slated to launch their largest North American tour to date in October.
Disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ precipitous fall from grace will be chronicled in the upcoming BBC investigative documentary P Diddy: The Rise and Fall. According to the BBC, the doc will examine the highs and lows of Combs, “whose influence and impact is undeniable, but whose legacy could not be indelibly tarnished.”
The doc — the latest in an increasingly long list of such films and series exploring Combs’ highs and lows — will be hosted by award-winning broadcaster Yinka Bokinni and air on the BBC Three and iPlayer on April 28. Combs has been in jail for nearly eight months as he awaits the May 5 start of his upcoming trial in a federal criminal case in which he is charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, with prosecutors alleging that he “abused, threatened and coerced women” in the furtherance of a “criminal enterprise” that allegedly involved kidnapping, arson, bribery and forced labor. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges and last week lost a bid to delay the start of the trial.
He is also facing dozens of other lawsuits accusing him of rape and assault, allegations he has denied.
The BBC said that Bokinni will explore how Combs “has gone from being the world’s biggest Hip-hop mogul, to hemorrhaging friends and fans in a matter of months,” mapping both his extraordinary success and influence in fashion, music and culture, “while meeting those close to him to understand what may have led to this very public disgrace… [and] unpack[ing] the interplay of power, money, moral corruption, and sexism, which underpins this story.”
Bokinni said, “My job is to tell stories — but never did I imagine I’d be telling this one. Investigating the alleged actions of Diddy has forced a spotlight onto the darker side of an industry so many of us dream of belonging to. We sang his songs, bought into the lifestyle, watched the shows and wanted more. This has been an emotional, sometimes difficult experience. And with a trial on the horizon, what happens next will no doubt be gripping — in the most sobering way.”
The BBC effort is one of a raft of docs exploring Combs’ undoing, including Max’s The Fall of Diddy, TMZ’s The Downfall of Diddy, as well as Prime Video’s Diddy: Monster’s Fall, Diddy: Summit to Plummet and an upcoming Netflix doc from 50 Cent’s G-Unit Films whose release date has not yet been announced.
Tech N9ne shared on Bunnie XO‘s latest podcast episode that he had an inappropriate relationship with one of his middle school teachers when he was going on 13 years old.
The artist born Aaron Yates stopped by the Dumb Blonde podcast Monday (April 21) to talk about his legendary independent career and also took a moment to discuss his childhood. In particular, he focused on a relationship he had with a teacher — whom he did not name — that he said changed his life forever.
“It all started when I showed her a picture of my father as a cop,” the rapper said around the 35-minute mark. “After class, whenever everybody’s leaving out, I would be in there and she would say, ‘Aaron is soo cute’ … She was beautiful, and I was like, ‘Oh, thank you!’ But she used to do it every day, like, ‘Aaron is sooo cute.’”
He said things started to escalate from there, and he used to skip lunch to go and visit his teacher in her classroom.
“I was in love, until she got married,” Tech N9ne said, adding that they got caught kissing by a student walking by the classroom. He got called up to “courtroom class” as a result, which was code for “Ms. Glen’s room” upstairs, where students would get sent following bad behavior.
“Ms. Glen, she was a Black lady, she didn’t want no f—k s—t,” Tech recalled with a laugh. “She said, ‘Aaron, there’s a student in here … that says they walked by Ms. So-and-So’s room and saw both of you kissing … I said, ‘Huh? Why would I be kissing a grown-up?’ I was smart.”
He continued to deny the kiss, and both the seventh grade teacher and Tech got called to the office, where she also denied the allegations.
“I remember her pleading her case and being real serious,” Tech said, “and nothing happened … ’cause I didn’t tell.”
But the rapper did confirm to Bunnie, who is married to country music star Jelly Roll, that he was also having sex with her outside of school.
“She got married in my eighth grade year, and after that we didn’t talk anymore,” Tech concluded, before moving into a conversation about his love of horror films.
Watch Tech talk about his relationship around the 28-minute mark in the video, and find the full episode on Spotify.
Coachella 2025 will likely be considered one of the most political editions of the longstanding festival, with a flurry of artists using their onstage platforms to make statements on topics including Palestine, ICE, the Trump administration and more.
Nicolas Jaar of psych jam act Darkside used the trio’s Saturday night performances in the Gobi tent to address the audience about a myriad of issues, primarily Palestine. Jaar began his statement by acknowledging that Southern California is the ancestral home of various Native American tribes, with many of these people killed in the mass murders of Native Americans that occurred in the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
“Here were committed the genocides that are the blueprint for what’s happening in Palestine right now, the same racist logic,” Jaar stated during the band’s weekend 1 show, on April 12. “We must continue resisting, even from the belly of the beast, because this genocide is funded by American money, with technology from Silicon Valley, thanks to the complicity of all the politicians in this country.”
Jaar continued by referencing Mahmoud Khalil – the detained Columbia University graduate student currently being held in an immigration detention center following his role in on-campus protests.
“I also want to say that today, these days, as some of you may know, just protesting a genocide that is happening means that you can get deported, like Mahmoud Khalil. That doesn’t feel right. Mahmoud and many others are in ICE detention jails. These jails are run for profit by groups like CoreCivic and The GEO Group. They make money off of keeping people in cells. We need to keep fighting them. For the sake of everyone there stuck without trial, and with no hope, we need to give hope. Thank you, everyone.”
Jaar delivered a slightly different version of the same statement during the band’s weekend 2 performance on Saturday, April 19, stating that, “We’ve been on tour for about a month and a half, and during this month and a half, the administration of this country has been deporting people for their political views, they have been locking people up in ICE detention jails. The prisoner count of this country keeps on being the highest in the entire world. There’s more people locked up in California than at Coachella right now, and this country keeps on arming and funding, also with tech and Silicon Valley, the genocide of the Palestinian people and arming and funding Israel’s system of apartheid and ethnic cleansing.
“But the problem doesn’t stop at this administration and the administration of that country,” he continued. “It’s much deeper than that… It’s based off a system of racism, of ethnic cleansing both here in these lands, and also there. And there’s no way to continue in this planet without the empires falling as soon as possible. In all ways possible. A lot of people tell us to shut up and just play the music, but for us, music is being together, and how can we be together if our brothers and sisters are locked up and our brothers and sisters are literally burning in their homes?”
Elsewhere at the festival’s second weekend, Northern Irish hip-hop group Kneecap ended their performance with strong anti-Israel sentiments. On Friday (April 18), the Belfast trio closed their show by projecting strong messaging in support of Palestinians on their video screens. “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” the projected messages read. “It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F— Israel; free Palestine.” This display came a week after the band claimed Coachella censored the pro-Palestinian messaging during their debut at the event.
On the main stage, headliners Green Day also changed the lyrics of “American Idiot” to state “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda.” Other artists including Bob Vylan and Blonde Redhead displayed Palestinian flags during their sets. During the performance by this latter artists, the onstage event was soundtracked by audio of Khalil. Senator Bernie Sanders also appeared onstage during Clairo’s weekend 1 performance and urged festivalgoers to “stand up and fight for justice.”
Snoop Dogg‘s mind-bending new “Last Dance With Mary Jane” music video arrived just in time for 4/20. Featuring guest Jelly Roll and a depiction of the late Tom Petty — the track samples a Petty and the Heartbreakers classic, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” — the visual also includes Dr. Dre (who produced the song), the […]
Azealia Banks is walking back her support for Donald Trump. The “212” rapper said on Wednesday (April 16) that she regrets casting a vote for Trump in last year’s presidential election. Banks took to X and wrote that “we made a f—ing mess” voting to put Trump back on the Oval Office. “Like this is […]
A Manhattan federal judge on Friday denied a bid by Sean “Diddy” Combs to delay his sex trafficking and racketeering trial by two months, ruling that the request was made too close to his trial date.
The star’s lawyers asked for the delay on Wednesday (April 16), arguing they didn’t have enough time to prepare for trial after prosecutors added new charges earlier this month. But according to Reuters, Judge Arun Subramanian denied that motion at a court hearing on Friday (April 18).
Endorsing an argument made by the prosecutors, Subramanian said that the new indictment largely overlapped with earlier charging papers. According to CNN, the judge told Combs’ lawyers that it was “unclear why there isn’t sufficient time to prepare.”
Friday’s ruling means that, barring any last-minute disruptions, jury selection will begin on May 5 and testimony will begin on May 12. Representatives for Combs’ legal team did not immediately return a request for comment.
Combs was indicted in September, charged with running a sprawling criminal operation that aimed to “fulfill his sexual desires” by subjecting numerous women to abuse. The case centers on elaborate “freak off” parties in which Combs and others would allegedly ply victims with drugs and then coerce them into having sex, as well as on alleged acts of violence to keep victims silent.
A trial has long been set to start in May. If convicted on all of the charges, which include sex trafficking and racketeering, Combs faces a potential life prison sentence.
In a letter to the judge filed Wednesday, the star’s lawyers claimed the feds were dragging their feet on turning over crucial evidence, and that the extra two months would give them “the necessary time to prepare his defense” for a new superseding indictment filed April 3.
The request — far longer than the two-week delay Diddy’s lawyers had hinted they might seek — was opposed by prosecutors, who said the new charges were not sufficiently different to require any delay at all, and that Combs was not entitled to the evidence he claimed he was owed.
In addition to denying the delay, Subramanian made another important ruling Friday. According to Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press, the judge granted a request from prosecutors to allow three alleged victims to testify under Jane Doe pseudonyms. Diddy’s lawyers had called the move “a blatant violation of Mr. Combs’s Sixth Amendment rights to confront witnesses,” but prosecutors said it was necessary to protect them from harassment and embarrassment.
The judge seemingly left at least one big pretrial issue unresolved: a motion filed by Combs on Thursday seeking to ban prosecutors from showing jurors the infamous 2016 surveillance video of him assaulting his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura. Combs says the clips has been edited and will “confuse and mislead the jury”; prosecutors says it’s a “damning piece of evidence” that must be admitted.