“The Trial Of Sean Combs” Episode Five | Opening Statements

0:10 Get ready to dive deep into one of the most gripping legal battles of our time. I'm your host, Jim Chapman, and today we're unraveling the high stakes drama surrounding one of the music industry's most enematic figures, Sean Diddy Combs, in a case that has captivated millions, The courtroom has become a battleground for fame, fortune, in the dark secrets that lurk beneath the glittering surface of celebrity life. As the gavel comes down, we'll explore the allegations, the testimonies, and the shocking twists that could change the course of Diddy's legacy forever. Was this case merely a clash of lifestyles or something much more sinister? With each episode, I will bring you exclusive insights, analysis, and witness testimony accounts that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

1:23 So buckle up as we embark on this thrilling ride through the trial of the century, where the stakes are high, the drama is real, and the truth is anything but certain. This is the Trial of Shawn Comb's. Let's get started and welcome back to Episode five of the Trial of Shawn Combs opening statements in y'all, I have been waiting for this day since I dropped episode one of the Diddy Saga way back in early twenty twenty four. I knew this day would eventually come for Sean Combs. When I started reporting on this, there were only a few people reporting on it, and there was no arrest. There were no charges at that point. And here we are the power of podcasting, so we're going to get into it.

2:31 And since late last week when I dropped the last episode in this series, a lot has happened. The jury selection, which was supposed to conclude on Friday, that stretched into the morning of Monday, May twelfth, which is incidentally the same day I am recording this. But that jury was selected early this morning, and the makeup of that jury pretty noteworthy. Eight for women on that twelve person panel and two alternates who are female. And I found the prosecution in the defense's decision to pack a panel with more men than women twice as many as a matter of fact, men than women. I found it very interesting by both sides, and I dug into it a little bit, and the long and the short of it is, according to the statistics which lawyers study intently. Men are apparently more likely to feel sorry for women than women are.

3:36 I'm not saying that's my thought process, but that's the stats, and that is why there are more men on this jury. But regardless of all that, just a few hours into Monday morning, the jury was selected and opening statements began, and the prosecution was first, and Ashley Johnson was the prosecut that delivered that opening statement for the government, and she said there was another side to Shaan Comb's the entertainer, a side that ran a criminal enterprise. She said, during the trial, you're going to hear about twenty years of the defendant's crimes. But he didn't do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high ranking employees who helped him commit the crimes and helped him cover them up. She described what the government said were just one night in the years of crimes that he's committed.

4:37 She said Combs had learned that his then girlfriend, Cassandra Ventura, was seeing another man, so Combs woke an employee up in the middle of the night and said he was going to kill that man. They broke into the man's house, but he was not there then Combs went looking for Ventura and did what he had done countless times before. He beat her brutally, and this is being said keep in mind in open court. She said that Shawn Combs expected his inner circle to cater to his sexual desires. Quote. He sometimes called himself the king, and he expected to be treated like a king. The prosecutor said that company resources were used to help him sexually exploit multiple women, including by intimidating some into having sex with male prostitutes in front of him. Johnson went on to say this case is not about a celebrity's private sexual preferences. She said Combs made women have sex when they didn't want, to threaten them, drug them, and use violence to grace them into sex. Johnson then started to detail the freak offs at the center of the government's case, which were also called wild king knights or hotel knights, that Shawn Combe's businesses often paid for expenses associated with these events.

6:06 Johnson said two women, Cassandra Ventura and another woman referred to by the pseudonym Jane, were directed on what to wear, what drugs to take, and then on every step of the sexual activity. The prosecution described the story of their star witness, Cassandra Ventura. She was a nineteen year old model an aspiring singer when she met Shawan Comb's in the mid two thousands. She went on to say the defendants started abusing Cassie early on. Initially, Cassie fought back. In two thousand and nine, Comes through her to the floor in an suv and stomped repeatedly on her faith to hide her injuries. Comes forced Cassie to stay in a hotel for the next week. The prosecution said Cassandra Ventura agreed to participate in a freak off initially because she loved Combs, but the prosecutor went on to say she knew it was not something she wanted to do.

7:08 Johnson described one freak off in which Ventura quote felt like she was choking when Combs made an escort urinate in her mouth. Johnson said Cassandra Ventura soon learned that defying Seawan Combs would end in violence. Eventually, Johnson said, she knew she had no choice but to agree to the freak offs, which she was often asked to arrange herself. Prosecutor Ashley Johnson then described the alleged freakofs or events where women were allegedly drugged and forced to engage in sex for days, and she went into what they entailed.

7:50 Johnson said Sean Diddy Combs introduced his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura to these freak offs early on in their relationship. Quote, half of every week, Cassie was in a dark hotel room, high and awake for days, performing sex acts she did not want to do on mail escorts. In another freak off, Ventura still had an open wound on her face from the defendant's most recent assault. Johnson said Combs beat Ventura to show her who was in charge. Quote. He beat her when she didn't answer the phone when he called. He beat her when she left a freak off without permission.

8:31 He beat her when he thought she took too long in the bathroom. When Ventura tried to run away, Combs always found her, often with the help of his so called inner circle. Johnson said Combs recorded the freak offs and used them as blackmail against Ventura. Quote. He told her he could destroy her career by releasing the videos of her performing sex acts on dozens and dozens of mail escorts. And then Johnson goes into The second alleged victim, a woman who they are referring to by the pseudonym Jane. In court. The prosecutor described her as a single mother who started spending time with Shawn Comb's in twenty twenty.

9:13 Jane agreed to participate in a freak off to please Combs. She thought it was a one time thing, but it didn't turn out that way. Johnson said Jane wanted Combs to wear condoms, but many times he would not. Once, when Jane vomited after taking drugs for a freak off, Comes told her to quote hurry up and get back in to join the escort. The prosecutor said that to control Jane financially Shawon, Combs discouraged her from working because he quote wanted her to be available at a moment's notice and started paying her rent. As with Cassandra Ventura, Combs threatened Jane with videos that he had recorded of those freak offs. The prosecution described a night when Shawn Combs became enraysed Jane after a dispute overseeing him with another woman. The prosecutor said Jane ran around the house trying to escape him, but Comes grabbed her in a chokehold, lifted her off the ground by the neck, and then kicked her to the ground. At the end of the ordeal, Comes instructed Jane to call an escort for a freak golf.

10:21 He made her cover up her black eye, take an ecstasy pill, and perform for the defendant. Then the prosecution introduced a third woman accusing Sean Combs of coursing her into sex, referring to her by the pseudonym Mia. The prosecution said this former employee will testify about the times that Comes forced himself onto her sexually, including forcing her to perform oral sex and sneaking into her bed to penetrate her against her will. The prosecution told the jury that an incident at the center of the case represented a pattern of Shawan Combe's employees trying to cover up his crimes. The incident is the assault of Cassandra Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel in twenty sixteen. After the assault was captured on surveillance footage. The prosecutor said that Comb's and his chief of staff contacted a hotel security guard to quote broker a deal. Combs ended up giving the guard a brown paper bag filled with one hundred thousand dollars in cash, essentially buying the hotel's surveillance footage.

11:31 The prosecutor said, we know now that any attempts to cover it up did not work. The prosecutor then previewed some of the evidence the jury should expect, and this was important, She said, text messages about prostitutes, including Comb's asking staff for money to pay the prostitutes, videos of Comb's assaulting Cassie Ventura, and videos of some of the freak offs which the government said that Combs was directing the encounters. Quote you will see for yourself the defendant's violence and its aftermath, Johnson said, and then she concluded her opening statement. Then it was the defense's turn for their opening statement. In teeny Gergos, the lead lawyer for Shawn Combe, she started delivering the defense opening statement, and she said, quote, Shawn Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case. She said the government is trying to turn consensual sexual relationships into sex trafficking and said it will not work. She said Shawn Comb's is a larger than life figure and no one gave him a dime for his wealth and success. Quote. The case is about Shawn Combe's private personal sex life, which has nothing to do with his lawful businesses. She referenced the massive amount of baby oil that was seized by

13:03 law enforcement searching seean Combs home last year, and she said, quote, you may know of his love for baby oil. Is that a federal crime? No. She then admitted he is violent, that he takes drugs, that he has anger issues, but she said that does not make him guilty of what he is accused of. She told the jury there may be multiple points where you think he's a jerk, where you think he's mean, but he is not charged with being mean. He is not charged with being a jerk. He is charged with running a racketeering enterprise. Greg Gus then went on to say, quote, domestic violence is a very serious matter. It is a bad and illegal problem.

13:47 We take full responsibility that there was a domestic violence incident in this case. But domestic violence is not sex trafficking. I want to say it again, domestic violence is not sex trafficking. Had he been charged with domestic violence or assault, we would not be here right now. She emphasized that many of the relationships and his life lasted for years, and then the women in this case were willingly involved with him. Quote. These women were strong, capable, and they were in love with him. She added, the evidence is going to show you a very flawed individual, but it will not show you a racketeer, a sex trafficker, or somebody transporting for prostitution. She went on to say, and if you'll remember, I told you this was going to come up, that the events in the hotel rooms were part of a swinger's lifestyle, which she described as a quote fancy or term for a threesome. And then she brought up the twenty sixteen hotel surveillance video which Sean Combs has seen physically assaulting Cassie Ventura, and she said, quote that day, unfortunately, jealousy was on full display, adding that Combs had taken bad drugs. Quote. What Combs did to Cassie on this videotape is indefensible. It's horrible, it's dehumanizing, it's violent, it's virtually every bad word you can think of.

15:13 But it's not evidence of sex trafficking. It's evidence of domestic violence. I'm not justifying the assault, not by a long shot, but I'm putting it in the proper context. She then went on to say Ventur remained in a relationship with Comb's for years after she mentioned in twenty eighteen, Cassie Ventura saw a gossip site posting about Sean Diddy Combs walking out of a hotel with another woman and decided to end things. Quote, she made a choice every single day for years, a choice to stay with him, a choice to fight for him, because for eleven years that was the better choice, that was her preferred choice.

15:56 So she made the choice to stay with him until one day she decided she was going to break up with him because that was her preferred choice. When she made the decision to leave, there were no repercussions, as the government hinted. She made the choice to leave, she communicated it to him, and she ran into the arms of another man, a physical trainer Combs It hired to train her. She went on to say the end of the relationship between Cassie and Combs is important. She left on her terms, her choices, and for the reasons that for her were the right reasons. She went on to say Ventura was a willing participant in their sex life.

16:36 This was a voluntary adult choice by two capable adults and then she addressed Jane, the pseudonym witness that the government contended was a victim of sex trafficking, and she said Jane had a relationship with Combs after Cassandra Ventura left in twenty eighteen. She was older, and she had a child. She was a willing participant in their threesomes and other sexual encounters. Quote the evidence is going to show you a toxic, dysfunctional relationship between two adults. You may think, wow, that's a really bad boyfriend, But the evidence will show you a capable, strong woman willingly engaged in that relationship, and that is not sex trafficking. She then tries to suggest that the women accusing him of abuse may have had some sort of ulterior motive, and she brings up Cassandra Ventura filing a civil lawsuit, and she said the singer did not report the alleged incident to law enforcement. When these people testify, ask yourself why for many of them, the answer is money? And ger goes wrapped up with quote, how many millions of reasons does this witness swearing to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth have to lie. Now they had a short break after that, and then we're into the trial, the prosecution called their first witness, who was an LAPD

18:09 officer who was working security for the Intercontinental Hotel when Comb's savagely beat the shit out of Cash in Ventura in that hotel hallway. He's the first witness of this historic trial and assistant US Attorney Christy Slavic, she was the one questioning Flores for the prosecution. Now, Flores joined the LAPD in twenty eighteen. He's also a reservist with the Army and before going to the LAPD, he worked for Security Services for ten years. In twenty sixteen, he was working in security at the Intercontinental Hotel where the infamous video took place. He was actually the assistant director of security of the Intercontinental Hotel, and he said on March fifth of twenty sixteen, he received a call saying there was a woman in distress on one of the floors.

19:10 He leaves, he gets on the elevator, He steps out of the elevator and he sees Sean Dinny Combs and the woman in the elevator lobby. He recognized the man in the lobby right off as Shawn Combs. He testified, and when asked, he identified Combs in the courtroom, pointing him out as wearing a gray sweater. He then testified that surveillance systems monitored the roof, the interior of the hotel and the parking lot of the hotel. Quote there were at least three cameras per floor covering the elevator lobby, and two more in the hallway facing the north and south.

19:50 There were additional cameras on a floor if the hallway had more turns. The cameras recorded when they detected motion. When security personnel responded to an incident at the hotel, they were required to file incident reports, and those reports would include photos if there was damage to the hotel itself. When asked about the beating incident in particular, he testified that he responded to a distress call and when he got off that elevator, he saw Combs sitting in a til in socks, and he had what he described as a devilish stare. He was just looking at me, Flores said. Flora said Ventura also looked very scared, sitting with her hoodie pulled up. He said he escorted Combs and Cassie back to the hotel room. At one point Comb's told Cassie quote, you're not going to leave unquote, and Flores told him that if Cassie wanted to leave, she could leave.

20:52 Once they reached the room, both Combs and Cassie entered, but Flores kept the door propped open with his body. Testified there was another man in the room, but the man wasn't engaging in conversation with either Cassie or Combs. Officer Flores then testified that Sean Diddycombs approached him in the hotel room with a wad of cash that he interpreted to be a bribe. Flores took it to mean don't tell nobody. He declined that cash, and he told Combs he'd be charged for any damage and instructed the music mugul to stay in his room. He said he then caught up with Cassie Ventura as she left the hotel and headed toward the outdoor valet area of that hotel, and he noted that she had a purple eye. In his testimony, Flores asked her if she wanted him to call the cops, but she repeatedly said that she wanted to leave. After Ventura left, Flores went back to showing Diddycomb's room with another guard to reiterate the hotel policy.

21:57 Comb stepped into the hallway and closed the hotel room door behind him. Flora said at one point, Comes grabbed the other guard's phone and accused him of recording the conversation, and it was at this point that Flora said he penned Comb's to the wall and told him let go of the phone and shout out to Officer Flores for being a man right. He said he left the room and then drafted a report following the twenty sixteen incident. He said he sent the incident report at three pm local time that day. The report described the incident from start to finish and included Combe's Inventura's name. He also included photos showing the broken vase in the elevator lobby and dirt splattered on the walls. In the report, which prosecutors entered into evidence, Floraes didn't mention the other man seen in sewing did he Combe's hotel room. He said the man wasn't involved in the elevator lobby incident and didn't engage with Combs and Cassie Ventura, so he felt the man wasn't relevant. To the incident or his report. Now, quickly, why is this witness so key and what is the prosecution working toward. It's obvious to me that the prosecutors are working to lay the foundation to eventually show that jury that surveillance footage from twenty sixteen. They're laying the

23:28 groundwork right. What this witness is doing by being asked the questions by the prosecution, is providing context to that video. And that's a great strategy. And just as I suspected the prosecution at this point, they play that security footage from the incident. And remember this almost didn't get into the truck. Now, the footage showed Cassie Ventura in the hotel hallway in front of an elevator and she was putting on a pair of shoes. Seawan Combs comes behind her in a towel and he yanks her to the floor by her hair. He then kicks her as she lies on the ground. Then he grabs her belongings from the ground that she dropped, and he drags her back toward their hotel room while she's on the floor. Still. Now, soon after, what you didn't see in the video that was released to the public, that has come out in this trial. Cassie comes back out into the hallway and she's seen using a hard wired phone on the wall.

24:38 The phone she used was connected to the hotels what's not as instant services and that operating service called flooras and said you need to get up there. Combs can be seen at this point pacing in the hallway while still wearing that towel, and in the reflection of a mirror that was in the hallway, you can see Combs through a vase that shattered. Now there's no audio on the footage, but on that video you can see Cassie and Flores speak briefly when he arrived, and when he was asked about that on the stand, he said that Cassie just kept saying she just wanted to get her phone and her bag so she could leave. And then the jury has shown footage from the north hallway in the Intercontinental Hotel on that floor, and this is also footage never released to the public, and that video shows Officer Israel Flores escorting Sean Combe's back to his room, followed by Cassie walking down the hall after them. Ventura is then seen walking out of the room and down the Hall again carrying her bag, with Flores following her out shortly after. So Flores was then asked by the prosecution why he didn't call the police, and he said there was no victim there because obviously nobody was pressing charges.

26:03 He said that when he spoke to Cassie Ventura, she never responded to any of his questions. She just kept saying, I want to leave, I just want to leave, he said. By the time he saw the surveillance video of the altercation, everyone had left the building. And that's important because had he seen the footage first and actually saw what Combes did to Cassie, beating the shit out of her, he wouldn't need her to press charges. He would have enough right there to have Combes arrested. With her not telling him anything that happened until he saw the video, he wasn't left with a whole lot of choice. He did see that she had a shiner on her eye, That's what he testified to but she wasn't going to admit that that was Seawan Combes at that time that did that.

26:50 So all he knew for fact was that a vase was busted by Sean Combs and they had gotten in a big argument. So the defense they get there too to cross examine Flores and defense attorney Brian Steele, he is handling the cross of this witness now. Still is relatively a new addition to the Shawn Combs defense team. You may recognize his name. He gained national prominence over the last year by representing the Rapper Young Thug at his racketeering trial in Atlanta. So the first thing defense attorney Brian Steele asked Officer Israel Flores is about his testimony in which the officer described Shawn Combs as having a devilish or scary look on his face following that altercation.

27:40 And Still questioned why the description wasn't in the incident report that he wrote at the time, and Flores responded with it was my opinion then and it's my opinion now, and went on to say he felt it wasn't relevant to the report to note Shawn Combe's look. Still then pointed out that Flora's report did not include anything about Cassie Ventura having a discolored eye, and there was really no response from Flores because Still never really asked a question. He just pointed out that the discolored eye was not in the report either, and I got to say, that's good defense work, and that is a question. That's something that I would have put in a report if I was in that guy's position. I think that's very relevant.

28:31 Still then brought up the fact that Flores had told Combs he would have to pay for the hotel damages, and he asked Flores if he believed Combs was offering him the money as a bribe, and Floraz responded with definitely. So what was still trying to do there? Well, he's trying to demonstrate here that the money offered was not a bribe, but rather was payment for the hotel damages, and keeping Flores never actually said that, comes mentioned anything about the money being a bribe. He just tried to hand him money and that was his assumption, which probably the correct assumption. However, this was another great job by the defense of at least putting a small doubt in the jury's mind that maybe this was an attempt to pay for the damages and not a bribe. Still then questioned Officer Flores about why he didn't mention seeing another man in Seewan Diddycombe's hotel room in that incident. Report, and Flora said he didn't think it was relevant to the report, and to that, the defense attorney responded with, quote, but it was memorable enough that you recall it now nine years later unquote. Still then pointed out that the incident report that Flores filed said Flores quote grabbed his hand and told him to back off, but it does not detail him pushing comes against the wall. Flores wasn't

30:05 asked a question at this point. It was just pointed out by Steele, and with that he wrapped up his cross examination. So this first back and forth between the prosecution and the defense still did a good job of maybe putting a little doubt not that the situation occurred, and nobody's trying to dispute that, but of the other stuff like bribery. Now, at this point, the second witness gets called to the stand by the prosecution, which this round is going to be handled by a different prosecutor, Maureen Comi, and the witness is identified as Daniel Phillip.

30:48 And you're not gonna believe what I'm about to tell you went on here Now before we get into it, Maureen Comy is considered the most prominent of the six prosecutors from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Comy has extensive experience on complex racketeering cases in particular, but she was also a prosecutor in the just Layne Maxwell case. Of course, that was Jeffrey Epstein's partner, and she played a major role in getting Maxwell convicted in her trial. So Daniel Phillip takes the stand and he starts his testimony by stating that around twenty twelve twenty thirteen, he was managing a male review show, and he described his role as managing male strippers for women.

31:42 He said sometime around twenty twelve, he received money from Cassie Venture to have sex with her. He said Sean Diddy Combs was also present. Phillips said his boss asked him to go to Gramercy Park Hotel for a bachelorette party, and he thought he was just going to do a little strip tease. But when he arrived at the hotel around midnight, Venturre was the only one standing in the doorway. He said, quote when I arrived, Cassie opened the door and she asked me if I would be okay if it was just going to be us, he said, noting that she was wearing a red laced lingerie outfit with high heels, a red wig, and dark sunglasses. Now, according to Philip, Venturre said it was her birthday, end quote, her husband wanted to do something special for her, so she asked me and Philip testifying I'm quoting him, if I would mind rubbing baby oil on her and giving her massage, and wherever things went from there would be based on how comfortable I was. Ventura then gave him a few thousand dollars, he said, and she said that she would tip him at the end. Philip went on to say a man was sitting in the room and he was wearing a white robe, a hat, and a bandana that covered his face from his nose down. Philip said he immediately recognized the man's voice as Sean didd

33:13 He Combs, though Combs didn't truthfully identify himself at the time. Ventura also told Philip at that time that her quote husband wasn't gay and wouldn't try to touch him. Philip said that he had sex with Ventura while Combs was quote sitting in the corner masturbating. Combs gave him a couple of thousand dollars more at the end, and he left. He said after he left, she texted him and he returned for more sex with her. He said Combs was still in the room masturbating in the corner. He said that over the next year or two, he returned to have similar encounters with Ventura, with Combs watching in a series of hotels in New York, as well as Comb's in Ventura's home in the city. When asked to provide details of these encounters, he said that Sean Diddy Combs eventually would direct him in Ventur as they had sex.

34:10 He also said they'd use baby oil every time he was with Cassie and Combs, and Combs would instruct them to use more and more baby oil as they went along. Man Combs in this baby oil huh. Sometimes a pair would ask Philip to pick up the items before meeting them for sex. Philip testified about one occasion where Ventura instructed him to urinate on her. Combs was masturbating while this happened, he said. Phillips said he often didn't wear a condom while having sex of Ventur, and he brought an STD history with him. At one point to verify that he didn't have STDs. Philip testified Combs recorded them having sex on one or two occasions using a phone and a camcorder device. He also testified that on one occasion, Cassandra Ventura appeared to be on drugs. Shawn Combe said to him at the time, I don't think this is gonna happen today. Philip said, Ventura was slumped over on a couch. Shawn Combs then asked to see his ID, saying, quote, just for insurance unquote, to which Combs took a cell phone picture of his driver's license. Then the prosecutor, miss Comy, asked Philip how he interpreted that, and Philip responded, he was threatening me, which, y'all, what this witness picked up

35:41 on that Diddy was putting down was now I know where you live. Now I got a picture of your license. Philip went on to say he once took Molly, a synthetic drug that comes offered him, and he said he felt nauseous, but also you fork. At the same time, when asked how much he was paid, Philip said he was paid between seven hundred dollars and six thousand dollars for each sexual encounter with Cassandra Ventura while Shawn Combs watched and masturbated. He then recalled one incident when Ventura was on her computer and Combs yelled to her, quote, babe, come here. She did not come immediately, Philip said, and Combs through what he described as a liquor bottle toward her.

36:28 It flew by her and hit the wall. He said. Combs then started dragging her by her hair into the bedroom. He said Cassie was screaming and repeatedly saying I'm sorry while he heard what sounded like Comb's slapping her. Philip testified he then heard Comb saying, quote, bitch, when I tell you to come here, you come now, not later, unquote. He said that Combs then told him, are y'all ready to continue now? I mean, y'all, this is disturbing on so many fucking levels. What a monster this guy is.

37:09 After Combs left the hotel, Venturandom Philip jumped in his lap, and he said she was shaking. He said, I asked her, why is she doing this? Why is she staying with this guy. I tried to explain to her that she was in real danger if she stayed with him. So marine Comy. She then asked Daniel Phillip why he did not call the police after he witnesses violence, and before I get into that, if you notice the prosecution is going to try to beat the defense to the questions, and you knew that was something the defense was going to ask him, and it was probably something you were asking yourself. Why didn't he call the police when all his violence was going down? Well, he said, quote, my thought was this is someone with unlimited power, and chances are even if I did go to the police, I might still end up losing my life. Comey then ask Philip why he continued to go back after witnessing the violence firsthand, and he said, quote, it was my way of being able to check on her and see that she was okay. And with that the prosecutors they end their direct examination and the defense conducts the cross Now inside the courtroom, at this time, Sean Combs is seated back in his chair. His body is visibly tense as this witness is testifying in detail about getting paid to have sex with Cassie Ventura in front of him and

38:42 combs three daughters that are present. They leave the courtroom several times when the sex stuff comes up his sons. They had been sitting the whole time, stonefaced and at times their scene passing notes to each other so ze behavior or Donaldson. He then starts his cross examination of Daniel Phillip, and right off the bat he focuses on the review show of mail strippers that Philip managed, and he mentions, hey, this is prohibited prostitution. You're engaging in illegal activity, right He and Philip then they start arguing over this, to the point that the judge had to call a sidebar and basically tell Donaldson to quit badger in the witness. Donaldson then asked Philip to describe his role in his employment, and Philip responded that he wasn't an active stripper or dancer when his boss asked him to go meet Cassie Venturre and Sean Diddycombs the first time.

39:48 He said he would sometimes fill in if he was needed, and that his boss called him that day and said there was a request for a black mail stripper and no one else was available that would fit the description. He said he thought he was going to strip for a bachelorette party, he was not told about showing Combs being there, and he wasn't told that it would just be one person. Donaldson then had Philip reiterate his payments, and Philip said he was offered four thousand dollars before any sexual encounters or massaging took place the first time he met Cassie Ventura. And Donaldson, he's making Philip describe in painstaking detail the layout of the hotel room, like the exact layout, et cetera, and Combe's precise location in that hotel room. And you're talking about twelve years ago.

40:45 I mean, it's kind of ridiculous really to even expect this guy to remember trivial details like where a table was, things of that nature. But Philip did a good job of recalling the layout. All of a sudden, he seemed to be trying to highlight moments when Ventura was a willing participant in and even an initiator of the sex. He was quoted as saying to Philip at one point, it appears she's enjoying herself. Would that be fair to say? And Philip replied yes, And it was at that point, y'all that court was adjourned for the first day, so Daniel Philip will be returning Tuesday morning. And also Tuesday, expected not guaranteed, but expected to testify on Tuesday, Cassie Ventura And just like today, just like you've just heard, I'll have all the details, so look for that. Thank you so much for listening. Check out the Patreon Patreon dot com slash Exposed podcast cast files. You can get commercial free early releases like this episode right here, bonus episode, quarterly gifts for all our top tier Patreons, and so much more. Again, Patreon dot com slash Exposed podcast Files. Remember,

42:16 wherever you're listening right now, there should be a button or something somewhere on whatever app you're listening to. They're different with every app, but whatever app you're listening to, follow us and it'll alert you as we drop episodes, especially for Shawn Combs. As news comes out, we're gonna drop things, so follow us and you don't have to worry about it, and it's completely free. Thank you so much again for listening, and until next time for exposed scandalous files of the Elite, I'm your host, Jim Chapman. Much love,