“The Trial Of Sean Combs” Episode Nineteen | The NDA and 100K

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 didd He 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 Sean Combs. Let's get started, so just a quick catch up on what occurred last time I joined you, I covered the final day of testimony from Mia. This was on Monday, June second, and here's what we learned. Defense attorney Steele revisited a text in which Mia wrote that she wanted to harm herself, that her life was over, et cetera, after being let go from her job in twenty seventeen. Now she denied that she lied on the stand when she testified last week that Diddy sexually assaulted her. Still also showed messages from twenty eighteen to twenty twenty in which she expressed affection and love toward her former boss, Shawan Combs. Mia claimed she was brainwashed by Diddy, which she said prevented her from coming forward earlier about sexual abuse allegations. She was quoted as saying, it's been a long process. I'm still untangling these things and I'm in therapy now. After

2:58 Mia left the stand, the government briefly called Sylvia Oakin, the area director of sales and marketing at the Beverly Hills Hotel, to the stand. Now, did he allegedly caused a lot of damage to the rooms there? Oakin confirmed that she conferred some bills that they sent. Did he regarding the damage in these rooms. One of them, interestingly enough, had a notation that said oil damage. Oakin also said that he was using aliases including Philip Pines and Frank Black for reservations to the Beverly Hills Hotel. Now, the defense didn't really question her, it was just general questions before Sylvia was released from the stand. So we're back today with a new witness being called to the stand, and the trial continues for Tuesday, June three. Now, before the day even started, a major disruption in the courtroom, which prompted court officers to remove a woman who could be heard yelling in the courtroom. This is before anything kicked off today. The woman set in part quote Diddy, these motherfuckers laughing at you. She had been seated. Then she gets up to walk out the door, and she

4:28 raises her voice even further and says, quote, people are lying now. At this point comes turned around in his seat when the judge directed the officers to remove the woman, and it took three court security officers to remove her. The woman had been previously seen around the courthouse, but today was the first time she had ever been in the courtroom and she was known to security, so she didn't cause an outburst inside the courtroom until today, but apparently they had been watching her. She was probably mouthing off outside of the courtroom, I guess in prior days.

5:09 But after that outburst, things settled down and the trial got underway. In holy smokes, did we find out some shit today? And it started out with Eddie Garcia. He was the first person called to the stand today. He worked in security at the Intercontinental Hotel. Of course, that is where the now infamous Cassie beating took place that got on video surveillance handling. The direct examination for the prosecution is Prosecutor Mitzi Steiner in this case, and Garcia starts off by saying he was a security guard at that hotel in March of twenty sixteen, and he said that he in Israel Flores, who also worked security in more of twenty sixteen and incidentally has already testified. He was the first witness in this trial. Garcia said they don't work together anymore, but they're still friends now. He said he knew Flores testified because he saw a TikTok video about it, but the two have not discussed the substance of their testimonies. According to Garcia. Garcia said by March of twenty sixteen, he had been working at the Intercontinental Hotel for a few months and he was twenty four years old at the time of the incident, fairly young man. Right now, before we go any deeper into

6:41 his testimony, it's important to mention that yesterday and I didn't tell you about it yesterday because I wanted to tell you about it today when he was testifying. But yesterday Garcia, through his attorney, told the court he was going to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminals himself should he be put on the stand now. This prompted the judge yesterday to sign an immunity agreement with Garcia, basically saying you're not going to be charged with anything you testify to on the stand. And you signed this, we'll give you immunity and it'll compel you to testify.

7:23 So keep that in mind as we go along. Garcia started discussing the news of the day way back in March of twenty sixteen, and he said his shifts started at two pm. This was on March fifth of that year, and he said he was informed there had been a domestic dispute, so he watched the surveillance video of the incident, and he claimed on the stand he didn't initially recognize the individuals, but he later learned that it was, of course, Sean Comb's and Cassie Ventura. Garcia testified that it was his understanding that law enforcement was not called to respond to that incident because miss Ventura did not request the presence of police or any medical attention. He also testified that about ninety minutes into his shift, Christina Korm called the hotel security desk and she identified herself as Diddy's personal assistant. He said. Korm then asked, quote if there was any possible way to get a copy of the video or see the video in question, and he said that Korm said she wanted the video because quote, mister Combs had been intoxicated and doesn't remember anything. Garcia said he told Korm on the phone that she couldn't see the video quote. I told her that she would have to reach out to hotel management or get a subpoena.

8:55 He said. About a half hour later, he received a call from the hotel operator. There was a woman in the lobby looking for him. Korm introduced herself and again asked to see the video because she wanted to know what they were dealing with, and that was a direct quote from her. Garcia said he apologized and again directed her to hotel management or the subpoena process, but he did tell her, quote off the record, it's bad. He said that later that night, the security desk received yet another call from a New York area code and it was Combe's chief of staff, Christina Koram on that line, and she told Garcia that somebody wanted to speak to him, and then she put Sean Comb's on the phone. Garcia said that mister Combe sounded very nervous. He was just talking really fast. He was saying he had a little bit too much to drink in that I knew how things work. Garcia said Combs asked him to provide the video and said quote if this gut out, it could ruin me. Garcia said he apologized to Combs and told him to reach out to hotel management and get a subpoena if he has to. He said Combs then requested a meeting with hotel management to discuss the incident and the video, and that he was very concerned. Garcia said

10:26 he received a call from Christina Korm on his personal cell phone later on when he was at home. He said he had not given Korm or Combs his personal number and he felt nervous getting the call. Korm again passed the phone to Combs. Quote. He stated that I sounded like a good guy, that I sounded like I wanted to help, that something like this could ruin him. He was concerned this video would get out and that would ruin his career. Garcia apologized again. He told Combes that he didn't have access to obtain the video, and he went on to testify that quote. He again stated that I sounded like I wanted to help, and he believed I could make that happen. Garcia also testify that Combs told him quote, he would take care of me, which Garcia understood meant financially. So Garcia gets off the phone, let me see what I can do. He calls his boss and he tells his boss that Seawan Combs was willing to pay to obtain the hotel security video that showed him assaulting Cassie. Now, after a pause on the phone, according to Garcia, his boss said, quote, we'll do it for fifty, so Garcia called Christina korun back and she gives the phone to Combs. Garcia said he could get him the video for fifty thousand dollars, and according to Garcia, comes said quote, Eddie, my Angel, I knew you could

12:01 help me. I knew you could do it. So the next day, Garcia's boss went to the servers and downloaded the video onto a thumb drive and he gave that thumb drive to Garcia for Combs, and Garcia said at that point he contacted Korum and he told her, hey, I got the USB with the video on it, and she passed the phone to Combs. He said at that point Combs gave him the address and that it seemed like he wanted to have the video as soon as possible. He said, Combs referred to him again as Eddie, my Angel. That's just weird, Joe. Garcia's boss then told Garcia to go to the address and to tell the other officers he was working with that day that he was running an errand for his boss. He said. He then called Christina Korum when he arrived in the lobby of the building where Combs had told him to meet Comb's security guard then brought Garcia up to the room on a higher floor. He said when he got there, Combs was happy, saying, quote, he was smiling, excited and just looked really happy, and again Combs referred to him as Eddie, my angel. He went on to say he believed Combs was trying to make him comfortable, might have been trying to make him too comfortable. Garcia said, quote, at the time, I was very nervous and my voice kept cracking. Combs offered him

13:33 a tea when he said he was coming down with something. His voice was cracking, and he was basically trying to act like he was sick and kind of play it off. Combs asked him if he liked tea, and when Garcia said he didn't know, Combs directed Korum to go get him the tea I like and knowing what we know now and of telling him what was in that tea, Garcia said he handed Sewan co the USB after he asked for the hotel security video that showed Comb's assaulting Cassie, and Garcia added that Combs then left the room for a few minutes. He didn't explain why, which I would suspect and I'm just speculating here, but I'm suspecting he went and watched that video to make sure it was worth the fifty g's he was about to pay. Right, Combs returned and then he asked if that was the only copy of the video. Garcia said, he told Combs he believed so, and he said. Combs then said that it had to be the only copy and that he didn't want it getting out and asked Garcia if he was sure nothing was already uploaded to a cloud. So Garcia said, I'm ninety nine percent sure. Let me double check, though, and he calls his boss right in front of Combs, and his boss confirmed it was the only copy, and his boss went on to say he removed it from the server. Garcia then told Combs he was a little

15:04 bit concerned that if Cassie Ventura filed a police report about the incident later on, it could affect him. Go back to him, right, and he said. Combs reply, quote, I didn't have to worry about that, that she knew about it and she wanted the video gone too, he said. Combs then right in front of him, got Cassie on a FaceTime call. Now, Garcia said it looked like her, but she was wearing a hoodie and the lighting was bad, and Cassie wore hoodies a lot. That was kind of her style back then when she wasn't in front of a camera. So he said, at that point, comes past the phone to Garcia, and he told Cassie, quote, let him know that you want this to go away too.

15:52 Ventura told Garcia on the video call that she had a movie coming out and it wasn't a good time for this to come out, and she just wanted it all to go away. Her demeanor was normal on that video call, according to Garcia, and it was at that point they hung up the phone and Combs asked for ID from Garcia, Garcia's boss, and the security officer who responded to the incident originally, which was Israel floraes Now. Combs told Garcia, quote, this only works if we're all on the same Pageote and Garcia responded that he was nervous because he knew Flores, and he said Flores wouldn't go for it, telling him, quote, knowing mister Flores, he's a very by the book guy. That's just not something he would Douote. Garcia said. He then called his boss again, and he told him Combs wanted his and Floras IDs and added to his boss that he didn't think Flores would be on board with all of this. His boss said another officer who was on duty that day would do it. Garcia said he then texted those pictures of the IDs to Combs. The Flores guy is obviously a straight up guy, right. He was the first guy that testified in this trial, and he had no idea any

17:24 of this aspect was going on, nor were they going to tell him. And we'll get into that. Garcia was then asked to sign paperwork, including a declaration that it was the only existing copy of the video, and he also had to sign an NDA. Now, the Jerry viewed photos of the documents and they were all signed and dated March seventh of twenty sixteen, and the NDA was actually printed on Combe's company letterhead and it referenced his company and its New York office a drup. Garcia testified he didn't read the documents carefully before signing, and he did not receive any copies. After he signed the documents, he said, quote, I was nervous, and I was a rush to get out of there unquote and I bet he was look security everywhere around Sean Combs. This guy's intimidated as hell. Now. One part of the agreement was read out loud in court, and it stated, quote, Recipient understands that Combs is a highly prominent recording artist, entertainer and entrepreneur, and his privacy in the confidentiality of the confidential information is of material concern. Another line from the agreement read accordingly, without limitation of companies and or Combe's rights as they relate to injunctive relief detailed above, Recipient

18:56 agrees to pay company this sum of one million dollar as liquidated damages in the event of a breach of this agreement. And let me explain to you quickly what that means if it's not clear yet. Basically, if they were to go release that tape after the fact, meaning the people that signed this agreement, they would have to pay Combs one million freaking dollars. And to put that into perspective, Garcia testified at that point that he was earning about ten dollars and fifty cents an hour as a security guard at that hotel. Not a guy that's gonna want to pay a million dollars, right, he said, after signing, did he grab the documents and he left the room, and he returned with a brown bag and a money counter. He said Combs put a total of one hundred thousand dollars in cash through that money counter, in stacks of ten thousand dollars at a time. Garcia testified that he had previously told Combs that his boss would do it for fifty thousand dollars, so Garcia assumed at this point the other fifty thousand dollars that was counted was for Garcia and Flores, the other responding officer, and Garcia testified the security guard was present while Combs counted the money, and he also recalled that Christina Korum.

20:25 She was in and out of the room, so he said she probably saw the money being counted. And what the prosecution's doing there is just trying to establish that all three of these people that were involved, outside of this security guy, knew about it, because that is the definition of a criminal enterprise more than one person. So Combs counts out this money through the machine. It's one hundred thousand dollars, and he asked Garcia if he wanted to count it himself. Garcia declined. He told Combs that he trusted the machine. Garcia said when he stood up to leave, Combe said he'd walk out with him, which Garcia said made him very nervous. Comes walked down to the lobby with Garcia and he requested both of their cars from the attendants and Comes ask Garcia how he was planning to spend the money, and he suggested at that point that Garcia not make any big purchases. Garcia then called his boss from the car as he was driving back, and he said at that point he was watching to see and ensure that he was not being followed.

21:40 Garcia said he got back to his work and he split the money with his boss and another officer that was on duty at the time of the incident, named Henry Elias, not Flores. Garcia testified he gave fifty thousand dollars to his boss an incident. That guy's last name is Madrono, and he said twenty thousand dollars he gave to a Lias, and he said he bought a used car in cash with the thirty thousand dollars that he kept for himself. He said he did not deposit any of the money into a bank account or reported on his taxes when he was asked. Garcia then went on to say about a week or two later, he noticed the incident report and the attached security footage were no longer on the security computer. He said he did not report it to anyone because that would draw more attention to the situation in his words, Eddie. Garcia then testified that he reached out to Seawan Combs through Instagram around twenty seventeen or twenty eighteen, and he asked Combs if he had any work for him when Combs was in Los Angeles, but that Combs never responded to those IG messages.

22:58 He did say that Combs reached out to him a few weeks after he provided Combs with that video, and he said Combs said, happy Easter, Eddie, my angel. God is good. God put you in my way for a reason, and then proceeded to ask if anyone has asked about the incident or the video. Garcia said he told Combs he hadn't heard anything, and he said that comes into the call, just saying if you need anything ever, just let me know. He was then asked by the prosecution about what he did when the video resurfaced in twenty twenty four, and he said he spoke to his colleagues Israel Flores and Henry Elias, and that he was then contacted by law enforcement in June of twenty twenty four about the incident, but he admitted he was not honest about his own involvement in the situation at that time.

23:57 Garcia said he deleted his messages with Flores and Elias about the situation after that meeting with investigators, and he said later on he was appointed his own counsel and he met with the government. It was later that year, and he disclosed that Combs had paid him for that video. He said he was truthful in that meeting and all his subsequent meetings with prosecutors, and with that the prosecution had no further questions, and defense attorney Brian Steele started his cross examination. So Still asked Eddie Garcia if he got a good feeling about Seawan Combs, and Garcia said that Shawn Combes acted professionally in the transaction, despite the fact that he was looking in his rearview mirror to see if Combs was following him. After the meeting, Still then reviewed sections of the NBA that Garcia signed and said that he didn't re before he signed it, and still honed in on a section of the NDA that included provisions for when Garcia could discuss the confidential information without breaching that agreement. A provision in that contract allowed for Garcia to disclose the information law enforcement or other government bodies if necessary, and it wouldn't be considered a breach of the agreement. But it did require Garcia to

25:29 notify Combe's company if he was compelled to do that. And the NDA also included a non disparagement clause. And before I get into the rest of this, let me just say the difference between those two. A non disclosure agreement obviously means you can't talk about whatever's in that agreement. A non disparagement clause is a section of that agreement that basically says, and I'm going to paraphraseier, that you can't talk shit about someone, whether it's true or not. I hate non disparagement clauses. I signed a non disparagement clause at one point in my life. I'm not going to get in to win. I would have never signed that had I known whether you're telling the truth about somebody or not. You can't talk about them, period, because it's essentially a license for someone to screw you over, and even if they screw you over, they have the comfort of knowing that you can never talk about it.

26:33 So I'll move on. Garcia, of course, responded to the defense attorney the same way he responded to the prosecutor, and he said, look, I didn't read it really well before signing it, and that was pretty much all still had for him, and the witness was released. The prosecution then called Derrick Ferguson, the former head of finance for Combe's Enterprises, to the stand the CFO, and Ferguson said he is testifying in compliance with a subpoena and that he worked for Combs and his companies from nineteen ninety eight all the way to twenty seventeen. This dude was a long ten year guy with Diddy. Ferguson added he was the CFO at Bad Boy Entertainment from nineteen ninety eight until twenty twelve. He said his responsibilities included setting budgets, accounting and record keeping, as well as being involved in some joint enters and strategic partnerships. Ferguson also said during different periods of time Comb's personal finances would also be part of his responsibilities. He said he interacted with Combs pretty regularly, a couple of times a week on average, and he went on to say as more professional management was brought in to run the company, he said his interactions with Combs personally became less frequent. Ferguson said at certain points duringduring his tenure he reported to the company president, and when there was no president, he reported directly to Combs.

28:07 He was then asked who handled the banking for Combs, like who could sign checks, et cetera, and Ferguson said he and Shawing Combs were the only two on the business bank accounts during his tenure that could sign checks. Ferguson said that Combs would charge business and personal expenses on his card from time to time, and that members of his team they would determine which business or entity a charge pertain to, and in addition, they would then use that business bank account to pay off the charge. He said it was not uncommon, especially during his early years of working with Combs, that performers would be paid in cash and the performer's manager would at times bring cash to the finance Department to be processed. He said that cash payments were pretty much industry norm twenty years ago.

29:02 He also testified that he was not aware that Comb's security carried cash for him. Remember in past episodes have told you about his security carrying large treasure troves of cash, and there's been a lot of testimony that's how they would pay these strippers, these mail strippers that would be in these freak offs with Cassie. But when he was asked about it, he said it was not something he paid any attention to. He also said there were periods when third parties were engaged to handle Comb's personal finances, and he said at other times it was internally managed. Ferguson said the finance department managed the finances for combs properties that he owned to Miami, the Hamptons, and New York City, and he also confirmed he knew Combs would provide financial support to family and friends through his personal salaries and distributions. Ferguson's that he'd sit down with Combs at least once a year to review his personal finances, and the jury was then shown a December twenty eleven bank statement for showing Combe's bank account for his Alpine, New Jersey home, and on that the jury was directed to some highlighted sections and they showed on December fourteenth an account transfer of twenty thousand dollars to Cassie Ventura, and then on December twenty third an incoming wire transfer from Broderick Ventura, who was Cassie Ventur's father, for twenty

30:36 thousand dollars, and then on December twenty seventh that twenty thousand dollars was wired back to Ventura's father's account. Why remember, Cassie testified that Diddy had threatened to release videos of her and freak offs unless she paid twenty thousand dollars as punishment, and then he returned that money. That was that transaction. So they're proving that Cassie and her mother testified to that as well. They're proving that that was true. Dereck Ferguson was then asked about the different positions that he held for Combs, and he said he served as the CFO until the end of twenty twelve, then he worked as the Chief Growth Officer for a few years, and he said eventually he became the COO of Revolt Media in TV until twenty seventeen when he left the company.

31:33 He said he didn't speak with Sean Combes often after leaving his employment in November of twenty seventeen, except for some odds and ends related to his departure, and he said he would occasionally reach out over the holidays. Comes last reached out to Ferguson on September sixteenth of twenty twenty four. Imagine that, Ferguson said, Comes texting him to say hello and asked him to give of Comb's a call. And if you've learned anything by now, Combes reaches out to people when he's in trouble that he thinks can sink him in court, and this is no exception, right, He said, Come sent another tax shortly after, saying he was in New York and wanted to see if Ferguson had time to get together because he wanted to talk and get some advice. Ferguson said he was on a flight to Charlotte at the time he received those tacks, so he wasn't able to meet. And he said he did not respond to that message. And with that the prosecution was done and the defense started their cross examination.

32:42 So the defense asked Ferguson why he went to work for Combs, and Ferguson said he initially was interested in working for Bad Boy Records because he thought the company could have a lot of impact. Quote coming from the Bronx, I felt like we needed more companies that really would higher from the communities I grew up in, that would give people opportunity. The Defense then asked Ferguson about Comes long term relationship with his liquor brand. Ferguson said Comes mainly oversaw the creative direction, and the Igo, who was the primary on that deal and one of the world's biggest drink makers, provided funding. The Defense then asked about the tension between those two companies, and Ferguson said there was some ongoing tension between Combs and the Igo over the marketing and distribution of the products because they felt the distribution was concentrated too much in urban areas. Ferguson was then asked about company taxes and if they were all done correctly. Quote, you would never let there be financial impropriety on your watch at that company, Am I right?

33:55 And Ferguson responded, I would do everything I could to not let that happened. The defense then asked did you see anyone help Shaan Combe's commit crimes, to which Ferguson responded no. Defense then asked did you see anyone commit acts of violence, to which Ferguson responded no. Defense then asked did you see anyone make the company stronger through threats of violence? And Ferguson responded no. The defense then asked did you see anyone enhance mister Cumb's reputation or the reputation of the business through acts of prostitution and Ferguson replied no. The defense then asked about the culture of Comb's company in the work ethic, and Ferguson said he recalled working long hours with lots of talented people. Quote, we all felt there was a mission to be great, to represent ourselves in a certain way. He said, Comb's employees were a very close group, especially in the beginning, and the defensive then asked Ferguson what he learned from Combs, and Ferguson responded, quote, I did learn a lot from him.

35:11 He had a great business mind, and I think he put his mind to something and he would set a really high, aggressive goal and he was not afraid of that goal. And I think that's something you can learn from. He just worked constantly. His passion for what he did was really high, so his work ethic and the number of hours that he put in was something that really pushed the entire team. And with that, Ferguson was released and court was adjourned for the day. I want to say something on that last part of the questioning from the defense, and I was talking to someone about this the other day and I said, you know, it really blows my mind because Sean Combs really built an amazing brand and now in hindsight, you're seeing all this crazy shit that he was doing and the crazy things that went on. And as a business owner I own three companies, I couldnot imagine living that crazy of a life and being able to manage my companies. And you know, at first reflection, you think, well, maybe he had all these talented people around him and they were just handling everything and he really wasn't doing nothing. But that wasn't the case.

36:32 Most of these people are saying, at least so far, that he was kind of a micromanager. He was involved in everything, which I don't begrudge him for. I am certainly a micromanager of the nth degree. It's probably my biggest weakness in business. But it's shocking to me that he has done all these despicable things. He was hooked on drugs and drunk a shit half the time and have all these freak offs, and he was running a billion dollar company. It makes me wonder if he didn't have all that bullshit going on behind the scenes, how great could he have been. You know, it's almost sad because as big a company as he built, it probably could have been ten times out size if he just stayed focused on his craft and quit getting high on drugs, hiring prostitutes, having freakoffs, and doing all the dumb shit that he was doing. But I don't know. Maybe he was crediting some of his reputation as a partier to his success. Who knows, But what a hell of a day.

37:43 I had been curious since the start of this thing about who Comb's paid for that video in that hotel hallway where he attacked Cassie. Now we know, we know all the deats from that, and we're only going to find out more from here. Thank you so much for listening. Of course, I'll be back tomorrow with another update. Take a second. If you have not done so, please review us wherever you're listening Apple podcasts especially. We need your reviews. One words all it takes. But you got to go to the review section, not the comment section, and review us five stars and one word. And I can't tell you how much I'd appreciate that. The Patreon check it out.

38:28 If you want to support what we're doing here, you can do it for as little as ten dollars a month, and for that you get commercial, free early releases and bonus episodes. We even offer files of things that we discuss, quarterly gifts, all kinds of stuff. Check us out patreon dot com, slash exposed podcast files and until next time for exposed scandalous files of the elite. I'm your host, Jim Chapman. Much love Apple. According to the