Sean Diddy Combs faces federal scrutiny after Homeland Security raids and testimony from former security chief Roger Bonds, who detailed four to five instances of physical violence against women including Cassie and Kim Porter. While Bonds suggested rehabilitation over prison, he condemned Combs' vague apology as self-centered, ignoring specific victims or the alleged coercion into drug use and "freak offs." Legal experts now weigh potential sex trafficking and RICO charges despite expiring statutes of limitations on older footage, signaling a shift from mere reputation damage to serious criminal accountability for the mogul's alleged abuse of power. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
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God Syndrome and Violence00:09:21
How many times did you personally witness him be violent towards women?
Around four or five times.
Was that all with Cassie or was it Cassie and other women?
I seen him with Cassie and I seen him with Kim Porter, his kid's mother.
There have also been allegations involving him and other men in terms of abuse.
It's been times that I would stand by the elevator or I would go downstairs and say, why is this guy rushing me out?
And I would see different men.
I've never seen what they did, but I've actually stood there while they knocked on the hotel room door.
When you go through life just paying your way out, I really feel like he might be sorry now.
He's sorry that he got caught.
But if that was a one-time incident, then I would say accept his apology.
It's been another shocking couple of days for the embattled superstar Sean Diddy Combs.
The 54-year-old's homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security agents in March.
He's faced a series of serious allegations of physical and sexual violence.
Leaked CCTV footage shows Diddy punching and kicking his then-girlfriend, the singer Cassie, in a hotel hallway back in 2016.
Diddy apologized in a video message yesterday, his first direct public response to the mounting allegations now threatening his legacy and his career.
So difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life.
Sometimes you got to do that.
I was fucked up.
I mean, I hit rock bottom, but I made no excuses.
My behavior on that video is inexcusable.
I take full responsibility for my actions in that video.
I'm disgusted.
I was disgusted then when I did it.
I'm disgusted now.
I went and I sought out professional help.
I had to go into therapy or going to rehab.
Had to ask God for his mercy and grace.
I'm so sorry.
But I'm committed to be a better man each and every day.
I'm not asking for forgiveness.
I'm truly sorry.
Well, joining me now is Roger Bonds, who was Sean Combs' head of security from 2003 to 2012.
Mr. Bonds, thank you very much indeed for joining me.
First of all, your reaction when you saw that video?
My reaction was he's up to the same games.
You know, my reaction was he never mentioned Cassie's name in that apology.
You know, so to me, he didn't humble himself enough.
I think he said what people wanted to hear, not what he felt.
That was just my opinion about it.
The actual level of violence has been very shocking to people to watch any man do that to a woman, particularly a very high-profile man doing it in such brazen, public manner in a public place like that.
Was even more shocking that he had no compulsion about doing this where there may be cameras.
But was that indicative of Diddy's general behavior towards women?
In my light, I would say yes.
In my light, I would say yes.
It didn't surprise me when I saw it because I've seen things to this nature before.
I've gotten in between things of this nature before.
And this was back in 2012.
So that's why I was so adamant on what I said yesterday after he posted that apology, because it comes a time where it's like, you can't just say anything you want to say and think that people are going to accept it.
You know what I'm saying?
I think, I think it's a God syndrome, you know, the same way that he's been in a lot of trouble before and you could pay your way out.
He knew those cameras was there, you know, but of course.
As we heard, he came back to the hotel and he paid to get the footage, but didn't know which Cassie said inside her complaint that they gave her a copy of the footage also.
You know what I'm saying?
So when you go through life just paying your way out, I really feel like he wasn't sorry about that.
Yeah, he might be sorry now.
He's sorry that he got caught.
But if that was a one-time incident, then I would say accept his apology.
But I think in that apology, he said what he thought people wanted to hear.
How many times did you personally witness him be violent towards women?
Around four or five times.
And was that all with Cassie or was it Cassie and other women?
I seen him with Cassie and I seen him with Kim Porter, his kid's mother.
Right, who's now sadly no longer with us?
But what did you see him do?
I've seen him get physical.
I've seen him get really physical, grab him up.
It was one time that Cassie mentioned inside her lawsuit where she said she had to go over to the London hotel.
I was the one that was checking on her every day at the London Hotel.
You know what I'm saying?
So I know that to be true.
I seen him get into some wrestling and punching matches.
And sometimes I felt like, what are you mad at?
What are you upset about?
Because it's a deeper anger when you hitting and punching a woman in that type of manner.
And it's okay.
It's understood if you have a problem with one woman and you seek thing.
But when you have a problem with every woman that you're dealing with, then I think that problem is inside of you.
What did you see him do with Kim Porter?
I seen him inside the car, grab her up.
I seen him smack her, you know.
And one thing about Kim is Kim got to the point where she fought back because she realized how powerful she was.
It was one incident on Sunset Boulevard in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel where I just seen the car rocking back and forth.
You know, of course he put everybody out the car, but I seen the car shaking.
So I opened the door.
I said, what are you doing?
You know, what are you doing?
You see where we at?
And what are you doing?
And Kim got out the car like nothing happened.
And she fixed her hair and she told him.
She said, I want to see you explain to the media that scratch I'm going to put across your face if you put your hands on me again.
And that was Kim's attitude.
Kim's attitude was she realized that what he had to explain meant more to him than anything.
And once she realized she had that power, she said, nah, not no more, because you're going to have to explain why you all marked up.
The incident you alluded to in the lawsuit was in January 2009 after Diddy learned that she had spoken to another music manager at a party.
He became angry.
It says in the car leaving the club, he beat Cassie Masentura, pushing her into a corner of the vehicle and stomping on her face, and that you tried to stop the beating, but were unable to de-escalate the situation.
Is that an accurate assessment of what happened?
I wouldn't say it was accurate because I did stop it.
You know what I'm saying?
And it wasn't a club.
It was in front of a black tire fair, actually.
And they came out of the black tire fair on Sunset Boulevard.
And she was talking to a manager, and I was standing there.
And then he just came out and went crazy.
You know what I'm saying?
I didn't understand why, but I knew that we were on Sunset Boulevard.
And I grabbed him and I said, Yo, what are you doing?
Like, what did she do?
And she just ran on the side of the car and she bent down and he took off for me and he commenced to hitting her.
And I pulled him off of her and I threw him in the car.
And then I grabbed her and I threw her in the car.
And they continued the fight for about another block or two.
And then he sat there and he just shook his head.
He just shook his head and said, Take me home.
Once we got her home, he then had his assistant get a hotel room at the London Hotel.
And they took her over to the London Hotel for a week.
And my job was to just go check on her, you know.
And I went and checked on her every day.
She showed me some bruises on her chest and she showed me her eye and she just started crying.
There are other parts of her lawsuit, which I want to just go through quickly with you to see what whether you would concur with what she claims.
That Diddy urged and supplied her to take drugs.
Did you witness that?
Well, yeah, I definitely witnessed that.
You know, drugs was a regular thing there, you know, for both of them.
The London Hotel Truths00:08:22
And I didn't have no idea that he was forcing her, though.
But, you know, that was the things that they would do.
You know what I'm saying?
Partying.
They would go to the hotel for the weekends.
They would have, I guess, what they was calling the freak offs, I guess.
But just to be clear, on that, sorry, just to be asking about the freak offs are where it is alleged, and she alleges that Diddy forced her to have sex with other men as he filmed it.
That is what a freak off is.
Is that right?
Yes, that's what they say it is.
And do you believe that was happening regularly?
Yes, I believe that.
And do you believe as she says that she was a completely unwilling participant in that, that he was manipulating the whole thing?
When I look back, he's a king manipulator.
He can manipulate anything and anyone.
Money and power is what he's all about.
You know, having conversations with him throughout the years.
He has a God syndrome.
So I definitely believe at the age of 19, seeking fame, wanting to be a singer, I think she allowed herself to be manipulated and be taken advantage of.
Definitely.
You were with him a long time.
What kind of person is he, Diddy?
I mean, just from what you're saying at the moment, he comes across as a pretty unpleasant piece of work.
Well, he's an arrogant person.
He's a no-nonsense person.
If he wants it, he feels that he can get it.
You know, if he wants it, he feels that he can pay for it.
If he wants it, you can't tell him no.
And I think at that particular time, she was 19 years old.
We're talking about a chap, you know, at 19 going against someone, I think at that time was 38, 39, very strong, very powerful in the music business.
And he took advantage of that.
And he knew how to take advantage of that.
How did it make you feel?
I mean, you've already slightly lit into this, but how did it make you feel?
You're a security man.
Your job is to protect people.
When you watched a man who's a strong man, like Diddy, physically attacking women in the way that he did, what did that make you feel?
I mean, it made me feel, one, like he was like, one, he was wrong.
I knew he was wrong.
If it happened on my watch, I would get in between it, but I felt powerless because I couldn't get in between it if I wasn't there.
I couldn't get in between it if you stay.
And we've had conversations.
You know, me and Cassie had conversations.
Me and Kim had conversations.
And Kim was basically telling me, she said, Barnes, I got four of them.
She said, I allow these things to happen as far as him messing around with girls and stuff like that.
And she said, when I get tired of it, he's going to know.
And Cassie, you got to a point where it's like you're talking to your daughter.
And I'm giving her advice.
But Cassie was so scared that the advice that you would give her, she would go back and tell him.
And that would make you not want to talk to her or give her advice or tell her what she should do because she would go back and tell him.
Maybe when she got high and they was alone, next thing you know, he would call you over the speaker and tell you to, yo, come to my room, come to my room.
Why are you talking to my girl?
Why are you talking to my girl?
So a lot of people say, why did you stay?
And I tell people, you know, me myself, I was also manipulated.
You know, he would also apologize to me, like, yo, I don't know what's wrong with me.
Yo, that's not going to happen again.
You know what I'm saying?
I'm going to do better.
You know, you would see everything going all right for the next couple of weeks, for the next month or two.
And then all of a sudden, you would see him blow up again over something.
Maybe she didn't want to go out.
Maybe she didn't want to do something.
And he would totally lose it.
And it's been times that we even had conversations like, yo, why?
What's wrong?
And he'll get to the point where he would act like he was mad at you about it.
So you would stop conversating about it.
You know, he had ways to tell you, okay, enough is enough.
Don't get in my business.
And it made me feel like a helpless person.
But at the same time, if I stay, I felt like I could help.
But if I leave, who's going to help her?
It was plenty of people there.
Why did she say my name?
Because everybody else would turn a blind eye to it.
There is a suggestion.
That's one of the reasons that I stayed.
Right.
There's a suggestion, Roger, that he would keep tapes of celebrities in his homes when they were taking drugs or having sex, whatever it may be, to be able to use against them later.
Did you ever see any evidence of that?
No, not at that time.
In 2012, I never seen no evidence.
He did keep a video bag with him or his assistant kept a video bag with him.
And from the things that's been going on now and the things that's been revealed, I would say allegedly that that video bag was of the things that they did together.
But he always had a video bag with him.
At that time, it was one of the little camcorders.
And he always kept like the videotapes and the cassette tapes there with him.
There have also been allegations involving him and other men in terms of abuse and so on.
What do you know about that?
I don't know nothing about that.
I've, you know, I've never been in there.
You know, when they would do those type of things, we would have the day off.
He might go to the hotel and he'd be like, yo, I'm going to stay in the hotel for the weekend.
Y'all off for the weekend and kind of rush you out.
But me being the person that I am, it's been times that I would stand by the elevator or I would go downstairs and say, why is this guy rushing me out?
Why is this guy rushing?
And I would see different men.
I've never seen what they did, but I've actually stood there while they knocked on the hotel room door and went inside.
What went on behind there, I can't tell you.
When did you last talk to Diddy?
I talked to Diddy when this first happened, the day before Cassie dropped the lawsuit.
I spoke to him.
And what was that conversation like?
That conversation was about my son, who's in trouble in Africa.
And I asked him for some help.
And he said, I don't have it right now.
I'm going through something.
He said, but I may need your help.
And at this particular time, I didn't know that I was inside of the lawsuit.
So when he said he might need my help, I was working with Sirock and De Leon with Diageo.
So I thought because he had the lawsuit against them, that he was getting ready to settle and he needed some help pushing the Vaca or pushing the tequila.
It wasn't until that next morning when I got a whole bunch of DMs and they said, you know, you and Cassie lawsuit.
And I said, for what?
And then I read the lawsuit and I said to myself, I said, oh, this is what he was telling me that he needed some help with.
He wanted me to, allegedly, he wanted me to be one of his witnesses and say that they had a regular relationship.
This was just a normal thing.
And then sometimes and some days they did.
They had a great relationship.
You know what I'm saying?
But it was this dark side of him that he was trying to hide and that he wanted me to say didn't exist.
And I can't say that it didn't exist if it did exist.
His video apologies, as you say, didn't even mention Cassie by name.
It's looking at him, it feels like he may now be aware of the scale of the trouble he's in, not least to his reputation.
I think everyone who watched that video was completely shocked.
Admitting the Need for Help00:07:07
Do you think this is the beginning of the end of him?
It's so hard to count him out.
And it's so hard to say it's the end when people are so forgiving.
You know what I'm saying?
I think from the apology, you can tell that I feel from the apology, just like I voiced yesterday, that it was a self-centered apology.
I didn't see no tears.
You know what I'm saying?
I didn't see, I just seen something that people would feel that had to be done.
And I think that's what I didn't feel the remorse.
You know, I'm not one to say whether he was or whether he wasn't, but saying that you went to get help, where's the proof that you went to get help?
Why you didn't say his name?
Why you didn't say her name at this particular time?
And then I found it funny that this was 2016.
So in my mind, I felt like it was the beginning of an end because I do really feel like other people are going to come forward.
Because if the incident that I'm telling you about was 2012 and then this incident was 2016, that means between 2012 and 2016, that this woman still went through these beatings all the way up, I guess, until she left in 2018.
So I feel like there's going to be other people that come forward.
Well, also, you have also told me that you saw him do similar beatings with Kim Porter, who sadly died, obviously in her 40s, was the mother of his three children.
But that in itself is indicative of a pattern of physical violence towards women.
Yes.
Yes, very much so.
Roger Bonds, it's been fascinating to talk to you.
Thank you very much indeed.
I really appreciate it.
I appreciate you.
Thank you very much.
And I hope that we get to the bottom of this.
And I hope that every woman out there sees this, steps forward for help.
And that's all I can say, Paz.
Final question: Do you think he belongs in prison?
No, I don't think he belongs in prison.
I think he needs help.
I think rehabilitation is a start, but I think admitting that you need help and stop covering it up saying that this was the only incident.
You got to be real with yourself and say, this is a padding of what I've been doing all my life, and now I need help.
Roger, thank you very much.
Thank you.
Well, let me bring in my panel now for their reaction to that extraordinary interview: DJ and Media Mogul, DJ Vlad, and the famed attorney, Gloria Ulray.
Gloria, I was thinking of you as I was listening to that testimony there from Roger Bonds, who obviously knows Diddy very well.
He was his head of security for nine years.
What did you make of it?
Well, I think it would be important testimony if, as, and when Mr. Combs is actually charged with any crimes.
And I think he would be a powerful witness.
I mean, he gave evidence there of personally witnessing Diddy attacking Cassie, which we knew about his allegations, but also he revealed pretty alarming stuff that he witnessed of him attacking Kim Porter, who is no longer here.
But that, I think, again will shock people in the context of that video.
Well, let's put it this way: I do represent some victims or alleged victims of Mr. Combs and what he testified to in terms of violence against women.
It doesn't surprise me that he said it.
And Gloria, when you watch a video like that, as a lawyer who's been involved in many of those cases, it's a pretty open and shut case, isn't it?
That this man is an abuser of women.
I mean, it was so graphic, so shocking, so brazen, given it was taking place in a hotel corridor.
Well, it may go beyond that, Piers.
The LA County District Attorney has said that this incident, which occurred in 2016, talking about the incident on the video, it's too late.
It's statute of limitations.
The time period set by law to criminally prosecute that in LA County, which is where it occurred, it's too late.
However, we know that there are federal investigators, Homeland Security, that raided, based on a search warrant, both of his homes in Miami and in Los Angeles and retrieved electronic material among other material.
For example, phones, laptops, other electronic equipment.
Those items may contain videos that your guest alluded to.
We don't know.
But the fact that there was at least probable cause to search both of his homes in a highly publicized raid leads me to believe that it's very possible that charges will be filed in the future by the Department of Justice against Mr. Combs.
Now, what kind of charges would they be?
Well, we know that from the R. Kelly case, Pierce, that Homeland Security was also involved in that.
And that involves sex trafficking.
And also, there are possible allegations of RICO, which is a federal act that's the Racketeering Influence Corrupt Organizations Act.
Was his business enterprise used in a way to facilitate crimes, whether it's drugs, whether it's sex trafficking, other crimes?
We don't know.
So there's also the Man Act, which is transporting a woman from one state to another state for commercial sex purposes.
You know, there's all kinds of possibility.
Of course, it all depends on the facts that the government is able to prove and in the prosecutor's estimation, prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
So right now, he's presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty in a court of law.
And we'll see.
One, is there going to be an indictment?
Two, if there is an indictment, what are the charges?
And we'll see what his defenses are.
Regret Over Feuds00:08:54
Gloria, thank you very much, indeed, for joining me.
I know you have to have to die, so I appreciate you taking the time.
Thank you very much.
I want to bring in DJ.
Good to see you, Gloria.
DJ, Vlad, what was your feeling when you watched that video, first of all?
I mean, look, when I was on the show last time, you know, I talked about an interview, well, a conversation I had with Roger Bonds, who I helped bring on the show today, where he talked about that basically there was abuse from both sides.
But when I saw that video, I mean, it's just inexcusable.
It showed a one-way attack.
It showed a defenseless Cassie.
It showed him chasing her, beating her, kicking her, throwing bottles at her.
I mean, that's not something you could talk your way out of.
It was just a horrific video.
And he'd obviously made all these sort of furious denials that he was guilty of any of the stuff that she had accused him of.
And now when we see that video, it's quite clear that his denials in relation to anything to do with abusing her and committing violence against her were clearly complete nonsense.
Yeah, I mean, he put out the statement saying that all this was a money grab and a shakedown and so forth.
And I'm sure some of these lawsuits probably are that because there's usually a pylon that happens.
But in the Cassie case, it looks pretty accurate.
And the whole thing about him buying the tape for $50,000 and talking about the actual incident was actually in the lawsuit.
So the pieces are now fitting together.
Bunch of bonds.
A lot of people who doubted Cassie doubted Cassie are now apologizing.
Yeah, I mean, a lot of high-profile people came out defending him, casting aspersions over the claims that she'd made.
But I think I would imagine there's a lot of regret from people that did that and believe Diddy.
Well, yeah, I mean, because at the time, there was the actual raids, but there was no indictments.
I mean, there was no charges, I mean.
So you don't really know.
You know, lawsuits, just because someone files a lawsuit doesn't necessarily mean that any of that actually happened.
So a lot of people were skeptical.
And look, Puffy is an icon in this industry.
He's been around for decades.
He's helped break tons and tons of artists.
He's done a lot of, you know, incredible things.
But the video ultimately speaks for itself.
The video is the video.
And you saw him being the 100% aggressor.
She was trying to get away from the situation.
And he was just beating her over and over again.
Yeah.
So anyone who really defended Diddy up to this point, I don't think there's any defense at all.
And the video apology, as Roger Bonds rightly observed, contained no personal apology to Cassie for what he'd done.
Yeah, I mean, I listened to the apology again this morning.
Look, I mean, in terms of apologies, when you put it out there, some people are going to accept it.
Some people are not going to accept it.
You know, if you already don't like a person, you're going to find fault in the apology.
An apology is an apology.
He put it out there because he felt that it was the best thing to do at the time.
But ultimately, when it comes to his future and when it comes to his actual criminal charges, if there are any, apologies really don't matter at this point.
Roger Bonds was also pretty shocking, really, in the way he revealed information about watching Diddy attacking Kim Porter, obviously his former partner, the mother of his three children, which certainly creates a sense of a pattern of behavior.
And that is just what he witnessed, which is many years ago.
Yeah.
I mean, I've interviewed people like Michael Jai White, who had hung out with Kim Porter before, and he would tell me about the arguments that Diddy would have.
I think Diddy was in a situation where he wanted to keep people like Kim Porter around, but, you know, he was living a life outside of their relationship.
So there was a lot of conflict there.
And there was, you know, he never saw any violence, but he definitely heard arguments over the phone and so forth.
So it's just an ugly situation all around.
And it's just sad.
Can he survive?
I've met Cassie before, seemed like a very nice girl.
I mean, this is the argument that people are having right now.
When you look at the Chris Brown situation, I mean, it's very similar.
There's no video, but there is a very bad picture of Rihanna with her face, you know, bruised up and her eyes closed.
And look, Chris Brown is still a megastar right now.
I mean, like I said, there's no video, but Chris Brown's career definitely took a hit, but it continued to flourish after the fact.
R. Kelly, there was the tape with the underage girl, which ultimately in the new trial, you found out that the girl really was underage.
R. Kelly continued to thrive as a singer, you know, had some of his biggest hits after that tape came out.
People have a short memory.
So it's really hard to say.
It's really up to him and what he does at this point forward, whether he continues to put out projects or not.
It's really very hard to say.
Everyone's going to say that he's canceled and so forth.
But my take is that unless you are put in jail or you're dead, you're not really canceled.
Right.
50 Cent has been very scathing about him.
They've had a longgoing feud, obviously.
What do you make of that?
Yeah.
50 Cents never really liked, you know, 50 Cent never really liked Diddy.
I interviewed Tony Yeo, who's part of G-Unit, who's right-hand man.
And even when 50 was going for a record label, you know, for a record deal, he said, listen, I don't like this guy, but let's just go ahead and meet with him and see what he says.
So there's always been kind of a dislike from 50 against Diddy.
So this is just kind of par for the chorus for 50.
There's another feud that's been getting everyone going, the Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud.
For those who've not been following this too closely, can you summarize what it's really about and who's winning?
Well, the feud is pretty much over.
I mean, there's really been kind of a long-standing competition between the two of them.
They did a couple of songs together very early in their careers, but overall, there's been kind of what we call sneak dissing back and forth.
I remember when I interviewed Marcellus Wiley, Dre came on his show and really dissed Kendrick really badly and then had them pull the footage after the fact.
And he threatened to actually not host the SPs if they didn't pull it.
So there were some subliminal shots for years and years and years.
But then when the song with Metro Boom and Future and Kendrick came out like that, that's when Kendrick really kind of fired off at Drake.
And basically there was a back and forth that kept going.
But for all intents and purposes, when you talk to 99% of the people, they all say that Kendrick won.
I think Not Like Us, when that record dropped, I pretty much put the nail in the coffin.
Drake came out with the heart part six, which was somewhat of a...
I don't know, trying to justify certain things.
But at this point, I think the battle's over.
And I think that once Drake's bodyguard got shot in front of his house, when you actually see real violence and it's really at his doorstep, that's when I think Drake really kind of looked at the whole situation and said, no, I think I'm done.
Before I let you go, there was a New York Times bestseller, Morgan Jenkins, who took grave exception to your commentary on this, tweeting, you are white.
This is a black folk affair.
Struck me as a rather racist comment, actually, DJ Vlad.
What was your response?
Well, I put a comment that said that Kendrick Lamar, the mix on his song, Not Like Us, took away from the impact of it.
Me being a DJ for 20 plus years and also listening to audio and video every single day, I felt that I was qualified to make that statement.
Her response was that you are white.
This is a black folk affair.
I took offense to it.
I don't agree with that comment.
But then during the back and forth, I started to tag Princeton because she was a Princeton professor.
And I felt I was actually wrong for that.
And I publicly apologized.
It was a back and forth.
It was on Twitter.
It should have just stayed on Twitter.
So like I said, I apologized for essentially tagging her job and so forth, which I was wrong for that.
I was wrong for that.
I mean, it's very magnanimous of you given what she'd said.
But I mean, her general principle that white people shouldn't be allowed to voice opinions about beef in the hip-hop world seems a bit ridiculous to me.
Like I said, I don't agree with it.
I don't agree with her response.
And I still stand on that.
But, you know, at the end of the day, my response was also inappropriate.