The Sean Diddy Combs Case: And The Road Ahead

This week on The Black Perspective, we present a special report: "The Sean Diddy Combs Case: And the Road Ahead."

One of the most powerful figures in entertainment, Sean “Diddy” Combs, recently faced a high-profile, seven-week trial that ended with a mixed verdict. 

In this hour-long special, BIN anchors Andrea Coleman, Teri McCready, Doug Davis, and Morgyn Wood explore the trial’s major themes, the implications for Combs' legacy, and what it all might mean for the future of the music industry.

From courtroom revelations to cultural reflections, we examine how this case could shape public perception, industry accountability, and the road ahead for one of hip-hop’s most influential moguls.

Listen now! 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Up next on the Black Information Network.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
You cannot understate what it takes to get somebody as
powerful as a didty Linstam into a court lin.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
A bi in special report on the trial of one
of the most powerful black men in the entertainment industry,
Sean Ditty Combs, joined me and a host of BN
anchors as we take a look at the outcome of
the Combs trial. The Shawn Ditty Combs Case and the
Road Ahead is up next.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
You now interrupt regular bi in programming to bring you
a special presentation. This is the Sean Ditty Combs Case
and the Road Ahead. Here's your host, Andrea Coleman on
the Black Information Network.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Thank you for tuning in for this special roundtable discussion
on the Seawan Combs trial and verdict. Over the next
sixty minutes, we'll explore some of the major themes and
factors coming out of the seven week trial that ended
last week with a mixed verdict. Combs was convicted on
two counts of transporting for the purpose of prostitution, but
acquitted on the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.

(00:58):
So what does it mean for the music mogul and
how might insights into his life change the culture of
the entertainment industry, if at all joining me to sort
it all out or bi in anchors Terry McCready, Doug Davis,
and Morgan Wood. We'll start with their basic assessments of
the verdict.

Speaker 4 (01:15):
Well, I thought, wow, it's not a double edged answer
to your question. I was relieved that he was not
charged with the rico counts and the sex trafficking because
I personally don't believe through what I learned from covering
the story that it was that deep for Diddy, right,

(01:39):
I don't think it was that deep.

Speaker 5 (01:41):
I believe he had.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
Some strange kink that he developed over the years, and
because he had the money and the power, he decided
to live that.

Speaker 5 (01:50):
Out in his life.

Speaker 4 (01:51):
But I don't think it was so much of a
you know, a situation where he was, you know, proffiting
off of off of this. He's a billionaire for the
most part, not saying that, you know, you know, he
couldn't be capable of doing it. I just don't think
it was that deep. Now, his abuse of women and

(02:11):
everything else is a parent and yes, he deserves to
get everything thrown at the book for him, For you know,
being convicted of these crimes, but you know, for some
of those bigger ones, I just don't think he really
was that involved in what the prosecutors believe, you know,

(02:31):
he was actually committing.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
That's interesting, Morgan, I see you over there nodding your
head your thoughts.

Speaker 6 (02:36):
Yeah. I tend to actually agree with Doug to an
extent that first, I'll say this that I don't feel
just one way about this. I have a multitude complex
feelings regarding this case. I'm fascinated, I'm enraged, I'm upset
about parts, I'm inquisitive about others, you know, and when

(02:58):
it comes to this particul case, and it's okay to
have a complexity of emotions regarding a case like this.
Of course, as Doug mentioned, we're not going to condone
any type of violence, domestic or otherwise. But at the
same time, you know, sex is sex, and people are
into what they're into until they're not, and you're not

(03:18):
going to know what.

Speaker 7 (03:19):
You're into until you try some things.

Speaker 6 (03:21):
So I think to Doug's point, that he had some kinks,
and he had the money and the power to live
through some of those things, and it landed him in
a place that he didn't want to find himself. But
even still here we are, and what it really boils
down to is reasonable doubt. You know, when you're dealing
with court cases and and there's convictions on the line,

(03:45):
the jury has to convict beyond a reasonable doubt. And
it does appear that in this case there was some doubt,
and that's why he was acquitted of some of those serious,
more serious charges, whereas he was in fact convicted of others.

Speaker 8 (04:01):
Very good Terry, Well, you know, I.

Speaker 9 (04:04):
Agree with Morgan and Doug a lot. I mean, obviously
this case was cloaked in a lot of darkness, but
there's also a level of ambiguity with this case. And
I felt like, you know, like this was a watershed
moment almost because we saw a creditor answer to his crimes,
sort of because one of his main accusers. In my opinion,

(04:28):
Cassie didn't really go with the distance on behalf of victims,
on behalf of the me too movement writ large, so
as the kids would say, ultimately Cassie got that bag,
she got that coin, and then peace out. So it
felt bittersweet.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
In the end, We're going to revisit what you just
said about her getting that bag in that coin, because
that's part of it. This case was not her case.
This was the prosecution's case. They actually, from what I understand,
her case, her separate case, which was sexual assault case,
influenced the prosecution's case. But again, she actually settled that
out of court and then came and testified in this trial.

Speaker 8 (05:09):
So we're going to.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
Delve into that a little bit later on when we
get into the me too movement and all that This
is intelling because a lot of people feel like this
may have been a setback for that effort. But now
let's explore what this is all about, which is money
and power and breaking into this entertainment industry which is
so very difficult for so many people. Doug, you have
a history and or at least you've got a glimpse

(05:32):
of this industry and your professional endeavors. Talk about how
it's all structured and what goes into the making of
Sean Combs.

Speaker 8 (05:41):
And the power that he has had in that space.

Speaker 4 (05:44):
Okay, I'll try to relate as best I can. I
came up in black radio in the early nineties when
hip hop grew from its eighties kind of party thing,
and then later kind of morphed into what we know
as gangster, right, And so I came into the game
as a DJ, and I remember my first I was

(06:07):
like what they used to call street coordinators back then, right,
So I was coordinating the street teams, you know, with
the radio station as well as being an on air
DJ and an on air radio personality from a little
weekend show. But with that came a lot of prestige,
which I really didn't know because I was very blind
about the inner workings of the industry. So when I

(06:28):
got that title, you know, I started to get phone
calls from record labels like Bad Boy and Death Row Records,
and so it was exciting to me, you know. But
then as I started to move up in my career
to then become a program director for what folks might
call now as a brand manager or content director. You know,

(06:49):
a program director manages the sound. Everything that comes out
of that radio station is managed by the program director.
So it's the talent, the content, the information as well
us the music that's being played. And so with the
music being played comes a whole other level of politics
that I was, you know, warned about from my mentor

(07:11):
previous program director. But didn't really experience until I got
into the depths of the power behind adding a song
on the radio. Right, enormous power with that, So you know,
and I'm going to be very transparent here. I was
always told by my mentor to stay away from dealing
with record labels and taking payola. It was just something

(07:34):
that he's you don't want to go down there. You
don't want to go down that road. Stay away from them,
and add your songs based on integrity and what you
feel your station needs. Because once you get into the
grips of the record labels, then they start to dictate
what your sound is like because you've already committed crimes.

(07:55):
You know what I'm saying, You've already taken money, so
they're going to use that against you, and then you're
to become a puppet, and then you're gonna wonder why
your station's not finding success. And so every week on Tuesdays,
like a lot of pds, we would take our music
call from ten am to one o'clock. And I remember
one instance in particular where it was a one twelve

(08:17):
record that I thought was the garbage record, and I
didn't want to play it, and so I was one
of maybe four radio stations across the country who didn't
add the record. And so one Tuesday, the receptions came
into my office and said, Doug, Fuff Daddy's on the line,
like it's a big deal, right, And I recall my

(08:39):
mentor saying, if Puff Daddy ever calls, you don't take
the call. I said, well, why because it's too political.
He's a very powerful man and you don't want to
step into that arena. And I took his word for it.
I didn't question him. I asked him, and then I
took his word. So Diddy was on hold for almost

(09:00):
an hour, and the receptionist kept chiming in in between
my calls, saying, hey, puff Daddy's here.

Speaker 5 (09:07):
Are you going to take his call? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (09:09):
Just leave him one hold, And then he eventually hung up.
And then later in my career I learned how important
that was to a degree, only because I was a
freshman in the game, I wasn't mature enough to understand
the inner workings of how a person like Ditty can
be influential in you changing your music decision to what

(09:33):
he wants. That's just one of a few experiences that
I've had with Diddy.

Speaker 8 (09:38):
Where did his power come from?

Speaker 4 (09:40):
That's a good question, and I think it comes from well,
first off music artist that he has made successful, from
Mary J. Blige to Jo Deesy to some of the
more current books. And so even when let's say in
the early two thousands, where let's say Bad Boy wasn't
as hot, technically he was the kingpin in R and

(10:01):
B hip hop artists had to go through him. Why
because record labels consulted in Diddy to say, is this
artist good? Is this artist you know strong enough? And
Diddy would give the nod yeah, your nay. But there's
a lot of power in between that, right, making decisions
on people's lives and people that really don't know what

(10:22):
the industry is all about.

Speaker 5 (10:24):
Morgan, you look like you're ready to chime in.

Speaker 6 (10:26):
Yeah, I am, because I think it goes beyond the
music and beyond even himself of Sean Ditty Combs. He
is the son of pretty Boy Melvin I believe, who
had connections or was the driver of drug kingpin Frank
Lucas and New York. So did he came up in
that drug game. But at the same time he was

(10:47):
protected in a sense because he's a son of someone
you know, associated with such high prowess, someone who had
already had that power. So I want to believe and
I'm just speculating here because I don't know him as
a child, but if you're growing up in certain atmospheres
and environments that are already showing that money equals power,

(11:08):
then you're going to try to take that and apply
that to every other aspect of your life.

Speaker 7 (11:12):
And I think that's what happened with Diddy.

Speaker 6 (11:15):
So coming up in that environment, already you're protected from
certain things, but you're also so exposed to certain things,
and then you also have this level of money. I mean,
he was in it from the start. So to apply
that then his love of music and as you say,
now you're roping in Faith Evans and you're roping in
all the bad Boy, and you're roping in Biggie, And

(11:37):
to take that onto the campus of somewhere like Howard University,
and at the early like you said, the turn of
the eighties in the early nineties, I mean turned he
took that and just expanded on it.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
His introduction of that entertainment space also came with the
kind of like the growth of hip hop, which just
exploded during that period, became its own multi billion dollar industry, terry.

Speaker 8 (12:02):
You're about to say something. I'm sorry, I didn't mean
to cut you off.

Speaker 9 (12:04):
What I was going to just say what Morgan was
talking about the money and the power and hip hop,
and I was going to say, you know, if you
just look at that, superficially, money and power is practically
anywhere in Hollywood or within the music industry. But there's
something different about money and power as it pertains to
hip hop. That's what I was going to say. There's
another element in there that's interesting.

Speaker 8 (12:26):
What are you going to say, tug.

Speaker 4 (12:28):
I mean, you know, hip hop became a gateway out
of the hood and still is received to be that
way for a lot of young black people, right. I mean,
you know, we don't have to go over the struggles
that we face in the hood, right, and the opportunities
are lack thereof. But hip hop, much like sports, you know,
became a gateway, you know, and I know what struggle

(12:50):
looks like, you know, and some people were willing to
maybe even sell their souls, man, just to get out
because they may not know what's on that other side.

Speaker 5 (13:00):
But in the situation that.

Speaker 4 (13:01):
They're in now where they were in, They're willing to
take that sacrifice. And unfortunately a lot of people in
the music industry in power positions know that. Even in radio, Yeah,
even program directors in let me tell you something, I
got so many stories, I can't talk about it.

Speaker 5 (13:18):
But that power was in.

Speaker 4 (13:20):
My position as well, like as a program director, because
I had the ability to possibly take advantage of people
who came into my office wanting to be a radio star.

Speaker 5 (13:30):
You know, back in the nineties, that was a big deal.

Speaker 4 (13:33):
And I know a number of black program directors who
got caught out there wielding their power and it came
back to ruin their careers.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
If you're just joining us, you're listening to the Seawan
Diddy Comb's Case and the Road Ahead, a special beyon
In roundtable discussion on the Shawn Combs verdict. I'm Andrea Coleman,
along with Bonn Anchors, Terry McCready, Doug Davis, and marken Wood.
We're talking about the various implications of the Shawn Combs
trial and what all was at play the prosecution's case
against him. Some New Yorkers talked with the media after

(14:04):
the verdict was read in the trial, and he said
they were not surprised by the accusations.

Speaker 9 (14:09):
It happens a lot in Hollywood and the music industry,
so that's nothing new.

Speaker 10 (14:13):
I was shocked that he had to go through those limbs,
Like I know, he's considered the ladies man, missed the
love and all that, so you would think they'd be
flocking to him, but that wasn't the case. He was
actually hitting them and scaring them and doing all sorts
of things.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
A topic dancing on the periphery of the Diddy trial
was a treatment of black men in the entertainment space,
leading to the question of if Ditty was singled out unfairly.
Terry McCready leads off our responses.

Speaker 9 (14:38):
Well, I mean, if you look at you know, again,
black men being disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system.
And so when you factor in, you know, as we
just mentioned money and power, it almost turns someone like
Showing Holmes into a folk hero, right because now it
looks like, okay, so take that so we can level

(15:01):
the playing field now. And in this case, great, the
jury did its job admirably. Yes, again, in this case,
prosecutors got in over their skis with that whole rico component.
I mean, that was a mistake, but in the case
of Sean Colms, so now I guess he's beaten the system.

(15:21):
And so now you have women who you would say, Okay, well,
these women have been victimized. You know what happens next
some of these same women are celebrating him. So it
feels very confusing for me because within the hip hop
industry there's this whole breakdown if you look at it

(15:43):
incrementally when it comes to women, you have this promiscubitous
Jezebel and these would be the women who they like
to feature in these videos. And then you have these
sort of asexual mammy types, and then you have I
guess what they would describe as the sapphire. That would
be the domineering, angry woman. So they have categorized women.

(16:05):
Women are you know, objectified within this industry and it's
being accepted. And I'm not sure how you break that
cycle when you talk about women being paid to be there.
You know, like that one woman who was one of
the witnesses, who I guess Sean Combs is still paying

(16:26):
her rent. So there's this great allure for these men.
So you know, I guess we throw around this word,
you know, criminology, whether or not he is a felon.
It's almost like, you know, like a roar shock test,
which is that psychological assessment that they give to measure
mental acuity. And so one person might look at it

(16:49):
and say, oh, I see a bat. Somebody else sees,
you know, a flower pot. So it depends on your
life experiences as to what you see because it is
so subjective and everyone is right.

Speaker 5 (17:03):
I think that's a great point, Terry.

Speaker 4 (17:04):
But if I can add, I think the disrespect of
women in hip hop it's been around for years and
seeing the transformation from sugar Hill party music to Roxanne
Chante Roxanne Roxanne to run dmc adidas, you know, to
then in Wa.

Speaker 5 (17:22):
Right, See, hip hop gives voice.

Speaker 4 (17:25):
To the community, to our struggles and our successes or
however we feel.

Speaker 5 (17:30):
But it's a loud voice.

Speaker 4 (17:32):
It's louder than a singer because it's directly in your face.
There's nothing to hold back, per se, right except a bleep,
you know, of a word or something like that. So
these feelings that black men have that really came out
with NWA and that latter part of hip hop in
the late nineteen eighties exposed a dysfunction in our community

(17:53):
with our families and our relationships with women. Right, So
it was really it was a warning shot. Back then
we didn't know, but it was really a warning shot.
And so Diddy, when he got his power and success
from bad Boy, he perpetuated that not let's say so
much in front, but behind scenes, like behind closed doors.

(18:17):
Because his music, from my gathering, I've never really heard
any negative lyrics about women in any of his artist
so hawks, right, but behind closed doors, those misogynistic themes
came about, and it came above ground as we started
to see what happened with Cassie.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah, Morgan, did you have anything else to say about
black men and hip hop?

Speaker 7 (18:38):
Absolutely?

Speaker 6 (18:38):
I mean, you know, we already know that historically black
men have been over policed and criminalized, and that you know,
when it comes to black men, women, or you know,
the black community, there is an intersection that exists between
holding them responsible for harms while also wanting to protect
them from the unjust systems.

Speaker 5 (18:57):
Right.

Speaker 6 (18:57):
And so when you're dealing with this particular case is
just so interesting because you're looking at him like on
one hand, like, oh, they're framing him and they're doing
too much and they're throwing the book at him just
for being a you know, or wanting to have a
freak off between Oh man, he's you know, he's this
hip hop mogul, and we've grown up with him and

(19:19):
we've we loved his music and we've raised him to
an extent. And so I just think that an interesting
position to be in at that intersection of holding someone
accountable for the harms that they've done while also wanting
to protect them from unjust systems.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
Yeah, so let's break down this case a little bit
because we did hear some very graphic testimony young women
who are talking about being treated a certain way sexually,
engaging in certain sexual acts.

Speaker 8 (19:48):
What is the woman's role in this?

Speaker 1 (19:50):
I know that we have sexual freedom and we have
sexual liberation, and that word consent is a big factor
in the outcome of this trial because those text messages,
is that that Cassie had that said, you know, I'm
always ready for a freak off, And then you had
Jane who was talking about still being paid in rent
being covered.

Speaker 8 (20:09):
Where's the line for us?

Speaker 7 (20:10):
What is ours?

Speaker 1 (20:12):
And then what was awful limits for us in this
particular case.

Speaker 9 (20:16):
I mean, I felt like if you talk about consent,
the line really becomes blurred because you know, between coercion
and consent therein lies someone's reality. Okay, And when you
are being groomed by someone in this case, you know,
Cambs grooming someone like Cassie, she becomes trauma bonded. So

(20:39):
I feel like, in a sense, anything that she is saying,
any messages that she's sending to him, is just you know,
her way of attempting to please him and stay in
his good graces in a sense. So I do think
that it's unfair for anyone to say, oh, well, look
what she did, she was enjoying it. She was a victim.
She clearly was someone who had been groomed for a

(21:02):
very very long time. We saw, you know, video evidence
of her being abused, and I'm just very surprised. You know,
when people look at that and say, oh, this was
you know, a tumultuous relationship or a turbulent relationship, that's
a really really twisted justification. And you know, as a mother,

(21:26):
you know, when I saw you know, Cassie's parents going
to court, that was heartbreaking for me. And I know
that she received a phone call from her daughter asking
for help, and that was when the parents paid him money.
And what a horrible position to be in to watch
your child be dismantled in such a way.

Speaker 8 (21:47):
Morgan.

Speaker 6 (21:47):
Your thought, well, I'll just say that when it comes
to sex and consent, it seems to have a certain
lure when it's entangled with fame. You know, not to
say like this, but regular sex between a loving couple
might not seem as enticing as you know, the rapper

(22:08):
or the high paid athlete, who can you know, have
you on the jet and have you across the country
and flying you around. It's interesting how it can then
be weaponized. It goes back to the powered, it goes
back to the money. It can then be weaponized. To
Terry's point, especially if someone is so young, you don't
know what you're into until you get into it. And

(22:29):
unfortunately for Cassie, I think she was groomed. But I
also think that overall in the conversation, safe words are important,
and we cannot have this conversation without having the conversation
around alcohol and drugs. Yes, I mean alcohol and drugs
seem to play such a major factor in a lot

(22:50):
of these situations. I'll take it away from Diddy for
just a moment. Most recently, former NBA guard Ben mckimore.
He was found guilty of first degree rate and in
that particular situation, he provided all the evidence. Everybody was
having fun at this party. But you know what the
one what the thing? The woman said, she said, I
was drinking so much that I could not consent. She

(23:11):
said she could not consent. Now, did you consent to
putting those drinks down your throat? You know were you
were there drinking, You knew that you were drinking. And
sometimes I think that that becomes the blurry line. You
don't know you know how much or how little you
can take of the drug or of the alcohol before
you put yourself in a position of vulnerability, and you

(23:34):
may be saying some things that you think you want
to say, or that person may think they want to
hear before you're waking up and you realize that you've
done something that has, you know, compromised you. And going
back to what we discussed in regards to music, what
came to mind was this rocko song You'll Even Know

(23:55):
featuring Rick Ross, where he says in the lyrics put
Molly all in her champage. She ain't even know it.
I took her home and enjoyed that she ain't even
know it. And so it further normalizes the behavior that
we're sitting here singing these types of things, and before
you know it, it's like, oh yeah, let me see.

Speaker 7 (24:13):
What Molly is about.

Speaker 6 (24:15):
Let me try it with Champagne, not realizing that you're
creating a cocktail that could put you in a very vulnerable,
very compromising situation.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
Doug, I do want to bring you back in and
I've got a question for you. And if you don't
feel like you want to answer it, or you feel
like you're being picked on because you're the only only
man in the conversation, let me know. But I want
to I do want to hear your response to this.
What is the lure of sex for men in power?
Why is that the draw for so many of them?

Speaker 5 (24:46):
I will not I'm just kidding. No, wow, I mean
we're talking. We take it down, be real, be real.

Speaker 4 (24:54):
Nobody may not may not understand this, and I don't
want it to be taken the wrong way. But male
and females are different, Our drives are a little bit different,
per se, Right, So I always, like I tell my daughter, like, hey,
you know, at the end of the day, you know,
God put men down for a lot of reasons, but
one big reason is to procreate. So you know, we

(25:16):
have this drive right for sex. And I don't know
if it's something innate for us to just want to reproduce,
but it's a drive.

Speaker 5 (25:26):
And I can't answer why we do the things we do.
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (25:30):
I just know that I was always taught self control.
My dad taught me self control, right, He taught me
just because you feel it doesn't mean that you need
to do it, you know.

Speaker 5 (25:40):
What I mean. And so that left me with a
strong background.

Speaker 4 (25:45):
So when things came and for decisions to be made,
I knew which way to go. But some didn't get that.
Like my brother was gay, you know, to be frank.
So I didn't grow up in the household of misogyny.
But there's a lot of black men, young black men
that did, whether were knowing their dad was cheating on

(26:06):
their mom or the big brother who quote unquote taught
them how to be a player, you know, or friends
or you know, guys thinking it's cool, you know, to
put another notch on the belt, you know, it's a.

Speaker 5 (26:19):
Part of our culture.

Speaker 4 (26:20):
Unfortunately, I'm not condoning it, but I'm just saying that's
kind of what it is.

Speaker 5 (26:25):
Now. Why men use sex.

Speaker 4 (26:27):
For power and all that, I don't know because I
don't roll that way, and I don't even like I
can't even I can't even think as to why that
really really happens.

Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yeah, Terry, your thoughts on that, What do you think
is to draw out a lure of sex and why
it has so much power and play and our interactions
among people.

Speaker 9 (26:44):
Well, and I feel like, you know, women learn I
guess fairly early that you know, if you leverage your sexuality,
that is the way that we can become equal. We
can sort of you know, level the playing field with
men who wield all the power. I mean, practically every
industry is a patriarchy. And so one way that women

(27:06):
can you know, sort of exert their own energy their
talents is by leading with sexuality. And there you have it.
And yes, it's very very distructive. I guess in some cases,
if you have a certain amount of control, that could
be your your entry point. But I think probably for

(27:28):
most people it does not end. Well, it just does not.

Speaker 1 (27:34):
That's so very interesting, Morgan, your thoughts.

Speaker 6 (27:37):
Sure, I would take it back to racism and even
further back to slavery, and that it's learned behavior from
the Massa because that's what he did to black women
at the time, and that you know, black men are
often portrayed as either violent or hyper sexual and so
between those two and you're not getting anything else. It

(28:01):
seems as though we're not lost on that. Here we are,
you know, a century or so later, and we're not
lost on that at all. And in fact, it's actual
learn behavior. In fact, we've talked about it being used
in songs and maybe we have even normalized it to
an extent, taking on those, uh, those characteristics of of

(28:22):
our black men. But you know, it would be nice
to expand on that, because we know we're so much
more but uh, you know, than just being hyper sexualized
or violent as as a people. But yeah, I would,
I would. I would take it all the way back
to slavery as too.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
WoT.

Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yeah, Like I think you know, music executives know about
the kind of unspoken, don't ask, don't tell kind of
thing that you know protects their abusive behavior. Because if
you've got an artist who's extremely talented, and you're pouring
so much into them, but you're playing psychological games and
then say, hey, if you don't do this, you'll never
make it in the industry, you know.

Speaker 5 (29:01):
And you know, like these.

Speaker 4 (29:04):
Folks, we don't know what dealing with the devil is
like until we deal with the devil, you know, and
then sometimes it becomes too late, and then you lose yourself, right,
And I think someone like Cassie probably lost herself.

Speaker 5 (29:18):
She lost to her real identity who she's meant to
be on this earth? You know?

Speaker 4 (29:24):
Did he, from what I understand, signed her to a
ten album deal. I think she only put out one album,
So what did he do? He probably just dangled the carrot.
She probably recorded hundreds of songs hoping that one day
you'll have another hit record, and he knew that and
took advantage of that, and that's evil.

Speaker 1 (29:43):
Well, if you're just joining us, you're listening to a
roundtable discussion featuring B A. Yen anchors Terry McCready, Doug Davis,
and Morgan Would on the Sean Combs Trial and Verdict.
I'm Andrea Coleman. Some of the testimonies shared in the
Combs trial and telled very graphic details of sex parties.
Witnesses particip paid it in at the alleged request of
Combe's question surface as to why the witnesses remained in

(30:05):
the relationship under those sexually challenging conditions, But others, like
Toronto Burke, the founder of the Me Too movement, said
the testimony was reflective of what takes place in sexually
abusive relationships. Here's what Burke, who is black, said in
an interview at CNN during the trial.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
People, so why didn't she lean, why didn't she quit?
Intermant Partner violence and sexual violence go hand in hand,
And I'm so glad that that's being foreground in this
in this ditty trial, so that people can see the
reality of what it looks like to be traumatized in
your relationship.

Speaker 1 (30:38):
The testimony also proved insightful for parents, especially those who
have children in the entertainment industry, like our own Terry McCready,
whose daughter is an accomplished Broadway actress.

Speaker 9 (30:48):
Yeah, you know, I felt that this case was visceral
on many many levels, especially you know, among young black women.
And you know, she and I have had many conversations
about this. I mean, I would say that, you know,
pre Comb's trial. I mean, this is just something that
is just pervasive throughout the industry, but in this case,

(31:09):
I just wanted to get her feedback and maybe get
a read on how this mainly idealistic entertainment industry felt
after this verdict.

Speaker 8 (31:22):
Very good. Well let's take a listen to that, all right.

Speaker 9 (31:24):
I'm speaking with Broadway performer and singer Brennan Lark, who
has had lead roles in Ley Miz Sixth the Musical
and Dreamgirls on London's West End. I wanted her perspective
as a young black woman in the industry, particularly as
it pertains to the bravery we witnessed in Cassie Venture's
moving testimony. Disclaimer, Brennan also happens to be my daughter.

(31:46):
Here's a little of what she had to say.

Speaker 11 (31:49):
I do believe that when one woman speaks up, it
is emblematic of the collective of women, at least that's
in my own personal belief system. I think it was
incredibly heroic of her to speak her truth, and I
do believe that even if she just inspires one person,
then sometimes it's all that it takes. And there is

(32:10):
so many women that eyewitnessed really rallying around her, and
even some of the discussions I've had with peers about
just women and being heard and being valued and feeling
safe has been kind of popping up in my own circles.
And so if that's a microcosm of the macro, then
that does bring me a lot of great hope.

Speaker 9 (32:34):
So obviously the message is pretty profound. Do you have
any thoughts on the impact going forward?

Speaker 11 (32:41):
All I can do is hold the vision of what
I'd like to see. I think it's always devastating when
we see distortions in any entertainment mediums, whether that's movies, television,
or music. Sexuality, yes, in all of those things, but
not sexual violence, and it makes me sad when those
things kind of get contorted in a way. And I

(33:02):
don't necessarily think hip hop has to be synonymous with
sexual violence. I hope that it is a call to
action to check our platforms that we have and use
them for good, and use them to create safety for women,
to create safety for people. To me, hip hop has
always been a symbol of turning pain and alchemizing it

(33:24):
into I mean poetry. Hip hop is truly poetry, So
it's always a way to process the hardships of life
and reclaim them and turn them and spin them into
something beautiful and relatable for other people to kind of
see their way out of their own sort of dark situations.
And so I hope that we continue to use our

(33:45):
art for good as something that is, you know, shifting
the paradigms and again making it safer and more inclusive
and continuing to lead with integrity and be in right
relation with that. And again that's what I would person
they like to see. I hope that it can lead
to something good.

Speaker 9 (34:04):
So the Me Too movement has made so many strides
since twenty seventeen. Do you think this moves the needle
at all?

Speaker 11 (34:10):
Think, like any sense of justice? Right, some things are
out of our hands. And I do think it's always
a teachable moment that we have to always go to
our communities and we have to build in our communities
that you know, raises the ideologies around mutual aid and
always rallying around each other when perhaps some systems at

(34:31):
large are not leading with the justice that we would
like to see.

Speaker 8 (34:35):
Terry, your hope for your daughter, Yeah.

Speaker 9 (34:37):
I know this is a word that we're hearing so
much lately. You know in therapeutic circles, and that is boundary.
Knowing your boundaries and also knowing your self worth and
you know, know is a complete sentence. And that's something
that you know, I think about. Even with Aliyah. We're
going back, you know, years when Aliyah was being groomed

(34:57):
by you know, Damon Dash and then I know she
had a relationship with jay Z before you know, he
ended up with Beyonce. So this is tail as old
as time. And for the parents of these young girls,
I understand they have dreams for their children as well,
but I feel like we really really need to be

(35:18):
boots on the ground more often than not. With these
girls we cannot trust. We do trust our children, but
with these men who are in power, we have got
to be there front and center all the time. That's
just my feeling, you know, with that you cannot be
that trusting. We don't want our children to be that trusting,
but our job as parents is to protect them.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
I'd want to talk a little bit about the impact
of there's a verdict. What does it do for the
Sean Combs of the world, no matter how long he
stays behind bars, when he gets out eventually, who will
he be, and what kind of power will he have
once he is a free man.

Speaker 4 (35:56):
Doug, Wow, that's an incredible question and a loaded one
at that. You know, I believe Ditty will still have power,
but it'll be a different form of power in my estimation,
because kind of like the cats out of the bag,
you know, you know, people are now being exposed to
more of the insides of the music industry as we

(36:17):
see it today because a lot of these things that
did he may have done in other executives, were never shared.
Right now you have social media, you know, now you've
got technology where information is moving so quickly. People a
little bit more educated, and I don't know if he
can get away with the majority of things that he
did back then, particularly because people are more informed and

(36:40):
they're educated, so they're not going to go into a
situation where they think that they're going to be manipulated.
I feel that women are just more empowered, and because
of this case, you know, hopefully those who may fear
coming out against someone of power like Diddy will you know,
start to be more vocal. Feel very bad for women

(37:00):
who have been put in these circumstances in the entertainment
industry because at the end of the day, they just
want to They just want to get ahead, They just
want to be successful.

Speaker 5 (37:09):
Yeah, but they had no idea.

Speaker 4 (37:11):
You know the web that some spiders really put out
in this industry, Man that it's pretty rough.

Speaker 5 (37:18):
I've seen it. It's pretty bad.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
Harry. Your thoughts on who Sean Combs will be once
he's a free man and the impact this trial may
have on his future success.

Speaker 9 (37:27):
Well, I feel like he has the luxury of having
an empire, and I think someone already mentioned probably he will,
you know, move away from music because he has a
multitude of other businesses that he can focus on. I
think that there is a golden opportunity for him, because
of his wealth and stature, to sort of sanitize and

(37:48):
rehabilitate his image. I think the American psyche is very brief.
People are very forgiving, People forget, and he could, you know,
give an endowment to planned parenthood or something, you know
like that, and people would be just fine. That's the
interesting thing you know about about crime. I feel like,

(38:12):
you know, people don't really hold on to it for
that long. I mean, I feel like time is really
on his side.

Speaker 8 (38:21):
That's interesting.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
Yeah, Morgan, your thoughts.

Speaker 7 (38:24):
I would agree it does remain to be seen.

Speaker 6 (38:26):
I mean, the to Terry's point, rehab is always, you know,
one of those things that.

Speaker 7 (38:32):
It's like, oh, okay, they're trying to work on themselves.

Speaker 6 (38:35):
And prior to all of this dropping, he named himself
brother Love and things like that, so it seems like
he was already trying to clean up what he might
have felt was coming down the pipeline now. Furthermore, I
do believe that the industry will probably distance itself quietly,
while you know, there does need to be better protections

(38:56):
and clear policies for there to actually.

Speaker 7 (38:58):
Be something moving forward. But we've seen this story before.

Speaker 6 (39:03):
There's been many black men, celebrities and athletes who have
fallen from grace over their sexual exploits with r Kelly
Bill Cosby, boxer Mike Tyson, mystical rapper, Brazilian soccer player
Rabinos Tupac Shakur, and most recently we're starting to see
these play out with Smokey Robinson. Even Ti Ti was

(39:23):
accused of things. Some of them were only accused while
others were actually convicted of sex crimes, and some of
them have fallen from grace and others have been able
to bounce back. So to Terry's point, I think he
will probably fade to black, but it doesn't mean that
he is going to stop working. I think he will
just become a ghost behind the scenes, and he will

(39:44):
continue with his empire while it may have been a
reduced empire, because he's still who he is. He's still
bad Boy through and through, and bad Boy continues to
make music, continues to sign artists too. So with that,
I think he will probably just take a back seat
while that rehabilitation commences, and then once he starts to

(40:06):
feel a little bit of you know, ease.

Speaker 7 (40:09):
He may resurface again.

Speaker 5 (40:11):
Yeah we did.

Speaker 4 (40:12):
You just kind of expound a little bit on the
comment that Morgan just made in a different kind of perspective.
So it's interesting R Kelly's music, Like you can't even
hear R Kelly's music at the barbecue.

Speaker 7 (40:25):
Now you just get cringe.

Speaker 5 (40:27):
You just can't. I mean, it's he he's out totally,
you know. Now. I don't think that that's going to
be the case for.

Speaker 6 (40:33):
Diddy, no, because you cannot erase that. I mean, it's
not just Diddy's music you got like you we said earlier.
You can't erase Biggie, you can't erase Faith Evans, you
can't erase Little Kim these are.

Speaker 4 (40:45):
Does that mean you're going to erase all about the Benjamins,
which is Pop Daddy and the family.

Speaker 5 (40:50):
I don't think so.

Speaker 4 (40:51):
I think that there's a different way that the public
views hip hop artists and R and B artists. Oh,
I think that hip hop artists have the ability to
get away with more personally, just my opinion, what take
for instant Snoop Dogg. Okay, not that he's ever done

(41:11):
anything nefarious, I'm not saying that, but you know, Snoop
Dogg is a proponent of weed smoking and has been
instill even when it was illegal in most states in
the country. But yet and still he's got a pass.
Listen to his lyrics that he made back in the day.
Now you talk about some misogynistic lyrics. Listen to those lyrics.

(41:33):
But yet and still he's heralded on this level today.

Speaker 5 (41:37):
Right. Why is that?

Speaker 4 (41:39):
Why does he get a pass and some R and
B folks don't get passes? I don't know, it's just
the thought I wanted to bring up.

Speaker 6 (41:47):
Well, that's I think with R Kelly specifically because he's
like one of the extremes. You know, sometimes people are like,
are we able to separate the artist from the art?
And to your point, Doug, I mean rap rappers. You
know that art is a little more grunge than R
and B. Now, I don't have an answer for your
question through and through, but you do raise a very

(42:10):
very profound point by saying that every.

Speaker 4 (42:13):
Time I hear a Smokey Robinson song, I can't help
but go right back and it makes me feel a
kind of way.

Speaker 5 (42:19):
I I don't like it.

Speaker 4 (42:20):
But when I hear a Diddy song, like over the weekend,
I'm over here like, yeah, did he man?

Speaker 5 (42:26):
Dude Wold?

Speaker 4 (42:27):
And then I'm over here, you know, getting my dikey on.
You know, it's a weird dichotomy. I don't understand it.

Speaker 8 (42:33):
Your thoughts on the reaction.

Speaker 1 (42:35):
We're hearing reports, you know, when the baby oil parties
outside the courthouse when the verdict was announced, and there
is at least one report that when Combs was taken
back into prison, the inmates cheered him on fifty cent,
the rapper posting online that you know Diddy was a
bad boy because he beat the Feds.

Speaker 8 (42:53):
He beat Rico.

Speaker 1 (42:55):
In some ways, it seems as though it is building
him up. He is becoming like this hero to a
certain extent. Your thoughts on that reaction.

Speaker 9 (43:04):
Yeah, I feel like again I said that this was
just so disturbing to me. And by the way, you know,
some of the people who you know, claim that they
were also abused by Sean Combs were also men, so there,
I mean, you know, he was an equal opportunity abuser apparently.
But I really just feel just so perplexed by the women.

(43:27):
I just you know, it's it's very distressing to see women,
you know, feel like there, you know, there's some level
of celebration coming from them, you know, from from this case, Like,
how do you get there? How do you get there
knowing what you know? We saw him kicking her and
dragging her down a hallway, and that's just you just

(43:49):
erase that from your memory. I don't understand how you
get there. I mean, I feel like, collectively, there are
a number of damaged people walking among us.

Speaker 6 (44:00):
Yeah, I would go if mo Kelly did a two
minute warning on bi in and he closed it by saying,
not guilty doesn't mean completely innocent, and I think that
is a decent place to land this right now, is
that it does not mean that you I mean, we're

(44:22):
all guilty in a sense of you know something right.

Speaker 7 (44:26):
You know, we're not perfect humans.

Speaker 6 (44:28):
None of us are perfect, and we all fall short
in certain areas. But when it comes to the case,
the jurors found the case that they did based on
the reasonable doubt. And so in terms of reaction, again,
I think it's one of those things that just kind
of remains to be seen. You're gonna have supporters, extreme supporters,

(44:49):
You're gonna have people who are fearing for their lives
that You're gonna have people.

Speaker 7 (44:52):
Who are disgusted by all of this.

Speaker 6 (44:54):
And for me, that's why I say I have a
complexity of emotions. I grew up listening to bad boy artists.
I was like, I even applied for a job with
Revolt when they first started. Now, looking back in hindsight,
I'm like, ohh dodge that.

Speaker 9 (45:12):
But it was.

Speaker 6 (45:13):
It goes back to your point of you want to
be a part of the cool kids, right, You want
to be a part of what's popping and what's happening
at the time, not knowing what you're truly getting yourself
into We got to talk about non disclosure agreements, right,
NDA's when you get around these athletes, you get around
these celebrities, sometimes you got to sign these NDAs, these

(45:35):
non disclosure agreements. And that doesn't necessarily mean that, which
I don't think a lot of people realize. That doesn't
mean that those people are exempt from committing crimes or
doing illegal activity. That at the moment that you witnessed
illegal activity, you should come forward or you should say something.
But then that goes back to the fear. So it

(45:56):
seems as though we're caught in this cycle. As far
as reactions, I am still sitting at a wait and
see kind of space because based on his sentencing, when
we look at what's on the table, possibility of twenty years,
but then the discussion is down to four and five. Well,
he was arrested last September. If you have sentencing in October,

(46:20):
that's already one year and a month down. But I
do think it's going to come down to how he
is sentenced. But I find people to be celebratory a
little prematurely.

Speaker 7 (46:32):
It's celebrating a little early.

Speaker 1 (46:34):
Yeah, there's an interview online which Suge Knight I forget
who he spoke to, but he was talking about how
did he really has the connections to even possibly try
and get a presidential pardon. As we start wrapping up, though,
I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you think
that sentence should be. So your thoughts, Doug, what do
you think is going to be the outcome of his

(46:55):
sentencing hearing and where he lands?

Speaker 4 (46:58):
Well, I think the outcome will be as I think
he'll probably get two to three. I don't think he'll
get the full and I don't think he'll get the
four to five. My personal opinion is I believe he
should get the full twenty. What would a normal regular
person be charged?

Speaker 5 (47:14):
Right right? It was me, you know, and I got.

Speaker 4 (47:18):
Hit with two of these charges and convicted. How much
time would I spend? I seriously doubt it would be
four to five?

Speaker 9 (47:25):
Kerry your thoughts, Yes, I think I'm on team two
to four years for sure.

Speaker 8 (47:31):
Yes, yeah, very interesting.

Speaker 9 (47:32):
Yes, I certainly can't see it being beyond that, No.

Speaker 7 (47:35):
Way, and Morgan, your thoughts, I would agree.

Speaker 6 (47:38):
I agree with my constituents here that it'll probably be
four two to three, somewhere around less than five for sure.
I always feel like there's a plot twist and that
you know, he can always come home early, or to
your point, I mean, President Trump has indicated that he
is watching the case, so there could be that the
possibility of a presidential pardon that could be on the

(47:59):
table as well. But also I will say this, they
said he's a non violent and the first time offender,
so whether the judge feels any particular way about him personally,
these are things that will probably be factored in as well.
I almost want to believe, not that it should be
the case, but that the court will show some mercy
in that regard, being that he is a first time

(48:21):
offender and these are your charges. And you know, I
think it's really interesting, Doug, because you're in the Vegas
area where I believe, like not to say like this,
but sex workers are fairly common and even though this
case is on a federal level, certain states, you know,
see prostitution as you know, in and out, you're gonna go,
you're gonna be charged, you're gonna be they're not gonna

(48:42):
hold you for it. So I'm curious to see what
happens as a result of this case. I don't think
it's going to be hardly what we think it is
towards the ten or twenty years, but five years or
less is what I believe. And then there's a possibility
that he could just for some reason, you know, good
behavior or something home even earlier than that.

Speaker 4 (49:01):
I think there's a silver lining for those who want
a more profound sentencing is the fact that he was
denied bail.

Speaker 6 (49:11):
Well yeah, but I also think that's because because the
original sentences No, no, no, but I was thinking that
because the original sentencing date is October, that at that
point he could have gotten time served because he would
have already done a year and then they could make
it you know, probation or you know, house arrest for

(49:32):
another three years or something like that.

Speaker 7 (49:34):
But you know, these these are all conspiracy theories at
this point.

Speaker 1 (49:38):
So yeah, Well, if you're just joining us, you're listening
to the Seawan Diddy Comb's Case and the Road Ahead,
a special roundtable discussion on the Shawn Combs trial and outcome.
Combs remains behind bars awaiting sentencing, which is scheduled for
October third. His trial has garnered national media attention, especially
as testimony as sexually charged parties called freak offs surface,

(49:59):
fuelingublic interest and intrigue. After the verdict was announced, people
share their thoughts on what they believe would be a
fair sentence.

Speaker 8 (50:06):
Probably probation.

Speaker 10 (50:08):
Yeah, I think he's going to get the five or
six because they're going to look crazy about doing all this,
spending all this money and he doesn't get much jail
time at all. That'd be crazy, especially considering that they
was offering life at the end of it and stuff
like that.

Speaker 4 (50:20):
I think they could have happened in his trial because
it's did he Lauren l.

Speaker 1 (50:23):
Rossa of the Breakfast Club was in the courtroom when
the verdict was read. She shared combs this reaction.

Speaker 8 (50:28):
Did he doing at that point?

Speaker 12 (50:30):
He's on prayer hands. He's looking at the jury literally
looking right at them and mouthing thank you. He's looking
up the guy with prayer hands. One of his attorneys,
Teeny Gergos, who was sitting next to him, grabbed his
hand and like shook his hand like yes, we did it.
She began to cry.

Speaker 1 (50:45):
While the case centers on the criminal allegations made against
one man, because that man is black, the trial took
on special meeting for the black community. For some in
a personal way, your sentiment regarding this having to take
place before the world as a reflection of the black community.

Speaker 6 (51:03):
Morgan, So, I start, I would like to see an
increase of protections for people unless for profit. I think
we need to as a black community reevaluate what we normalize,
because I'm guilty of singing that same Rick Ross song,
you know, and not even thinking like, oh my gosh,
like what am I singing? And who knows that whether

(51:25):
or not my children are you know, in the car
listening to this with me as well. So I think
we need to reevaluate what we normalize and how we
feed into some of the stigmas about black men in
the black community, as I mentioned earlier, about us being
hyper sexualized or being seen as violent. And then also

(51:46):
when survivors come forward, I think we need to leave
them and allow them to tell their story in full,
from start to finish, to the point where they're not shamed,
and that you know, it will empower others to then
come out and tell their stories, which I think I
think we'll bring about that sech go of protections for
people over profit and reevaluating what we normalize through conversation

(52:09):
and then thus through action.

Speaker 8 (52:11):
Very good, Doug, your thoughts probably.

Speaker 4 (52:13):
A male perspective on this, but and obviously I'm not
condoning anything that Ditty or anyone else has done, but
it's just puts another stereotypical scar on Black people towards
others and how they look at us.

Speaker 5 (52:28):
I'm sure Diddy's not the only one who's done this.

Speaker 4 (52:31):
We know that no matter of color, but it just
hits different when it happens to us, you know, because
we're always marginalized, right, Like we didn't hear explicit details
of what Harvey did. We didn't hear that, right, But
why didn't we right? So to me, it's just like, man,

(52:51):
we got to be better gatekeepers and we got to
be better people because our stuff is going to be
put out there a lot more than others.

Speaker 5 (52:58):
I'm trying to make sense of it.

Speaker 4 (53:00):
But we're more exposed than any other group, and so
as a community, we need to take a deeper look
as to why we're so misogynistic black men, you know.
And and it's so strange because we love our mothers,
but yet if you listen to a rap song or
watch television, we don't love black women.

Speaker 5 (53:20):
And I'm not going to believe that. I know we do.

Speaker 4 (53:23):
So black men, we need to be better. You just
need to be better. And look at your mothers because
I look at my mom whenever I see a black woman,
you know, and we need to carry that with us
all the time.

Speaker 1 (53:34):
I love that man. Doug Davis, Doug Davis for President,
Doug Davis for President, beautifully stated. Is terry your thoughts?

Speaker 9 (53:44):
Yes, yeah, I agree, And I think for the most part,
just you know, the singular form of the black man
has you know, always been looked upon as being sort
of sexually devant. That's the image of the black men.
So I guess the epilogue is I think we're you know,
discussing race issues, you know, gender discrimination, and it all

(54:05):
comes with other sort of sociological challenges, and you factor
in that it will always be sort of evolutionary and
so we'll have progress and then aggression depending on just
a multitude of external factors, you know, political landscape, education

(54:25):
on some of these issues. Media, Hollywood is always going
to be this polarizing microcosm of what's going on in
the world. So I do feel like, you know, in
a sense, you know, as Morgan just said, we should
believe women. I think we are really getting there at
the dawn of the Me Too movement, right, So now
a few steps back, and I think that we do

(54:46):
have an opportunity to recalibrate those steps and keep marching forward.

Speaker 5 (54:51):
I do.

Speaker 9 (54:51):
I feel like it's on the horizon.

Speaker 8 (54:53):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (54:54):
Okay, So last question, and you can talk as a
media professional, you can talk as just a wonderful a
full black person in America, you can talk as a parent,
whatever it is. What impact do you hope this trial
will have on humanity from whatever perspective you see that
can be fed or nurtured or informed by what we've
witnessed in this Sean Diddycombe's trial and it's verdict.

Speaker 6 (55:16):
It may come off as a joke, but I'm just
going to say, go back to consent and that you
got to know what you're getting yourself into. You, like
you said, having the boundaries, you know, making sure that
you know yourself and know your boundaries and know your
safe words. I mean, sometimes when you get in with
somebody for the first time, y'all learn in each other.
You don't know what they like, what you like, what

(55:36):
you're into until you get there. And so it's okay
to set the boundary and it's okay to stand on
that can be extremely convoluted. But as far as this case,
I think we learn that people are fluid when it
comes to sexuality and they you know, they're like I said,
they're into what they're into, and we shouldn't to an extent,

(55:58):
we shouldn't shame them for that.

Speaker 7 (55:59):
But when you incorporate.

Speaker 6 (56:02):
Drugs, alcohol, violence, and consent or no consent in that,
then it becomes very chaotic and convoluted, and I think
that is the conversation that probably.

Speaker 7 (56:13):
Needs to be had amongst consenting adults.

Speaker 4 (56:16):
Doug, Well, I think about my daughter, you know, and
she's fourteen, you know, very impressional bull right now. But
you know she's starting to you know, expand her wardrobe.

Speaker 5 (56:29):
You know those shorts are too short. You know, hey,
that blouses a little bit too low.

Speaker 4 (56:35):
So this is a sit down conversation for dads to
have with their young daughters, because, like, confidence and self
love means so much in these conversations that we're having,
whether it's Cassie or the other men and women that
may have been abused, if you're not self confident in yourself,

(56:56):
if you don't have that self esteem, You're gonna doubt yourself.
You're gonna doubt those inner feelings that says you need
to move away from this.

Speaker 5 (57:03):
You're gonna doubt that because you doubt yourself.

Speaker 4 (57:06):
So it's a moment for black men to you know,
incorporate self love and love their girls, you know, even
more to be able to establish that self respect and
know the difference between a good man and a bad man,
you know.

Speaker 5 (57:22):
And so I think that's so important.

Speaker 4 (57:25):
So that's what I get out of all this, that
I have a chance to use this example to show
my daughter, you know, that you are an amazing woman
and you don't have to compromise yourself. She may not
get it all right now, but as she gets older,
it's gonna come back around. It's in the situation. I
hope and pray that she hears her dad.

Speaker 8 (57:45):
That's right, Very good. Ms McCready.

Speaker 9 (57:48):
Yes, I think so much of you know, what we're
talking about today is all gender based. It's you know,
women being simultaneously victimized and pedestallized, and so I think
if we just stripped away all of that, we're just
talking about you know, human beings just being in a
position to hold space for others. People want to be

(58:11):
seen being available to listen, people need and want to
be heard, and really, at the end of the day,
all of us we're just spirits having a human experience, right,
That's it.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
We would love to hear your thoughts on the Didty case.
Join our conversation on the bi in Talkback Live feature
on the iHeartRadio app, and check us out online on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok,
and threads. We're at the Black Information Network and on
X and Blue Sky. You can find us at Black
Info Net. Should you or someone you know be in
a sexually abusive relationship, you can find help by calling

(58:48):
the National Hotline for Sexual Assault at one eight hundred
sixty five six four six seventy three. Again, that's one
eight hundred sixty five six hope On behalf of the
entire bi In family, along with Terry McCready, Doug Davis,
and Morgan Wood. We thank you for joining us for
this special conversation, which will air again on The Black
Perspective this Sunday, July thirteenth at nine am and nine

(59:11):
pm Eastern, and be sure to catch Terry McCready Monday
through Friday on bi in from six am to twelve noon,
Doug Davis from one pm to six pm, and Morgan
Wood throughout the day for sports, health and political updates.
You can also catch you on The Breakfast Club's weekday
mornings with the front page news updates. I'm Andrea Coleman,
and this has been a special presentation of the Shawn

(59:31):
ditty Combs Case and The Road Ahead on the Black
Information Network.

Speaker 3 (59:37):
This has been the Sean ditty Combs Case and the
Road Ahead. We now return to our regular programming on
the Black Information Network.