Sean 'Diddy' Combs was arrested and charged with sex crimes, and sits in a New York jail awaiting a May 5 trial
Sean 'Diddy' Combs defense team's only hope is to make sex acts appear consensual: Former prosecutor
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani on the charges against Sean 'Diddy' Combs and how he would defend the case if he were Combs' defense team.
Sean "Diddy" Combs was accused of rape and more than a decade of abuse by ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a November lawsuit, which was "amicably" settled one day after being filed.
Tiffany Red, Cassie's songwriter, claimed to have witnessed Diddy's explosive behavior while the former couple were in a relationship. The Bad Boy Records executive was 39 years old when he began romancing the rising star, who was 19 at the time.
Red recalled one night in 2015 when she was in the car with Cassie on a drive to pick up McDonald's, and witnessed the singer receive an irate phone call from the "Last Night" rapper.
DIDDY ALL SMILES IN COURT BEFORE PROSECUTORS HINT AT NEW CHARGES IN SEX TRAFFICKING CASE
Cassie Ventura's songwriter recalled Sean "Diddy" Combs' explosive behavior with his ex-girlfriend. (Getty Images)
"I remember her being like, ‘Want to see something crazy?’" Red said during ABC's "Secret Life of Diddy – A Special Edition of 20/20."
"She answered the phone, and as soon as she answered … ‘B---h, where the f--- are you?' He was so upset that she was out. I remember him screaming and saying, ‘Is somebody in the car with you? I know someone is in the car with you.'"
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"So that was my first time being like, something is wrong," she said.
"He was so upset that she was out. I remember him screaming and saying, ‘Is somebody in the car with you? I know someone is in the car with you.'"
— Tiffany Red
WATCH: 2016 SURVEILLANCE VIDEO ALLEGEDLY SHOWS ALTERCATIONS BETWEEN DIDDY AND CASSIE
Red remembered witnessing Diddy cornering and "cussing" at Cassie during her 29th birthday party in 2015.
"I walked out of this room, and right behind the door, his security is around him, and he’s in her face, and he’s cussing her out," she said. "He was really mad, and he was really close to her face, and she just had her head down.
"When I was standing over to the side, she just was kind of looking up at me. My sense was that everybody around him was afraid of him . . . cause he was explosive."
Sean 'Diddy' Combs and Cassie split for the last time in 2018, following years of an on-again off-again relationship. (Getty Images)
When asked why no one would step up to the disgraced music mogul, Redd questioned, "What are you going to do?"
WATCH ON FOX NATION: WHAT DIDDY DO?
She continued, "He's got the key to the city, he’s friends with the politicians . . . who's going to challenge that? And when? And be believed?"
My sense was that everybody around him was afraid of him … cause he was explosive."
— Tiffany Red
Red believed that Diddy was "using the music to control Cassie" as he had promised to release her album for nearly a decade, with no catalog to show for it.
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"It was never gonna come out, it was never supposed to come out," Red said. "The only time he was willing to really talk about the plans for her music was during the freak offs."
The "Missing You" singer accused officials on Wednesday of leaking the 2016 surveillance video from the Intercontinental Hotel to CNN, which allegedly showed Combs assaulting Cassie Ventura.
Diddy claimed the government was responsible for leaking a 2016 surveillance video of an alleged violent incident with his ex-girlfriend Cassie. (Getty Images)
The government denied being the source of the leak in a separate filing.
Combs "kicked dragged, and threw a vase at a woman as she was attempting to leave," the indictment said. "When a member of the hotel security staff intervened, Combs attempted to bribe the staff member to ensure silence."
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Combs was arrested on Sept. 16 and charged the following day with racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. The rapper entered a not-guilty plea hours after an indictment was unsealed detailing his alleged sex crimes.
Sean "Diddy" Combs was indicted on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in New York on Sept. 16. (Shayan Asgharnia)
Authorities alleged that Combs ran a criminal enterprise through his businesses, including Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs Enterprises and Combs Global, among others. He used "firearms, threats of violence, coercion and verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse" to fulfill his sexual desires, according to the unsealed indictment obtained by Fox News Digital.
Combs and his employees would "intimidate, threaten, and lure female victims into Combs' orbit, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship. Combs allegedly then used force, threats of force and coercion to cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers, which Combs referred to as, among other things, 'freak offs.'" Combs often provided IV fluids to his victims after "freak offs" to help them recover from physical exertion and drug use, according to the indictment.
During a Thursday court hearing, Judge Arun Subramanian scheduled Diddy's trial to begin on May 5. The prosecution expects the government's case to take three weeks to lay out, while Diddy's legal team estimated needing one week to argue the rapper's defense.
Sean "Diddy" Combs pleaded not guilty last month, and a judge set his trial date for May 5. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
The U.S. Attorney's Office also noted that the investigation is ongoing and pointed to the possibility of a superseding indictment, which could lengthen the trial.
Fox News Digital has reached out to a rep for Diddy for comment.
Tracy Wright is an entertainment reporter for Fox News Digital. Send story tips to
