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Express Tribune
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Diddy former assistant Brendan Paul testifies on FBI arrest and other allegations in ongoing trial
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' former assistant, Brendan Paul, took the witness stand on Friday in the ongoing federal trial against the music mogul. Paul, a 26-year-old former Syracuse University basketball player, worked for Combs for approximately 18 months beginning in late 2022. His testimony provided detailed insight into Combs' alleged lifestyle, including regular drug use and monthly sex parties known as 'Wild King Nights.' Paul was arrested on March 24, 2024, at a Miami airport during coordinated federal raids on Combs' properties in Miami and Los Angeles. Although Combs was released, Paul was taken into custody after authorities discovered 0.7 grams of cocaine in one of his bags. He told the court that the drugs belonged to Combs but said he initially didn't tell federal agents due to "loyalty." Paul was released the following day on a $2,500 bond, and the charges were later dropped. He has not spoken to Combs since. Paul testified that his responsibilities included setting up and cleaning hotel rooms used for Combs' monthly sex parties. These events, he said, required him to purchase supplies such as towels, lube, alcohol, sheets, and toiletries. He also reported once seeing white powder residue in a hotel room. Paul said he spent between $500 on drugs for Combs—such as cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy, and marijuana—on five to ten occasions, though he denied being a 'drug mule.' Paul's name has been mentioned in three pending civil lawsuits filed against Combs, including one by music producer Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones, who accused Combs of coercion and alleged Paul helped procure guns and drugs. Paul rejected the criminal characterization and insisted he would 'absolutely not' work for a criminal. He described Combs as demanding, noting that staff were instructed to 'move like SEAL Team Six' and ensure Combs' satisfaction at all costs. The trial resumed Friday after a brief delay due to a juror's illness and the Juneteenth holiday. Federal prosecutors are expected to conclude their case on Monday, with the defense set to begin presenting witnesses Tuesday. Combs faces charges including sex trafficking, transportation for prostitution, and racketeering. He has pleaded not guilty and faces a potential life sentence if convicted.
Business Insider
21-06-2025
- Business Insider
A Combs trial glossary: ex-PA tells jury what 'SEAL Team Six' and 'Gucci bag active' mean in Diddy-speak
Sean Combs ' jury got a lesson in Diddy Speak on Friday, courtesy of the sixth former personal assistant to testify against him in the rap mogul's Manhattan sex-trafficking and racketeering trial. "Zans," "Gucci bag active," and "SEAL Team Six" — ex-PA Brendan Paul was tasked with explaining all these Combsworld slang terms and more. Paul's testimony was tactically important. Prosecutors used his descriptions of drugs, sex, and grueling work schedules to bolster the narcotics-distribution, sex-trafficking, and forced-labor allegations of a racketeering charge that carries a potential life sentence. The testimony also offers a primer in deciphering Diddy. Here are some insider references the PA translated for jurors: 1. Gucci-bag active Paul, who worked as Combs' gofer from 2022 into 2024, once texted Kristina Khorram, chief of staff at the mogul's music and lifestyle empire, to let her know that their boss was up and at 'em. "PD active now," he texted. "Like, wild king mode active?" Khorram responded, according to the February 2024 text chain shown to jurors on Friday. "Or Gucci bag active?" "In between the two, if that makes sense LOL," Paul answered. Paul explained from the witness stand that Khorram was asking if Combs was busy preparing for the evening's "wild king night" (see below) or if he had also been dipping into a certain pouch-sized, black leather Gucci bag. Asking if Combs was "Gucci bag active" was Khorram's way of finding out, "Is he partying? Is he getting high?" Paul told the jury. Multiple PAs have testified that the Gucci bag was always stocked with drugs and went with Combs wherever he traveled. The bag, now known as Government Exhibit 10A-103-M1, contained an assortment of cocaine, ketamine, methamphetamine, and Xanax when federal agents seized it from Combs' Miami home in March 2024. It also had three orange pills stamped with the word "Tesla" that tested positive for ecstasy. 2. Wild king nights Combs is accused of sex trafficking two girlfriends, R&B artist Cassie Ventura and "Jane Doe," by forcing them to have sex with male escorts as he watched, masturbated, and recorded them. Jurors have previously heard that between 2008 and 2018, Combs and Ventura used the term "freak offs" to describe these drug-fueled, dayslong performances at the center of the sex-trafficking case. By the time Combs began dating the second accuser, "Jane," in 2021, they were called "hotel nights," at least for a while, prosecutors said. On the stand on Friday, Paul provided a clue as to when — and why — the name changed from "hotel nights" to "wild king nights." "After Cassie's lawsuit, they stopped being in hotels," Paul said, referring to Ventura's highly publicized November 2023 suit, which accused Combs of beating her and forcing her to have sex with male escorts in luxury hotels across the country. Combs settled Ventura's lawsuit for $20 million the day after it was filed, but it still had grave consequences, sparking a barrage of similar sex-assault suits and the federal investigation leading to his indictment. 3. Zans "You get me zans," Combs once asked Paul in a punctuation-free Valentine's Day 2024 text shown to the eight-man, four-woman jury Friday. "Still working on it," Paul responded. "Xanax," Paul explained when lead prosecutor Maurene Comey asked him to define "zans." Prosecutors will likely argue that the text is significant because it shows Combs personally asking Paul, an employee of what the indictment calls the "Combs criminal enterprise," to purchase illegal drugs. Paul said he bought drugs for Combs on between five and 10 occasions during his 18-month stint as personal assistant. He also told jurors his job ended in March of 2024, when federal agents executed a search warrant on Combs' plane at a Miami airport. Paul said he was arrested for possessing seven tenths of a gram of his boss's cocaine. The charge was eventually dismissed. 4. Flower, tree, and Sunset Sherbet On cross-examination, defense lawyer Brian Steel asked if the amount of drugs Paul purchased for Combs appeared to suggest mere "personal use." Paul agreed, answering that it represented "what I would consider personal use." Still, the cost could pile up. Paul was asked about a February 9, 2024, text in which he complained that the company owed him nearly $5,000 for drug outlays he'd made on Combs' behalf. In the text, Paul told Khorram and a Combs Global finance exec that he'd been waiting months to be paid back for $4,200 he'd spent on "flower" — meaning marijuana, the ex-PA explained. "King Louie and Sunset Sherbet," Paul told the jury when asked what Combs' favorite strains of weed were. (One of his first jobs as PA, he testified, was "packing joints.") According to the same 2024 text, Combs also owed Paul $780 for "Gucci items." Asked what that term meant, Paul answered, "hard drugs." 5. Tusi Paul told the jury he had worked for Combs for only a few weeks when he found a vial of bright pink powder and a bag of blue pills left out on Combs' desk in his Los Angeles mansion. Paul said he texted a photo of the two items to his fellow personal assistants, asking what he should do. On Friday, he was asked about the photo. "I took it," he confirmed. He said he tucked the items out of sight and later learned the pink powder was called "tusi" or "2C." Tusi is a mix of the powdered horse tranquilizer ketamine and ecstasy, "dyed pink for the aesthetic," Paul told the jury. Combs once asked him to sample some pink powder, "to see if it was any good," Paul testified. "Euphoric," he said when the prosecutor asked how he felt afterward. He didn't want to try the drug, but did so anyway. "I wanted to prove my loyalty," he told the jury. He was 23 years old at the time. 6. K-pop Asked what drugs he purchased for Combs over his 18 months working for him, Paul rattled off a lengthy list. It included marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine, and tusi. It also included something he called "K-pop." Here again, prosecutors assumed the jury needed a vocabulary lesson. When Comey asked the former PA to tell jurors what K-pop is, Paul answered, "It's Ketamine in lollipop form." 7. Guido, One Stop, Baby Girl, and Ovi Paul rattled off another lengthy list when asked who he knew to be selling drugs to Combs. The list included "Baby Girl," "Ovi," and a double-chinned man (based on his photo in evidence) named "Guido," whom Paul described as "the drug dealer in Los Angeles." Also included was an aptly named fellow called "One Stop," a name that reflected the broad variety of drugs he sold, Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard explained in testimony last month. "Cocaine, Plan B, birth control, weed, E, molly, like, everything," Richard told the jury of One Stop's wares. 8. SEAL Team Six In Combs' lexicon, SEAL Team Six, the covert and loyal Navy unit that killed Osama bin Laden, is the model for an ideal workforce. "What was Mr. Combs' expectation of his assistants?" Comey asked Paul. "He used to say that he wants us to move like SEAL Team Six," Paul answered. "What was your understanding of what he meant by moving like SEAL Team Six?" Paul was asked next. "Just being militant," he answered. "Get things done without him asking. Nothing taken by surprise." Paul summed up his personal assistant "mission" this way: "Just make sure he's always happy." Combs would fire assistants on the spot for minor transgressions. Paul testified he was axed in November 2023 because "I forgot his Lululemon fanny pack when he wanted to go on a walk." Combs was a forgiving SEAL team commander, though — or at least a forgetful one. Paul said that after the Lululemon mishap, he just kept returning to work. "I saw him again," some days later, Paul told the jury, "and he was like, 'Oh hey.'" Testimony continues Monday, when the government is expected to rest its case. Lead Combs attorney Marc Agnifilo told the judge Friday that the current plan is to rest the defense case after only one or two days of testimony, in which case closing arguments could begin on Thursday. "If there's any shifting in that, I'll let everyone know immediately," the lawyer told US District Judge Arun Subramanian and prosecutors.
New York Post
28-05-2025
- General
- New York Post
SEAL Team Six alum named advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff: DoD
A former member of SEAL Team Six has been named the highest ranking enlisted official and an advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, military officials announced Tuesday. Navy Fleet Master Chief David Isom, once a member of Navy Special Warfare Development Group commonly called SEAL Team Six, will become the sixth Senior Enlisted Advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to the Department of Defense. The SEAC position was created in 2005 and is considered the most senior enlisted leader, according to Task and Purpose. Advertisement Navy Fleet Master Chief David Isom is the new Senior Enlisted Advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Department of Defense announced Tuesday. U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Anthony J. Rivera Master Chief Isom has a long resume of active duty service including combat and operational deployments in Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and other stints through the Pacific and the Horn of Africa, according to his official biography. The career soldier also deployed with SEAL Team 1 during his illustrious career, according to that biography. Advertisement During his service career, Isom won four Bronze Star Medals, including two with distinction for valor, two Combat Action Ribbons, and a Presidential Unity Citation, Task and Purpose reported. 'Master Chief Isom's assignments have included a full range of duties in Sea, Air, Land (SEAL) Teams at Theater Special Operations Commands and across the joint environment,' the newly minted SEAC's biography read. Isom won four Bronze Star Medals during his combat career that included tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Marine Corps/Cpl. Dean Gurule Most recently, Isom has served as the Command Senior Enlisted Leader for US Indo-Pacific Command. Advertisement Isom joined the Navy in 1987, inspired by his Korean War Army veteran father and a love of the ocean that he discovered while surfing off the coast of his native North Carolina, he revealed in an interview in 2022. The decorated SEAL revealed that he was promoted to the rank of Chief Petty Officer around the time of September 11th, 2001, and was soon deployed to the Middle East. After losing 'teammates' while fighting in Afghanistan in Iraq, Isom said he learned, 'the key role of leaders and caring for people and developing other leaders,' according to that interview. Master Chief Isom is replacing current SEAC Troy E. Black, the DoD said in the release.
Time of India
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Roel Reine to direct Dennis Haysbert's action drama 'American Smuggler'
Dutch filmmaker Roel Reine is set to direct the upcoming action drama ' American Smuggler ', which stars Dennis Haysbert in the lead role, reported Deadline. As per the outlet, the film will chart the relentless hunt for Craig Petties , an American drug trafficker best known for the criminal empire he led in Memphis while operating in collaboration with Mexico's infamous drug cartels. Haysbert will play a prominent CIA agent in the film. Filming is due to get underway this summer in New Mexico, reported Deadline. The project is expected to hone in on the efforts of SEAL Team Six, Delta Force and the Mexican Marines, who dismantled an international drug network that plagued communities across North America for decades, reported Deadline. The story also brings to light the lesser-known tragedy of children forced to labour in El Chapo's infamous tunnels, often losing their lives in collapses, reported Deadline. The film will chart the relentless hunt for Craig Petties, an American drug trafficker best known for the criminal empire he led in Memphis while operating in collaboration with Mexico's infamous drug cartels, reported Deadline. Koji Steven Sakai (Skeletons in the Closet), Sam Wildhorse Bass of EuroAmerica Films, and Tracy Matthews of Lion of Judah Productions are writing the film. The screenplay will be based on Matthews' experience as a civilian team leader during the operation, reported Deadline. The actor Haysbert, who is set to lead the cast of 'American Smuggler,' is best known for his role as President David Palmer in the hit series 24. He also played the role of a baseball player, Pedro Cerran,o in the Major League film trilogy. Classified - Official Trailer Stay updated with the latest Best Hindi Movies , Best Tamil Movies , Best Telugu Movies , Best english Movies , Best Malayalam Movies
Mint
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Roel Reine to direct Dennis Haysberts action drama American Smuggler
Washington DC [US], April 26 (ANI): Dutch filmmaker Roel Reine is set to direct the upcoming action drama 'American Smuggler', which stars Dennis Haysbert in the lead role, reported Deadline. As per the outlet, the film will chart the relentless hunt for Craig Petties, an American drug trafficker best known for the criminal empire he led in Memphis while operating in collaboration with Mexico's infamous drug cartels. Haysbert will play a prominent CIA agent in the film. Filming is due to get underway this summer in New Mexico, reported Deadline. The project is expected to hone in on the efforts of SEAL Team Six, Delta Force and the Mexican Marines, who dismantled an international drug network that plagued communities across North America for decades, reported Deadline. The story also brings to light the lesser-known tragedy of children forced to labour in El Chapo's infamous tunnels, often losing their lives in collapses, reported Deadline. The film will chart the relentless hunt for Craig Petties, an American drug trafficker best known for the criminal empire he led in Memphis while operating in collaboration with Mexico's infamous drug cartels, reported Deadline. Koji Steven Sakai (Skeletons in the Closet), Sam Wildhorse Bass of EuroAmerica Films, and Tracy Matthews of Lion of Judah Productions are writing the film. The screenplay will be based on Matthews' experience as a civilian team leader during the operation, reported Deadline. The actor Haysbert, who is set to lead the cast of 'American Smuggler,' is best known for his role as President David Palmer in the hit series 24. He also played the role of a baseball player, Pedro Cerran,o in the Major League film trilogy. (ANI) First Published: 26 Apr 2025, 04:03 AM IST
