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The women of “The View” joked on Tuesday about the vast amount of lubricant that law enforcement found at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ homes as they investigated the music mogul for alleged sex crimes.
Combs, 54, was arrested by agents from Homeland Security at a New York City hotel on Monday night following a three-count grand jury indictment on charges related to sex trafficking and racketeering.
The shocking case was front and center during the “Hot Topics” segment on “The View” Tuesday morning, with the talk show’s legal analyst Sunny Hostin breaking down the news for viewers.
“Racketeering cases are not that common, but racketeering convictions are very common in the federal government,” Hostin said.
“These cases are generally brought against mobs. They’re describing a criminal enterprise that involved trafficking of underage people across state lines to have sex, and they dubbed them ‘freak-offs,’ they raided his homes and found 1,000 vials of lubricant.”
According to federal prosecutors’ court filings, “Freak Offs were elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded.”
Co-host Joy Behar chimed in as Hostin was summarizing the news, calling the situation “disgusting.” She was followed in short order by fellow co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Alyssa Farah Griffin, who weighed in with clarification.
“But that’s not, the lubricant is not…” Goldberg interjected before Griffin said, “It ain’t a crime, guys.” Goldberg repeated Griffin’s words, eliciting some reticent laughs from the studio audience and co-hosts, sans Hostin.
“But it is evidence, it can be used as evidence of a ‘freak-off,’” Hostin said. In her estimation, Combs could face “a max of 20 years to life” in prison if convicted.
Elsewhere in the show, Griffin praised Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura for coming forward with allegations of rape and abuse in a lawsuit she filed against the hip-hop star in November.
“I just want to mention Cassie Ventura, who bravely came forward with a civil suit, who laid out the egregious, horrible things he did to her,” Griffin said. “They settled out of court, but by putting that out there, it helped other victims come forward.”
Despite settling only one day after Ventura filed her suit, an attorney for Combs at the time “vehemently” denied the allegations made against his client. Months later, a 2016 surveillance video appearing to show Combs beating Ventura surfaced, prompting the music maker to publicly apologize.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you gotta do that.” he said in a since-deleted video posted on Instagram. “I was f‑‑‑ed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom. But I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable.”
Combs is being held without bail pending his trial for sex trafficking and racketeering.
Following his arraignment on Tuesday, Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, insisted the music mogul is innocent.
“Mr. Combs is a fighter. He’s going to fight this to the end. He’s innocent,” Agnifio said outside a New York courthouse.
“He came to New York to establish his innocence. He’s not afraid, he’s not afraid of the charges. There’s nothing that the government said in their presentation today that changes anyone’s mind about anything.”