The women of “The View” joked Tuesday about the abundance of lubricant police found in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ home while investigating the music mogul for alleged sex crimes.
Combs, 54, was arrested by Department of Homeland Security agents at a New York hotel on Monday night after a grand jury indicted him on three counts of sex trafficking and organized crime.
The shocking case was the focus of “The View”‘s “Hot Topics” segment Tuesday morning, where the talk show’s legal expert Sunny Hostin analyzed the news for viewers.
“Extortion cases are not that common, but extortion convictions are very common in the federal government,” Hostin said.
“These cases are generally brought against gangs. They describe a criminal enterprise that involved trafficking minors across state lines for the purpose of sex, and they called them ‘freak-offs,’ they searched his homes and found 1,000 bottles of lubricant.”
According to federal court documents, the “freak offs” were elaborate and staged sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded.”
Co-host Joy Behar chimed in as Hostin was recapping the news, calling the situation “disgusting.” She was soon followed by co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Alyssa Farah Griffin, who chimed in with clarifications.
“But that’s not it, the lube is not…” Goldberg interjected before Griffin said, “It’s not a crime, folks.” Goldberg repeated Griffin’s words, earning some restrained laughs from the studio audience and co-hosts (except Hostin).
“But it is evidence, it can be used as evidence of a ‘freak-out,'” said Hostin. In her estimation, if convicted, Combs could spend “a maximum of 20 years to life” in prison.
Elsewhere on the show, Griffin praised Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura for coming forward with rape and abuse allegations in a lawsuit filed against the hip-hop star in November.
“I just want to mention Cassie Ventura, who bravely filed a civil lawsuit and laid out the outrageous, horrific things he did to her,” Griffin said. “They settled out of court, but by making this public, it helped other victims come forward.”
Although a settlement was reached just one day after Ventura filed his lawsuit, Combs’ attorney at the time “vehemently denied” the allegations against his client. Months later, a 2016 surveillance video surfaced that appeared to show Combs hitting Ventura, prompting the music producer to publicly apologize.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you have to do that,” he said in a now-deleted video on Instagram. “I was devastated. I mean, I hit rock bottom. But I’m not making any excuses. My behavior in that video is inexcusable.”
Combs is being held without bail pending trial on sex trafficking and organized crime charges.
After his arraignment on Tuesday, Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo insisted on the music mogul’s innocence.
“Mr. Combs is a fighter. He will fight to the end. He is innocent,” Agnifio said outside a New York courthouse.
“He came to New York to prove his innocence. He is not afraid, he is not afraid of the charges. There is nothing the government said in its presentation today that would change anyone’s mind about anything.”
