Music: Sean "P Diddy" Combs

[John Price]

 

[tarheelhockey]

He also got away with it because like Weinstein the reality is much of industry and celebritiy world he was part of didn't care or indulged in behaviors as well

They will come out and act like they are upset, shocked or outraged as if they weren't at his parties for years and didn't laugh and make jokes of what was open secret thru years (Remember Hollywood for years made jokes about Weinstein rep and stories before pretending they didn't)

Diddy stuff isn't coming out of nowhere. It's been widely talked about for years but people didn't care. Musicians and celebs were still going to his parties, hanging out with him, etc

Its only now it's come to forefront publicly thanks to Cassie (Video of beating helped further bring attention to him) and likely others going to police and prosecutors opening actual investigations

Weinstein in particular was a really egregious case of everyone joking about it and nothing being done to stop it. So many people knew about him and made references to him that it was practically a meme.

It definitely puts a spotlight on the fact that Hollywood (and for that matter Washington) is full of people who just shrug their shoulders and say “whaddaya gonna do” while witnessing serial criminals take advantage of helpless bystanders. In both cities the culture is all about being too powerful to be told “no”.

 

[93gilmour93]

 

[Babe Ruth]

That’s a very specific worldview that nobody is going to talk you out of.

For most people, getting into deep legal shit can be as simple as your long-time gf cooperating with the FBI to take you down. Call that “institutional power” if you like, but the mechanism is little different than a common thug getting ratted out.




LOL what? Everyone knew he was a piece of shit. What are you talking about?



It’s not that difficult to understand. From a law enforcement perspective, there has to be a willingness by victims to press charges and an ability to bring irrefutable evidence to the table. Accusing a powerful person of rape without any evidence beyond the words of one witness is prosecutorial incompetence. There needs to be enough substance to get a conviction, not just charges.

Combs was accused of sexual misconduct back in 2017 and settled out of court. Cosby was accused of rape back in 2004 and settled out of court. Weinstein settled with at least EIGHT accusers to make their accusations go away.

When that happens, any potential criminal case stops in its tracks. The settlement specifically stops the victim from pressing charges or going public, so law enforcement no longer has a basis for bringing charges (and even if they did, they have an uncooperative witness providing zero evidence). And other victims see the offender walking scot free like nothing ever happened, while the accuser gets intimidated and blacklisted. Ordinary people don’t stand a chance of getting justice in this dynamic, and we all know it.

The floodgates open when that dynamic gets avoided altogether — for example, when the sheer number of rapes that Weinstein committed becomes so publicly understood that major news networks start building landmark exposees with dozens of witnesses, or when someone close to the offender is willing and able to drop a mountain of evidence and insist on charges. That’s what happened to all three of these guys, they finally saw the day when a civil settlement was not on the table as an option.

You better believe there are a ton of others in Hollywood who are one motivated accuser away from jail time. They’re not protected by some shadowy institution, unless you consider lawyers an “institution”. They’re protected by their ability to suppress accusations outside of court.

I never implied it was a "shadowy institution". I characterize it as media collusion. What you're doing is snidely attributing an angle I never implied.
People in the music industry & mainstream media knew about the crimes of Cosby & Diddy for years. For years they chose not to reveal, or aggressively investigate, the allegations. Now they are.. I don't believe it was a natural tipping point, I believe there are motivated individual enemies within the media and/or judicial system who tip the scales. Then when it's career risk-free, reporters finally dogpile on these guys. It's not a shadowy conspiracy.

It's strange how dismissive this forum is when someone has a different take on topics. It often is a rude echo chamber here.

 

[DaaaaB's]

It's strange how dismissive this forum is when someone has a different take on topics. It often is a rude echo chamber here.

I'd say that most people in general are dismissive of ridiculous conspiracy theories. It's not just an hfboards thing. You also claimed that Weinstein and Cosby were prosecuted posthumously, you say things like that and people will laugh.

 

[RandV]

I never implied it was a "shadowy institution". I characterize it as media collusion. What you're doing is snidely attributing an angle I never implied.
People in the music industry & mainstream media knew about the crimes of Cosby & Diddy for years. For years they chose not to reveal, or aggressively investigate, the allegations. Now they are.. I don't believe it was a natural tipping point, I believe there are motivated individual enemies within the media and/or judicial system who tip the scales. Then when it's career risk-free, reporters finally dogpile on these guys. It's not a shadowy conspiracy.

It's strange how dismissive this forum is when someone has a different take on topics. It often is a rude echo chamber here.

You call it "media collusion" but are overlooking that the media are still subject to libel laws. Much like the prosecution, like I said with mobsters even if everyone 'knows' they can't just start printing these allegations without concrete backing of witnesses which generally means they're going to need multiple victims to talk to them if they don't want to get sued into the ground. The actual work and level of verification for these types of stories tend to get overlooked/ignored with this type of perspective.

This is more than just "career risk-free" question, they can now dogpile and report openly and have it get past the editor to print because nobodies going to get sued.

 

[Satans Hockey]

I'd say that most people in general are dismissive of ridiculous conspiracy theories. It's not just an hfboards thing. You also claimed that Weinstein and Cosby were prosecuted posthumously, you say things like that and people will laugh.

Ya I caught that in his post too, Weinstein is sitting in Rikers right now alive and Cosby was in prison for 3 years.

 

[the valiant effort]

Weinstein in particular was a really egregious case of everyone joking about it and nothing being done to stop it. So many people knew about him and made references to him that it was practically a meme.

It definitely puts a spotlight on the fact that Hollywood (and for that matter Washington) is full of people who just shrug their shoulders and say “whaddaya gonna do” while witnessing serial criminals take advantage of helpless bystanders. In both cities the culture is all about being too powerful to be told “no”.

Naturally a scene from Entourage serves to really highlight this. As the Weinstein parody character berates the guys in front of a crowd of people, James Cameron is seen leaning on a bar chuckling “Harvey” to himself. Real cringe as the kids say.

 

[Jumptheshark]

This story is getting crazier. Usually wen famous people of colour are accused or arrested, certain people come running to the persons defence. Some of the usual suspects are keeping well clear of this.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I never implied it was a "shadowy institution". I characterize it as media collusion. What you're doing is snidely attributing an angle I never implied.

“Smugly” or “snidely”… either way, you’re reading insults that aren’t there.

People in the music industry & mainstream media knew about the crimes of Cosby & Diddy for years. For years they chose not to reveal, or aggressively investigate, the allegations.

Again, that is flat-out not true. Both Cosby and Diddy were subject to accusations which drew attention from law enforcement. They settled out of court with NDAs.

When that happens, *poof* the accusation disappears from public view. The victim is legally not permitted to speak about it publicly, and evidence is destroyed (see above article about Fayed which detailed the process).

That means law enforcement can’t proceed with charges, as they no longer have a cooperative witness or evidence. Prosecutors don’t make a career out of accusing powerful people of rape without evidence.

It also means that media entities can be sued for libel if they report on the situation. That’s not an empty threat, reporters and editors lose their careers over such things. Look at what is happening to Fox News and Alex Jones if you want examples of why legitimate media organizations hold stories back unless they can be corroborated. That’s why powerful people have NDAs in the first place — it gives them complete control over what information gets released to the public, which means zero.

Now they are.. I don't believe it was a natural tipping point, I believe there are motivated individual enemies within the media and/or judicial system who tip the scales. Then when it's career risk-free, reporters finally dogpile on these guys. It's not a shadowy conspiracy.

It's strange how dismissive this forum is when someone has a different take on topics. It often is a rude echo chamber here.

Of course reporters act when it’s risk-free to their careers. You think they’re going to drop reports which would be career suicide plus a massive lawsuit?

You’re taking a well known (and morally shitty) dynamic and adding this element of nameless and powerful “individual enemies” who control “floodgates” of information, deciding who can get away with crime and who cannot. And somehow you don’t think you’re talking about a shadowy conspiracy? That’s the definition of a shadowy conspiracy theory.