TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Diddy supporters and court pundits might think the prosecution hasn't proved any of the criminal counts he's facing, but Touré disagrees ... arguing the government is making a lot of progress on the racketeering front.

We caught up with the music journalist Thursday on "TMZ Live," and his take, after nearly 4 days of graphic testimony, is Diddy was allegedly committing "an ongoing rape of Cassie."

And, Touré sees prosecutors building a strong case for a criminal conspiracy -- aka racketeering -- carried out by Diddy's employees.

Cassie says she was still participating in freak-offs with Diddy despite being on a break from him and dating Kid Cudi.

The singer testified Thursday in court during cross-examination... she was seeing Kid Cudi in 2011 while on a break from Diddy, but was still going back to Diddy for freak-offs.

Cassie's reasoning ... the freak offs were her "job."

Michael B. Jordan's name is now in the middle of the Diddy trial ... Diddy's defense brought him into the convo Thursday while cross-examining Cassie Ventura.

Cassie testified Diddy suspected she was having an affair with Michael in 2015, after she broke up with Diddy while she was in South Africa filming a movie.

The singer told the jury she cut off contact with Diddy after finding out he was seeing another woman ... and that Diddy grew suspicious she was starting to date Michael.

Jimmy Fallon and The Weeknd gave a group of Fordham University seniors a surprise they'll never forget -- they crashed their graduation bash at the Lincoln Center campus in New York City!

Check out the video ... the graduating seniors were absolutely gobsmacked when they saw the Grammy-winner walk through the doors and start performing his hit song "Blinding Lights" Thursday -- inspiring an impromptu sing-along.

TMZ is told he even did an encore, singing "Can’t Feel My Face" with fans as well.

Diddy asked Cassie if he had her permission to set up a freak-off ... and then she told him she was ovulating ... but appeared to agree on going forward with it if things remained PG.

The interesting exchange was raised Thursday while Cassie was being cross-examined by Diddy defense attorney Anna Estevao, who was going over text messages between the former couple.

Diddy texted Cassie, asking permission to set up "freaky fun," and her response was limited to one word -- "Ovulation" ... which sounds like a clear "no" to sexual intercourse. She previously testified Diddy did not want the male escorts using condoms with her during freak-offs.

Diddy's defense says his sexual preferences are part of a swingers lifestyle, and Cassie just testified that they did some swinging.

Cassie is being cross-examined by Diddy's defense attorney Anna Estevao, and she confirmed she had conversations with Diddy about a "swingers lifestyle" when they were in a relationship.

The singer says she experienced swinging firsthand when she accompanied Diddy to sex clubs ... watching him have sex with other women multiple times -- which sounds like a reversal of the freak-offs, where a previous witness said Diddy would watch her have sex with a male sex worker.

SZA's all about adding to her loyal fans' "Good Days" ... 'cause she made one lucky dude's day by giving him free pit tickets to her show -- and shouting him out onstage.

The singer-songwriter took the stage at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts earlier this week during the "Kendrick Lamar and SZA: Grand National Tour" ... and, during the performance, she leaned forward into the pit to wish her new pal Michael well.

Check out the clip ... SZA leans forward, waves and says "Hi, Michael" before dancing across the stage -- going from playful to businesslike in no time at all.

Cassie expressed to Diddy that she was excited to participate in freak-offs ... at least based on a text message between the exes that was just read in court.

The singer is being cross-examined by Diddy's defense team, and jurors on Thursday were shown a slew of graphic and sexual text messages from their relationship.

In one message, Cassie tells Diddy ... "I'm always ready to freak off, it can be whenever." The text was a BlackBerry message to Diddy on August 5, 2009 ... about 2 years into their relationship.

The fourth day of testimony in Diddy's NYC federal sex trafficking trial began Thursday with Cassie taking the stand again ... with Diddy's defense team's turn at cross-examining her after two days of the prosecution's questioning.

Sean "Diddy" Combs' defense attorney Anna Estevao asked Cassie to read a text she sent to Combs years ago ... Cassie read it out in court, "I love you, smiley face, I'll fly anywhere for you, I love you, Cass."

Affectionate messages from Diddy were also shown to the jury from early in their relationship ... which Cassie described on the stand this morning as "loving."

"I'm a very lucky woman, I miss you so much," she said, reading from one of the exchanges.

Chris Brown is in trouble with the law again -- the R&B singer was arrested Thursday in the United Kingdom over a bottle-throwing incident at a nightclub two years ago ... TMZ has confirmed.

Brown was taken into custody at a hotel in Manchester, England early Thursday morning on suspicion of grievous bodily harm, according to law enforcement sources.

The Sun reported Brown was busted hours after he flew into town on a private jet, landing in Manchester Airport.

More is being revealed by the minute on Day 3 of the Diddy sex trafficking trial ... federal prosecutors broke out photographs of 3 sex workers and one victim -- and showed them all to the 12 jurors.

Assistant United States Attorney Emily Johnson displayed the faces of the sex workers/victim on monitors for the jurors, starting with a picture of victim "Mia," who was allegedly raped by Diddy.

Then Johnson showed the jury two more photos -- one of sex worker Jules and another of Jules and Cassie together. A fourth photo showed Cassie and male escort Dave, as well as a fifth photo of Cassie and another sex worker named Greg.

Cassie had a lot to say in her second day of testimony in the Diddy criminal trial ... testifying about freak-offs, physical abuse, suicidal thoughts and rape.

The prosecution's star witness was back on the stand Wednesday and she told the jury about the first time Diddy beat her and how he showed her footage from the freak-offs and threatened to release them.

She testified about the end of their relationship in 2018 ... telling jurors how he took her home after a nice closure conversation and then raped her on the living room floor.

Diddy raped a woman at his Manhattan apartment, but the woman said she was actually relieved when he whipped out his penis ... because she knew it wouldn't hurt that much due to a lack of length and girth -- at least according to a new lawsuit.

The Bad Boy Records founder is being sued by a Jane Doe who claims they met in May 2001 ... she says they hung out a few times without incident at his Manhattan recording studio, night clubs and a restaurant -- but things went south in July 2001 on their fourth meeting.

She claims after a night out at the club, Diddy took her back to his apartment ... leading her to his bedroom, where he locked the door and pushed her down onto the bed on her back, placing his hand around her throat and telling her, "I'm going to suck the life out of you."

The jury in Diddy's federal sex trafficking trial is hearing highly compelling testimony from Diddy's ex-girlfriend Cassie -- but, a very famous defense attorney has some ideas about how to effectively grill a pregnant woman on the stand.

Jose Baez, Casey Anthony's defense attorney in her 2011 murder trial, joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" to break down strategy for Diddy's defense team ahead of their cross-examination of Cassie.

Many think the case will rise or fall on the defense's cross-examination of Cassie -- but Baez says it shouldn't.

50 Cent is getting an apology from a jeweler in New York City who was being sued by the rapper for allegedly using Fiddy's name and face to sell knockoffs of his famous crucifix chain ... and 50's case against him has been dismissed.

Maksud Agadjani from TraxNYC posted an apology to 50 Cent on all of his social media platforms ... and taped a printed out version of the statement to a storefront in the Big Apple.

In the apology, Agadjani says he's "writing to express my sincere and heartfelt apology" and he acknowledges using 50's name, image and other IP rights to "advertise, market, and sell my jewelry products without your permission."

One of the biggest mysteries in the Diddy-Cassie saga was answered at the music mogul's federal criminal trial Wednesday ... Cassie settled her lawsuit against Diddy for a whopping $20 million!

Federal prosecutor Emily Johnson was grilling Cassie on Day 2 of her testimony at Diddy's sex trafficking trial in NYC when the questioning turned to a book she wrote about the alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of Sean "Diddy" Combs -- her former longtime boyfriend.

Cassie testified that her mom helped her write a "book with chapters," which she wanted Diddy to read. She testified she sent the chapters to Diddy through her attorney, but Diddy didn't take her book seriously.