Escort Says He 'Knew About Diddy' Before Sex Trafficking Case: 'Some of the Guys Saw Stuff'

Diddy's trial continues this week with additional testimony.

A reality TV star and Diddy are pictured in a side-by-side split image
Images via TMZ & Getty/Frazer Harrison

A former star of a Showtime reality series about male escorts says he “knew about Diddy a long time before the news did.” The series in question, Gigolos, has been in headlines as of late thanks to Diddy’s ongoing federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial in New York.

Gigolos alum Jimmy Clabots recently spoke with TMZ, resulting in a conversation during which he was asked to speak about whether he was surprised to learn that two others from the series had been mentioned amid the much-publicized case. Per Clabots, he was not surprised; in fact, he himself was allegedly “on hold” to be hired by Diddy’s team at one point.

“I knew about Diddy a long time before the news did and usually it was because I was on hold to go onto the job,” Clabots told TMZ, as seen here. “The agency wouldn’t tell me who it was but because of just talking to other escorts that worked at the company, I knew.”

According to Clabots, who noted that what he was citing was “hearsay,” those who spoke with him about their own alleged experiences with Diddy, whose “freak-offs” have received heightened media attention as of late, gave varied accounts of what, exactly, went on during such encounters. Per Clabots, “some of the guys saw stuff and saw chemicals,” while others did not. Furthermore, some of the escorts Clabots says he spoke with said they “never” saw “violence” or “crazy imbibing of chemicals.”

During her testimony, Cassie, whose mother also later took the stand, spoke at length about her own alleged experiences involving the alleged “freak-offs” with Diddy. According to Cassie, such encounters could sometimes last days at a time, with—as previously alleged by prosecutors, per Complex's Shawn Setaro—coercion and force allegedly at the center of their continuation.

Deeper into the trial, a male escort known as “The Punisher,” himself a reality TV alum, took the stand and gave his own accounts of what allegedly transpired during these “freak-offs.” Per Punisher, whose real name is Sherry Hayes, he was ultimately enlisted for as many as a dozen such sessions.

Speaking with TMZ, Clabots speculated that the allegations against Diddy come down to “a power thing.” As Clabots theorized, the Bad Boy Records founder had already achieved wealth and other benchmarks of success, with a speculated hunger for more power at the heart of his accused actions. Clabots was also careful, notably, to point out that some of the sex-focused aspects of Diddy’s alleged behavior is “normal,” albeit not with the caveat of allegedly “plying Cassie with chemicals.”

Diddy's trial continued this week with additional testimony, with Kid Cudi expected to soon take the stand. Diddy has denied all allegations against him in the case, the trial for which is slated to span about eight weeks.