Crime

Suge Knight says he talked to Capricorn Clark after Diddy allegedly threatened to kill her over her ties to Death Row Records ... and he tells us Capricorn absolutely thought Diddy would follow through.

The former Death Row Records owner joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and we asked him about some of Clark's explosive testimony in the Diddy criminal trial.

Clark -- who worked for Diddy as an assistant and in other roles -- told the jury Diddy took her to Central Park on her first day of work and threatened to kill her because she used to work for his rival, Suge.

The "Crypto King of Kentucky" suspected of torturing a man for weeks inside a lavish multimillion-dollar townhouse hosted extravagant parties there ... and it seems he didn't raise any red flags when landing the swanky SoHo rental, TMZ has learned.

Here's the deal ... John Woeltz and William Duplessie are currently in custody for allegedly torturing Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan to get access to his crypto fortune ... until the Italian citizen finally made his escape and told police everything.

Multiple sources with knowledge tell TMZ … Woeltz started living in the Manhattan townhouse on March 17 … with a rent amount of $75K - $90K a month.

The moment a Bitcoin trader finally escaped his alleged crypto hellscape was caught on surveillance -- and the footage is just as dramatic as it sounds.

In video obtained by NBC New York, Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan can be seen in a casual top and shorts, sprinting barefoot up to an NYPD traffic cop Friday afternoon … clearly distressed, clearly desperate, and looking like he just lived through a straight-up nightmare.

Cops say Carturan was allegedly held captive for nearly 3 weeks inside a SoHo townhouse by two ex-business partners, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, who allegedly shocked him with wires, pistol-whipped him, dangled him over a ledge, and even allegedly urinated on him -- all while trying to force him to cough up the password to his crypto fortune.

William Duplessie just took his walk of shame -- getting perp-walked by NYPD outside a police station Tuesday in connection to one of the wildest crypto horror stories we’ve seen.

TMZ’s got the video ... the Swiss businessman looked dead serious and totally ignored the flood of media questions about his alleged role in the twisted SoHo torture plot as he was led to the car and got in.

Duplessie turned himself in to the NYPD Major Crimes Unit hours earlier -- becoming the second suspect in the alleged weeks-long abduction and torture of crypto investor Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan.

Capricorn Clark, a former Diddy employee, continued her testimony in the disgraced rap mogul's federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial Tuesday, revealing more details about Diddy's discovery of the relationship between Cassie and Kid Cudi ... including a menacing threat.

Clark said Cassie would sometimes stay with her at her apartment in L.A., and she said Cassie once brought Kid Cudi there. She described a text about Cudi she says she got from Cassie, and she told Cassie to delete the text because Diddy was paying for both their phones. She said she took Cassie to get a "burner" phone.

Clark testified early on the morning of December 22, 2011, Diddy was outside banging on her front door ... she says she opened the door to find him holding a gun, and asking her, "Why didn't you tell me? Who is Scott?" Kid Cudi's legal name is Scott Mescudi. She said she didn't know anyone named Scott.

Diddy’s legal team is gunning to blow up a major moment from Kid Cudi’s testimony -- asking the judge to strike everything about the disgraced rapper’s Porsche firebombing … claiming it’s all based on suspicion, not proof.

TMZ has obtained the legal docs filed in Diddy’s criminal case -- where his lawyers argue Cudi’s claims about Diddy’s alleged involvement in his 2012 car explosion are nothing but opinion and shouldn’t be allowed in court. In short ... they’re saying Cudi thinks Diddy did it, but there’s no hard evidence, no confession, no receipts.

As we reported, KC told the court last week he 'knew' Diddy had something to do with the Molotov cocktail attack on his Porsche after ending things with Cassie -- but admitted there were no witnesses, fingerprints, or proof linking Diddy to the arson.

The man suspected of kidnapping and torturing an Italian man over a crypto dispute suffered his own indignity when he was arrested -- his bathrobe came undone.

Photographer and street vendor Ciaran Tully was minding his own business Friday when John Woeltz was removed from his fancy NYC apartment wearing only a robe.

As he was escorted down the stairs, Tully says his robe came undone, so cops spared him the embarrassment and bundled him back up.

5/27/2025 8:00 AM PT -- Chad Reeves' attorney, Glen Jonas, tells TMZ ... "Jamie Grenfell has a 2002 conviction for Felony Perjury relating to an investigation in which he was also convicted for making a false police report in connection with an attempted Insurance Fraud.  Three weeks before trial he filed a verified statement under penalty of perjury in his underlying lawsuit against the Dodgers denying the conviction.  He literally committed perjury about his prior perjury! Meanwhile Lillian Grenfell told a ridiculous story at trial to falsely excuse the fact that she was choking Lindsay Hopkin which forced Mr. Hopkin to defend against a combined attack by the Grenfells.

The Grenfells are bottom feeders that manipulated public with a viral video that was misleading.  This is par for the course for the Grenfells, they have a history of distortion, lies and manipulating the justice system for financial gain.  Here they started a fight, lost and now are trying to turn the melee into a pay out by the Dodgers with their bogus lawsuit. The prosecution's case at trial was not credible and everyone in that courtroom is now dumber for having witnessed it."

Two men have been acquitted of felony battery charges in connection with a parking lot fight after an Elton John concert at Dodger Stadium.

Reece Hopkin and Chad Reeves were each charged in 2023 with one count of battery with serious bodily injury for their alleged roles in a 2022 fight that broke out after the first of Elton's three concerts at Chavez Ravine. Hopkin was also charged with felony vandalism for allegedly damaging a phone someone was using to record the incident.

A Los Angeles jury on Thursday voted to acquit the men on all charges ... according to Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.

Rapper Skilla Baby has been hospitalized after he was injured in a drive-by shooting ... which police are calling a "targeted attempt on his life."

Edward French, the lead investigator on the case for the Redford Township Police Department in Michigan, tells TMZ ... Skilla Baby -- whose real name is Trevon Gardner -- was driving alone in the 8 Mile and Beech Daly area of Detroit around 7 PM Thursday night.

French says the suspect's car pulled up alongside Skilla's vehicle and fired roughly 25 rounds ... causing the rapper to swerve off the road and crash into a commercial building. The impact left significant damage, creating a large hole that had to be boarded up.

Shutterbugs beware ... don’t snap a picture of this fashionable woman, because police say she might just stab you in NYC.

The NYPD recently released photos and a video of the dolled-up beauty walking along the street in Manhattan’s West Village.

What do the cops say she did wrong on the afternoon of May 5?

Diddy's defense team just entered a bunch of glamour shots of Cassie as evidence in the criminal trial ... and their point is her career wasn't hurt by the Diddy freak-offs, as Cassie and prosecutors have claimed.

Check out the photos ... Cassie's all glammed up doing photo shoots, working on music videos, going to events and rubbing elbows with major celebrities.

Diddy's defense is using the photos to rebut prosecutor's claims and some of Cassie's testimony ... where she said she spent all her time doing freak-offs and recovering from the sex romps that her career was stifled.

The second week of testimony in the Diddy trial is in the books ... and prosecutors continued to try and prove their racketeering case against Diddy, with the help of Kid Cudi.

Cudi took the stand Thursday and told the jury about a couple incidents from his 2011-12 love triangle with Cassie and Diddy ... including a break-in at his home and a Molotov cocktail dropped in his Porsche.

Kid Cudi said Diddy broke into his home and rummaged through his Christmas gifts after finding out he was dating Cassie ... and he said he was convinced Diddy had something to do with his Porsche getting torched too.

Todd and Julie Chrisley are still locked up ... but, reality television producers are working around that -- 'cause they're going to have a small part in their family's upcoming show.

The Chrisley family's new reality show -- a still untitled project -- was announced by Lifetime yesterday, with a release scheduled for later this year. The show will follow the family as they struggle to navigate life while Todd and Julie remain locked up for many years to come.

However, don't think this means Todd and Julie won't make an appearance on the show ... 'cause production sources tell us phone calls they make from prison will air on the series.

Suge Knight has no doubt Diddy would have shot at him if Diddy tracked him down at a famous restaurant in L.A. ... but his story will never be heard at Diddy's trial, even though it feels pretty important to the prosecution's case.

The former Death Row Records owner tells TMZ ... his rivalry with Diddy was so bad back in the day, Diddy would have had no choice but to use a gun if their paths ever crossed in public.

That almost happened back in 2008 at Mel's Drive-In ... because Diddy's former personal assistant testified this week he went to the famous diner to get cheeseburgers for Diddy, and bumped into Suge.

Joe Exotic and his husband Jorge Marquez Flores are speaking out for the first time following the latter's deportation from America Saturday ... and they both confirm their final goodbye was "pretty emotional."

The "Tiger King" star and his better half tell TMZ they knew the day they'd be ripped apart was coming -- so they made sure to treat every day like it was their last.

Jorge -- who spoke to TMZ from a friend's house in Mexico -- gave a glimpse into their last weeks together, recalling their frequent trips to the library and gym ... even noting they bonded as they worked on their English and Spanish skills together.

Nicole Brown Simpson's sister is making a bunch of comparisons between the trials of O.J. Simpson and Diddy ... and she sees a lot of similarities between her sister and Cassie.

Tanya Brown says the Diddy trial feels a lot like O.J.'s "Trial of the Century" ... mainly because of abuse allegations and the power dynamics of both couples.

Cassie gave four days of intense testimony last week in Diddy's federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial in NYC, and Tanya says folks following the case should not be quick to judge Cassie because they haven't walked in her shoes.