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Monday, April 1, 2024

Diddy wooed Wall Street elite — who praised him as ‘genius’ before sex-traffic probe

Sean “Diddy” Combs aggressively marketed himself to the ultra-rich as he turned his edgy rap glamor into a billion-dollar fortune.

Billionaires told The Post he would cold-email with business proposals, while other Wall Streeters acclaimed him as a “genius” and one CEO of the New York Stock Exchange called him an “inspiration” on a par with the Founding Fathers

But after federal investigators raided his Los Angeles and Miami homes as part of what law enforcement sources have told The Post is a sex-trafficking investigation led by the Southern District of New York, his career as an entrepreneur and investor is in jeopardy. Diddy has denied wrongdoing and called the probe “a witch hunt.”

Diddy was first declared a billionaire by hip-hop wealth expert Zack O’Malley Greenburg in 2022, but had coveted the status for years, telling Forbes in 1999, “I wanted to be very, very rich.”

In 2003, he sent then-owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban an email asking to design the uniforms for the NBA team, Cuban told The Post. They had never, met so the cold email was a bold move.

For Diddy, it was a slam dunk to associate his new clothing brand, Sean John, with a pro sports team.

While Diddy took credit for the design, it was actually Diddy’s top designer who created it and Diddy signed off, Cuban said.

“We were an up-and-coming team at a time when pro sports teams didn’t do anything with entertainment industry people,” Cuban said.

“We never even met … we never did any follow-up or anything beyond that,” Cuban said.

For Diddy — who had gone to Howard University to study business — a single deal with an NBA team gave him credibility that he leveraged for even more dealmaking.

But it was a two-way street: Diddy also used his own cachet — the promise of entry into a world of celebrity — to attract investment for his projects.

The same year as his Mavericks deal, Diddy got Burkle, a serial investor worth an estimated $2.9 billion, according to Forbes, to inject $100 million into his fashion range Sean John.

It was to become Diddy’s longest-standing Wall Street relationship. After it was done, they partied with Michael Jackson — while Sean John became a fixture in Macy’s and Dillards stores.

The next year, the rapper teamed up with Estée Lauder to create multiple fragrances, including one that was named “Unforgivable.”

Here's what we know about the allegations against Sean "Diddy" Combs

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security amid a possible connection with an ongoing sex-trafficking investigation.
Authorities targeted the rapper’s homes to seize phones and computers, sources told The Post.
Combs was spotted outside a Miami airport slowly strolling back and forth Monday just hours after the raids, according to reports.
Brendan Paul, a music producer and basketball player, was arrested on drug charges at a Miami airport while attempting to board Combs’ private jet. Paul has been accused of being a “drug mule” for Combs in a federal lawsuit.
At least four Jane Does and one John Doe have been interviewed by New York prosecutors in connection to sex-trafficking allegations and a RICO case, sources told Rolling Stone.
Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie (Cassandra Ventura) filed a lawsuit against him in November 2023 on several allegations, including rape and physical abuse for over a decade.
Combs and Cassie settled the lawsuit one day after she filed it.
In November 2023, the rapper was accused of drugging, filming and sexually assaulting a woman on a date in 1991.
The lawsuit describes how Combs drove the alleged victim to a music studio “where she could not get out of the car” before taking her “to a place he was staying to sexually assault her.”
A third woman filed a lawsuit against the celebrity in November 2023, claiming that he and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns sexually assaulting her and a friend in the early 1990s.
The woman, listed as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, claimed that a couple of days after the assault, Combs came to the home where she and her friend were staying and violently attacked her.
In December 2023, Combs was hit with a fourth sexual assault lawsuit that accused him and others of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at his NYC recording studio after drugging her and supplying her with alcohol.

The move gave him instant social status. It let him rub shoulders, lucratively, with a New York social dynasty and in turn gave their decades-old brand a fresh, contemporary glamor associated not just with rap music, but his celebrity-packed White Parties in the Hamptons.

The company was thrilled with the partnership and chief operating officer William Lauder said Diddy was a “man who has built a phenomenal reputation as a tastemaker in music, in fashion and in business.”

The Lauder and Macy’s deals were celebrated with Diddy ringing the New York Stock Exchange’s opening bell in 2003, a sign of his power and influence.

Analysts said Diddy was one of the first celebrities to essentially license his name to brands — and companies were able to draw on that to reach a more diverse group of customers.

In 2007, he was approached by the alcohol giant Diageo to become a brand spokesperson for its Cîroc vodka.

But he countered by proposing he become brand manager and chief marketing officer in return for a 50% profit share — and even had the business cards made up for his new role before the deal was done.

The vodka brand agreed. He missed no opportunity to promote it — with the deal paying him nearly $1 billion over the next 15 years and turning Cîroc into a hugely successful brand.

The savvy negotiations led many in Hollywood to respect Diddy’s acumen. “He was a master entrepreneur,” one music business insider — who said the rapper was widely respected in Hollywood as a businessman — told The Post.

“He was a super-intelligent, hardworking guy and a genius at brands … he turned Cîroc into a billion-dollar business.”

When he rang the NYSE bell in 2016 as a representative for Cîroc, then-NYSE president Tom Farley said Diddy was “an inspiration” to him and similar to the Founding Fathers since they were both hustlers.

The comments were written up by Diddy’s own news website Revolt, which often reported favorably on its co-founder.

But the Diageo relationship ended in rancor in 2023 with Diddy accusing the multinational of racism; the case was settled in January with Diageo now sole owner of Cîroc and DeLeón tequila.

In 2015, Diddy again teamed up with Burkle and also with boyband heartthrob-turned-movie star Mark Wahlberg, to buy now-defunct water company AquaHydrate.

Once again, Diddy promoted it energetically, appearing on both coasts with Wahlberg.

At least on paper, Burkle had the longest relationship with Diddy of any of his business partners. He has not commented on the allegations against Diddy.

Earlier this year, Burkle, a one-time close friend of former President Bill Clinton, was linked to another alleged sex trafficker when he was listed in an unsealed court filing naming people associated with the notorious Brian Epstein. There is no suggestion Burkle engaged in wrongdoing.

Diddy also forged a relationship with Ray Dalio, who as well as founding Bridgewater, the world’s largest hedge fund, has a personal net worth of $15.4 billion, according to Forbes, and has become a sought-after guru for his principle of “radical transparency.”

In 2017, at a Forbes gathering for the “100 Greatest Living Business Minds,” Diddy approached Dalio and started peppering him with business questions.

Diddy was a frequent attendee at business events. His celebrity rider included his own drink brands and “a young Thai coconut.”

Dalio tweeted in 2019 that Diddy “asked me to mentor him” and posted a slickly produced video of a “recent mentor session of ours.”

″[H]e’s a real hero,” Dalio said. “And he wants to be a role model and help others.”

“The greatest joy I’m having now is helping other people to be successful, particularly helping people who can help a lot of people. Sean Combs, also known as @Diddy, is one such person,” Dalio posted, boosting Diddy to 1.3 million followers looking for financial wisdom.

In 2021, Diddy teamed up with tech mogul Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, whom Forbes estimates to be worth $10.5 billion, to launch “SHOP CIRCULATE,” a marketplace for black-owned businesses.

That same year, he launched a similar online marketplace, Empower Global.

“Building Black wealth starts with investing in Black-owned businesses and giving entrepreneurs access to the consumers needed to build sustainable companies that can thrive,” Combs said.

He told Billboard magazine last year that he wants to collaborate with Byron Allen, the TV mogul, and billionaire Hollywood director Tyler Perry to create a “black-owned media conglomerate,” although neither struck any deals with him.

After Diddy was accused by his ex Cassie of rape, sex-trafficking and domestic violence last November, and he settled the suit without admitting her claims, brands began distancing themselves.

Macy’s, which still carried his fashion line, said it would stop selling his products. And 18 companies selling products on Empower are reported to have left the platform in recent months.

https://nypost.com/2024/04/01/entertainment/secrets-of-sean-diddy-combs-billionaire-boys-club/

"I Didn't Do That": Biden Reportedly Has No Idea He Issued 'Trans Day Of Visibility' Proclamation

While Democrats have spent the better part of the last six months insisting that President Biden is a well-oiled galaxy brain behind closed doors, the POTUS clearly can't keep up with his marxist handlers.

Point in case, when asked about proclaiming Easter Sunday "trans day of visibility," Biden flat out denied it.

"I didn't do that," said Biden when asked about the proclamation, RealClear Politics' Philip Wegmann reports.

When asked about Speaker Johnson's claim that he had, Biden replied, "he's thoroughly uninformed."

Except, as we all know, that's complete bullshit.

Of course, the biggest takeaway from this is obviously: Who's running the show?

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/i-didnt-do-biden-reportedly-has-no-idea-he-issued-trans-day-visibility-proclamation

Lack of Medicare Coverage for GLP-1 Drugs Tied to Lower Prescription Rates: Study

Medicare policy prohibiting the coverage of GLP-1 receptor agonists for obesity may be driving lower prescription and initiation rates of these therapies in adults aged 65 to 69 years, according to a study preprint from the University of Pennsylvania and healthcare data firm Truveta Research.

Using de-identified health record data from Truveta, the study—published Thursday on the preprint server medRxiv—found nearly 414,000 adults between 60 to 69 years of age who were overweight or obese but without type 2 diabetes and were eligible for GLP-1 RA treatment. However, of these seniors, fewer than 1%--or just over 1,200—were actually prescribed these anti-obesity medications.

Prescription rates were even lower among Medicare-aged patients. In the subgroup of patients aged 65 to 69 years, only 0.24% of eligible patients were prescribed GLP-1 treatments, compared to 0.37% in counterparts who were 60 to 64 years old. The absolute difference of 0.13% was statistically significant, with a p-value less than 0.01, according to the study.

Medicare-aged patients also saw a lower rate of dispensing, with 15.2% filling their prescriptions within 60 days, as opposed to 22.7% in the younger age group.

“These findings suggest that Medicare-aged adults face unique gaps in access, occurring at both the medication prescribing and filling stages,” the researchers wrote, adding that this effect could likely be driven by “a lack of coverage.”

Offering Medicare coverage of GLP-1 receptor agonist anti-obesity medications “has the potential to increase prescribing and initiation substantially,” the researchers argue, while acknowledging that more research needs to be done “to understand tradeoffs between increased prescribing costs and potential reductions” in major adverse cardiovascular events and improvements in quality of life.

The Truveta study comes one week after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that it will cover Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss treatment Wegovy (semaglutide) for its use in reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke and other related cardiovascular problems in patients with pre-existing heart conditions.

However, Medicare will still not cover Wegovy when used for weight loss.

Medicare’s decision to expand its coverage for Wegovy follows an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which predicted that the Department of Health and Human Services will negotiate the prices for semaglutide under the Inflation Reduction Act “within the next few years.”

However, at its current monthly cost of around $1,000 to $1,300, Medicare still cannot sustainably cover GLP-1 treatments, though the negotiations are likely to bring prices down, according to the CBO’s analysis. Generic competition and next-generation weight-loss medications will also likely lower the costs of current anti-obesity drugs, the CBO contends.

The FDA last month expanded Wegovy’s label, allowing the use of the GLP-1 RA in conjunction with diet and exercise to cut cardiovascular risks.

https://www.biospace.com/article/lack-of-medicare-coverage-for-glp-1-drugs-tied-to-lower-prescription-rates-study/

Biogen and Eisai Fall Behind on Leqembi’s Subcutaneous BLA for Alzheimer’s

Biogen and Eisai on Monday announced that they have missed their March 2024 target of filling a Biologics License Application for a subcutaneous formulation of their Alzheimer’s disease therapy Leqembi (lecanemab), being proposed as a weekly maintenance regimen.

The companies initially planned to start a rolling Biologics License Application (BLA) last month under the existing Fast Track and Breakthrough Therapy designations for Leqembi. However, the regulator informed Eisai that they would need a Fast Track designation specifically for the subcutaneous formulation before they can launch their rolling application, according to Monday’s announcement.

Eisai has since submitted a request for the Fast Track designation and is set to receive a verdict within 60 days of its filing. If granted, the partners will launch their rolling BLA.

The companies also announced that they have filed a supplemental BLA (sBLA) proposing a monthly intravenous maintenance dosing schedule for Leqembi. If approved, this maintenance regimen will be available for patients who complete the biweekly intravenous initiation phase, though the exact duration for this is still under discussion with the FDA.

Currently, Leqembi is approved as an intravenous infusion given over approximately one hour, every two weeks, according to its label.

Leqembi’s monthly infusion schedule is designed to sustain effective drug levels in the body, enough to keep the toxic protofibrils at bay. In patients with Alzheimer’s disease, these protofibrils can still trigger neuronal damage and brain injury even amyloid-beta plaques have been removed, according to the companies.

Biogen and Leqembi are supporting the sBLA with modelling data from results of the Phase IIb Study 201 and its open-label extension phase, as well as the Phase III Clarity AD study and its open-label extension.

Leqembi is a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody that works by targeting aggregated soluble and insoluble amyloid-beta plaques. This mode of action helps clear these clumps from the brain, which would otherwise interfere with cognition and give rise to the hallmark symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

Based on data from Study 201, which showed that Leqembi could decrease the levels of amyloid-beta plaques in the brain, the FDA granted Leqembi accelerated approval in January 2023. In July 2023, the regulator converted its nod into a full approval, making Leqembi the first anti-amyloid antibody to earn this distinction.

Leqembi’s traditional approval was based on the Clarity AD, which demonstrated that the biomarker effects observed in Study 201 translated to clinical benefits. Patients treated with Leqembi saw a 27% reduction in clinical decline versus placebo, as defined by the Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes test.

https://www.biospace.com/article/biogen-and-eisai-fall-behind-on-leqembi-s-subcutaneous-bla-for-alzheimer-s/

Bristol Pulls Ahead of Amgen, Aces Confirmatory Phase III NSCLC Trial for Krazati

Bristol Myers Squibb on Thursday released results from the Phase III KRYSTAL-12 study, showing that Krazati (adagrasib) met its primary efficacy endpoint of progression-free survival in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with KRAS G12C mutations.

The pharma did not provide specific data in its announcement but said that when used in the second-line setting or later, Krazati treatment led to “statistically significant and clinically meaningful” improvements in progression-free survival (PFS) versus standard-of-care chemotherapy. The KRAS blocker also elicited a significantly better overall response rate than chemotherapy.

In terms of safety, KRYSTAL-12 found no new signals of concern and Krazati’s adverse event profile was consistent with what had previously been established in prior trials.

Abderrahim Oukessou, global program lead of Krazati at BMS, in a statement called KRYSTAL-12’s findings “an important reinforcement” of the role of Krazati in treating advanced or metastatic KRAS G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

“Topline results of the KRYSTAL-12 confirmatory study will build greater trust in the medical and patient community,” Oukessou said.

BMS is still currently conducting a full analysis of KRYSTAL-12’s data and will share its findings with the scientific community at an upcoming medical congress. The pharma will also submit these data to health authorities.

Originally developed by Mirati, Krazati is a covalent and irreversible inhibitor of the KRAS G12C, locking the mutant protein in its inactive state and blocking its downstream signaling, without negatively affecting the wild-type protein. This mechanism of action allows Krazati to prevent the hyperactive growth of cancer cells without causing damage to healthy cells.

BMS gained access to Krazati in October 2023, when it bought Mirati for $4.8 billion.

Krazati first won the FDA’s approval in December 2022 for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic or locally advanced NSCLC harboring the KRAS G12C mutation, as determined by an FDA-approved test. Krazati is only indicated for patients who have undergone at least one prior line of systemic therapy.

This regulatory victory came via the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway, for which Mirati ran KRYSTAL-12 as a confirmatory study to keep Krazati on the market.

With the data from KRYSTAL-12, BMS now pulls ahead of Amgen which in December 2023 failed to secure the FDA’s full approval for its own KRAS blocker Lumakras (sotorasib). In October 2023, the FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted against the approval of Lumakras, pointing out that the data from the company’s CodeBreaK 200 study could not be reliably interpreted.

In its Complete Response Letter, the FDA noted that Amgen must complete an additional confirmatory study no later than February 2028 to support Lumakras’ full approval.

https://www.biospace.com/article/bms-pulls-ahead-of-amgen-aces-confirmatory-phase-iii-nsclc-trial-for-krazati/

AstraZeneca Gets FDA Approval in Boost to Rare Disease Franchise

AstraZeneca announced Monday that it has secured FDA approval for an add-on to its blockbuster rare disease franchise, providing a potential differentiator as it tries to hold off competition from Novartis, Roche and biosimilars.

The approval covers danicopan, an oral, first-in-class factor D inhibitor that AstraZeneca’s rare disease unit has developed as a treatment for a subset of adults with paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH). The FDA approved the drug as an add-on therapy for AstraZeneca’s Ultomiris (ravulizumab) and Soliris (eculizumab).

Between 10% and 20% of PNH patients experience clinically significant removal of red blood cells outside of the blood vessels, a condition called extravascular haemolysis (EVH), and continued anemia symptoms when taking C5 inhibitors such as Ultomiris and Soliris. People with EVH can require blood transfusions to manage the condition.

Danicopan, which AstraZeneca will market as Voydeya, is designed to reduce the need for transfusions and otherwise improve outcomes in EVH patients. AstraZeneca validated danicopan in a Phase III clinical trial that linked the factor D inhibitor to a statistically significant improvement in hemoglobin levels after 12 weeks. Later, the drug developer showed the improvements persisted through 48 weeks.

Alexion added danicopan to its pipeline when it paid $930 million for Achillion Pharmaceuticals in 2019. Ownership of the drug molecule changed again after AstraZeneca agreed to buy Alexion for $39 billion in 2020.

Buying Alexion gave AstraZeneca a PNH franchise. Alexion had the PNH market largely to itself for years, helping it to turn Soliris and Ultomiris into blockbusters, but the landscape is shifting. Alexion CEO Marc Dunoyer named the introduction of Soliris biosimilars as the main headwind facing the business on an AstraZeneca earnings call in February 2024.

AstraZeneca is working to transition patients from Soliris to Ultomiris to soften the impact of biosimilars on sales. Conversion of Soliris to Ultomiris in PNH is “in the magnitude of 80%,” Dunoyer said. Sales of Soliris fell 16% to $3.1 billion last year, while sales of Ultomiris rose more than 50% to almost $3 billion.

In addition, AstraZeneca faces branded rivals for the PNH market. Apellis brought Empaveli (pegcetacoplan) to market in 2021. Novartis won FDA approval for the factor B inhibitor Fabhalta (iptacopan) late last year after linking it to improved outcomes in patients who had residual anemia, while receiving a stable regimen of an anti-C5 therapy such as Soliris or Ultomiris. Roche has filed for approval of a C5 drug.

https://www.biospace.com/article/astrazeneca-gets-fda-approval-in-boost-to-blockbuster-rare-disease-franchise/

Trump popularity growing among black, latino voters, revived effort to paint him as racist

In a Monday 'exclusive' report, Axios is absolutely beside themselves, writing "Trump allies plot anti-racism protections — for white people" (emphasis ours).

There's a plot afoot!

Trump's Justice Department would push to eliminate or upend programs in government and corporate America that are designed to counter racism that has favored whites.

Does racism still favor whites? Last we checked, white people, particularly white men - who 'toxically mansplain' everything, are the scourge of the universe.

Oh.

Anyhow, Axios has presented quite the narrative; the Trump campaign's longstanding promise to eliminate Biden DEI initatives + efforts by Trump allies to legally combat anti-white racism "with the Supreme Court's turn to the right" = racism.

First, here's what Trump said last year:

"Every institution in America is under attack from this Marxist concept of 'equity,'" adding "I will get this extremism out of the White House, out of the military, out of the Justice Department, and out of our government."

Trump campaign spox Steven Cheung told Axios: "As President Trump has said, all staff, offices, and initiatives connected to Biden's un-American policy will be immediately terminated," adding "President Trump is committed to weeding out discriminatory programs and racist ideology across the federal government."

This is apparently a very bad thing.

Longtime aides and allies preparing for a potential second Trump administration have been laying legal groundwork with a flurry of lawsuits and legal complaints — some of which have been successful.
A central vehicle for the effort has been America First Legal, founded by former Trump aide Stephen Miller, who has called the group conservatives' "long-awaited answer to the ACLU."
America First cited the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in February in a lawsuit against CBS and Paramount Global for what the group argued was discrimination against a white, straight man who was a writer for the show "Seal Team" in 2017. -Axios

Axios then picks what we can assume they consider to be the most racist example - the February filing of a civil rights complaint against the NFL over the "Rooney Rule," which America First says violates "Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and engaging in race and sex discrimination," as the purpose of the 2003 rule was "increas[ing] the number of minorities hired in head coach, general manager, and executive positions," to address "the historically low number of minorities in head coaching positions."

The Rooney Rule has been amended several times since its adoption and now requires teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for head coach and general manager vacancies, at least one external minority for a coordinator job, and at least one minority and/or female candidate for senior level positions, such as club president and senior executives.
Effectively, in the twenty years that the Rooney Rule has been in existence, all it has done – according to minority interviewees for head coaching positions and the former head of the NFL Players Association DeMaurice Smith – is result in member clubs engaging in sham interviews with minority candidates solely to check the Rooney Rule box. Given the limited timeframe to hire executives and coaches after the season, this results in fewer opportunities for similarly situated, well-qualified candidates who are not minorities. -America First Legal

Meanwhile, Axios notes that the Heritage Foundation's "well-funded "Project 2025"" is "preparing for a future Trump Justice Department to implement — or challenge — policies on a broader scale."

Part of the plan, written by former Trump DOJ official and America First's general counsel Gene Hamilton, argues that "advancing the interests of certain segments of American society ... comes at the expense of other Americans — and in nearly all cases violates longstanding federal law."

Efforts to combat anti-white racism have been successful, because of, recall, the Supreme Court's "turn to the right" - so, extra racist.

In 2021, a federal judge blocked a $4 billion program to help Black farmers.
Earlier this month, another federal judge ruled that the Commerce Department's Minority Business Development Agency was discriminating against white people and that the program had to be open to everyone. -Axios

Heaven forbid people be judged by the content of their character.

Who do they think they're fooling? Oh right.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/left-livid-over-trump-ally-efforts-eliminate-anti-white-policies

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Monday, April 1, 2024

Here's what we know about the allegations against Sean "Diddy" Combs