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Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Maui head cop accused of helping cover up alleged gang rape by Diddy, Odell Beckham Jr., Druski: lawsuit

 Maui’s police chief has been accused in a bombshell court filing of helping to cover up a gang rape allegedly carried out by Sean “Diddy” Combs, NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. and comedian Druski.

Police chief John Pelletier is accused of trying to conceal the violent attack on one of Combs’ accusers, Ashley Parham, after it was reported in 2018, according to an amended lawsuit filed in Northern California federal court.

The police chief and the celebrities accused of carrying out the attack have all strenuously denied the allegations.

Maui Chief of Police John Pelletier is accused of engaging in a Diddy cover up when he was a Las Vegas police captain.REUTERS

Then a police captain in Las Vegas, Pelletier is accused of posing as a Contra Costa sheriff’s deputy when he responded to a 911 call about the alleged sexual attack at a home in Orinda, Calif, the court papers charge.

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The accuser claims a neighbor — who she believed at the time was a good Samaritan — called cops after she fled the home in the wake of the alleged gang rape.

“Pelletier, falsely posing as a Contra Costa Sheriff, told [the alleged victim] and the neighbor that they had received several noise complaints prior to the neighbor’s call and instructed [Parham] to find a way to get home,” the filing states.

Pelletier allegedly didn’t offer to take the woman home, call an ambulance, take her to the hospital or help retrieve her belongings from the home she’d just fled, according to the suit.

The accuser alleges seeing the top cop hand what appeared to be an envelope to the neighbor.

“The neighbor went to a nearby room and quickly returned empty-handed,” the filing states, adding the alleged victim “believes the envelope contained cash.”

The cop has been accused of helping to cover up an alleged gang rape by Sean “Diddy” Combs and others.Getty Images for Sean "Diddy" Combs

Parham’s initial lawsuit detailing the alleged assault, which was first filed last October, didn’t identify Pelletier by name. The initial suit also didn’t name Beckham Jr. or Druski.

Pelletier, Beckham Jr. and Druski have all strenuously denied the allegations now in the amended filing.

“We are confident that the evidence will demonstrate these claims to be false and will expose those who are deliberately trying to manipulate the legal system to spread misleading narratives,” a spokesperson for Pelletier said.

The attack was carried out with NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. and comedian Druski, the lawsuit claims.Getty Images

The initial suit claimed Combs threatened her with a knife and used a TV remote to rape the alleged victim in an apparent revenge attack after the woman had suggested a month earlier that the disgraced music mogul was involved in Tupac Shakur’s murder.

She alleges in the suit that a handful of other men then took turns raping her.

The attackers allegedly referred to Beckham as “Cornelius,” the amended lawsuit states, noting the 32-year-old athlete’s middle name is Cornelious.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ attends a hearing in federal court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., October 10, 2024 in this courtroom sketch.REUTERS

“[The alleged victim] has come to discover the Defendant Doe Cornelius who raped her was Defendant Odell,” the lawsuit alleges.

Beckham said in a statement on X late Tuesday that he couldn’t “even believe that my name is mentioned in that matter.”

“There is absolutely no truth to those allegations,” he stated firmly. “I do not know and have never met the person that filed the suit.”

Combs is being held without bail in federal custody in Brooklyn ahead of his trial in May.ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA

“I have never done anything like that, and I would never do anything like that to anyone,” he added. “I’m confident that these ridiculous claims against me will be dismissed.”

Elsewhere, Druski, whose real name is Drew Desbordes, is accused of putting oil on Parham’s naked body before “treating it like a slip and slide and knocking the wind out of [Parham] due to his enormous size,” the filing claims.

Druski then stopped himself from falling off the bed and allegedly raped Parham, the papers state.

Druski called it a “fabricated lie.”

“I wasn’t even a public figure in 2018 – I was broke living with my mom without any connections to the entertainment industry at the time of this allegation, so the inclusion of my name is truly outlandish,” he wrote on X.

“My heart breaks for actual victims of abuse, but I’m fully confident that the evidence will expose this falsehood and the individuals who are maliciously trying to game the legal system to peddle false narratives.”

The Bad Boy Records founder was slapped with federal sex trafficking charges last September.London Entertainment /Splash

Combs, for his part, has long denied the numerous claims leveled against him.

“This new complaint — brought by an attorney who has already been sued for defaming Mr. Combs — demonstrates the depraved lengths plaintiffs will travel to garner headlines in pursuit of a payday,” the rapper’s attorneys said in the wake of the amended suit.

“Mr Combs was nowhere near Orinda, California on the day Ms Parham claims she was assaulted there, and the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department has already confirmed Ms Parham’s claims were determined to be unfounded following a thorough investigation.”

“In an attempt to salvage her claims following the investigation debunking them, Ms Parham has now invented an even wilder narrative, alleging a vast [and facially implausible] conspiracy between law enforcement, local civilians, and media industry players,” the attorneys added.

“Mr Combs looks forward to having his day in court where these lies — and the perverse motives of those who told them — will be revealed.”

The Bad Boy Records founder was slapped with federal sex trafficking charges last September.

Since his arrest, a flurry of civil lawsuits have also been filed against the rapper alleging abuse dating back decades.

Combs, who has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, is being held without bail in federal custody in Brooklyn ahead of his trial in May.

https://nypost.com/2025/03/12/us-news/police-chief-accused-of-helping-cover-up-gang-rape-allegedly-carried-out-by-sean-diddy-combs-odell-beckham-jr-and-comedian-druski-lawsuit/

Zynex Cuts Workforce After Tricare Payment Suspension Hits Revenue

 Zynex (NASDAQ: ZYXI) reported its Q4 and full-year 2024 financial results, showing mixed performance. Full-year 2024 highlights include a 4% revenue increase to $192.4 million, net income of $3.0 million (EPS $0.09), and operating cash flow of $12.7 million.

However, Q4 2024 showed challenges with revenue declining to $46.0 million from $47.3 million year-over-year, resulting in a net loss of ($0.6) million. A significant development is Tricare's temporary payment suspension, affecting 20-25% of annual revenue. In response, Zynex is implementing a 15% staff reduction and other cost-cutting measures, expected to save approximately $35 million annually.

The company received FDA clearance for its new TensWave device and completed positive clinical trials for the NiCO laser pulse oximeter at Duke University. For Q1 2025, Zynex projects revenue of at least $30 million with an expected loss per share of ($0.30) or better.

https://www.stocktitan.net/news/ZYXI/zynex-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2024-financial-mborybvlm406.html

OptimizeRx Corporation Confirms Receipt of Notice of Director Nominations

 OptimizeRx (Nasdaq: OPRX), a leading provider of healthcare technology solutions for life sciences companies, has confirmed receiving a notice of nominations from stockholder Whetstone Capital Advisors, . The notice indicates Whetstone's intention to nominate two candidates for election to the OptimizeRx Board of Directors at the company's 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

The OptimizeRx Board will review the nominations and provide their formal recommendation in the upcoming definitive proxy statement, which will be filed with the SEC and distributed to eligible voting stockholders. The company emphasized that no stockholder action is currently required, and the 2025 Annual Meeting date has not yet been scheduled.

https://www.stocktitan.net/news/OPRX/optimize-rx-corporation-confirms-receipt-of-notice-of-director-sn14cjzk00jp.html

Gilead, GSK-ViiV Move Ahead With Long-Acting HIV Options Following Early-Stage Readouts

 

Gilead plans to go straight to Phase III studies for once-yearly lenacapavir, while GSK and Viiv will push forward with their long-acting antivirals after touting positive early-stage results.

Long-acting HIV therapies took center stage at the ongoing 2025 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in San Francsico, with Gilead and GSK and development partner ViiV Healthcare touting promising data for their respective assets and setting the stage for advanced development.

Gilead debuted Phase I findings for two novel formulations of lenacapavir, which could potentially allow once-yearly injections for the prevention of HIV. Data, published simultaneously in The Lancet, showed that once-yearly pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) led to median plasma lenacapavir concentrations higher than what was needed to show efficacy in Phase III trials that treated patients twice yearly.

A readout from the PURPOSE 1 study, released in June 2024, found that twice-yearly lenacapavir could prevent HIV in 100% of immunized cisgender women, while PURPOSE 2 found a 96% reduction in the risk of HIV in cisgender men, transgender men, transgender women and gender non-binary individuals who have sex with partners assigned male at birth.

On the strength of these Phase I findings, Gilead plans to skip Phase II and go straight to Phase III development for once-year pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with lenacapavir. A study is set to launch later this year.

“Once-yearly lenacapavir, if approved, could become an important new HIV prevention option that could help address PrEP adherence and persistence challenges for individuals who need or want PrEP around the world,” Jared Baeten, Gilead’s Virology Therapeutic Area head, said in a statement.

Also on Tuesday, GSK and ViiV unveiled data for their long-acting antiviral VH499, demonstrating that at its highest investigational dose of 250 mg, the drug candidate elicited a strong reduction in viral load. VH499 was also safe and well-tolerated, with no side effects leading to treatment withdrawal.

GKS and ViiV reported that one patient, who was given a 25-mg dose of VH499, developed a genetic mutation “associated with reduced susceptibility to capsid inhibitors” on day 11, but stated in the announcement that the data, alongside encouraging Phase I results establishing VH499’s efficacy and tolerability, “support further development of VH499 as a potential long-acting antiretroviral for HIV treatment.”

GSK and ViiV also released data for another long-acting antiviral drug, VH184. All doses of the candidate elicited a “marked” reduction in HIV-1 viral load after 10 days of monotherapy. There were no resistance mutations detected.

https://www.biospace.com/drug-development/gilead-gsk-viiv-move-ahead-with-long-acting-hiv-options-following-early-stage-readouts

OPEC+ Oil Production Surges as Kazakhstan Further Breaches Quota

 


OPEC+ crude production surged last month as Kazakhstan, which has long flouted the cartel’s output quotas, further breached its agreed limit.

The alliance’s output climbed by 363,000 barrels a day to just over 41 million barrels a day in February, according to a report from OPEC’s secretariat on Wednesday, preempting the group’s supply revival by two months.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-12/opec-oil-production-surges-as-kazakhstan-further-breaches-quota

Core Consumer Price Inflation Slowest In 4 Years As Energy Costs Tumble

With four times as many data points skewing towards higher February consumer prices than lower ones, whisper numbers into this morning's CPI print (expected to rise 0.3% MoM) were to the upside. However, headline and core CPI both printed below expectations (+0.2% MoM) which dragged the headline CPI down to +2.8% YoY...

Source: Bloomberg

CPI Highlights:

  • The index for shelter rose 0.3 percent in February, accounting for nearly half of the monthly all items increase. The shelter increase was partially offset by a 4.0-percent decrease in the index for airline fares and a 1.0-percent decline in the index for gasoline.

  • Despite the decrease in the gasoline index, the energy index rose 0.2 percent over the month as the indexes for electricity and natural gas increased. The index for food also increased in February, rising 0.2 percent as the index for food away from home increased 0.4 percent. The food at home index was unchanged over the month.

  • The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2% in February, following a 0.4% increase in January. Indexes that increased over the month include medical care, used cars and trucks, household furnishings and operations, recreation, apparel, and personal care. The indexes for airline fares and new vehicles were among the few major indexes that decreased in February.

The miss also pulled Core CPI YoY down to +3.1% - its lowest since April 2021

Source: Bloomberg

Core CPI Details:

  • The shelter index increased 0.3 percent over the month.

    • The index for owners’ equivalent rent rose 0.3 percent in February, as did the index for rent.

    • The lodging away from home index increased 0.2 percent in February.

  • The medical care index increased 0.3 percent over the month. The index for physicians’ services increased 0.4 percent in February and the index for hospital services rose 0.1 percent over the month.

    • The prescription drugs index was unchanged in February

  • The used cars and trucks index rose 0.9 percent in February.

  • The index for new vehicles also declined over the month, falling 0.1 percent.

  • The index for household furnishings and operations rose 0.4 percent over the month and the index for recreation increased 0.3 percent.

  • Other indexes that increased in February include apparel, personal care, and motor vehicle insurance. In contrast, the index for airline fares fell 4.0 percent in February, after rising 1.2 percent in January.

Goods 'inflation' is basically negligible currently while Services cost inflation is continuing to fall rapidly...

Source: Bloomberg

Energy and Transportation costs are tumbling (Drill baby drill?)

    The so-called SuperCore CPI (Services ex-Shelter) also fell to its slowest rate since Oct 2023...

    Source: Bloomberg

    So what happens next?

    Is this just the ammo needed to spark a huge short squeeze higher?

    https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/core-consumer-price-inflation-slowest-4-years-energy-costs-tumble