July 23, 2025

090: SHAWN SETARO [COMPLEX] - Unpacking the DIDDY Trial

1 hour 57 minutes

Episode 090 taps in with renowned hip-hop culture journalist SHAWN SETARO who recently spent 2 WILD Manhattan months courtside at the Sean "DIDDY" Combs trial reporting daily for COMPLEX. Definitely some different topical topography juxtaposed to the norm for this program. Please rest assured, this is a serious conversation; an insightful, illuminating, sobering look into the lengthy legal proceedings & celebrity circus surrounding this salacious sordid saga, and a sad, scary, depraved drug-addled cuck at the center of the chaos he created.

0:00 - episode 090 preview

3:15- Sponsor: AARON SCHWARTZ ART- LETT US PLAY

6:30 - The Upful Update

11:00 - introducing SHAWN SETARO

15:15 - Trigger Warning - SA/DV

16:45 - INTERVIEW - Shawn Talks DIDDY Trial [85 min]

1:42:15 - Afterglow x ViBE Junkie JAMZ

Sean "Diddy" Combs fka "Puff Daddy" - founder of Bad Boy Records, Sean John clothing, and resident pop-culture megalomaniac - was involved in a high-profile federal criminal case where he faced charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. His former partner Cassie Ventura, once an artist on his label, was the star witness for the prosecution. After a seven-week trial, a jury found him guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted him of the sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.

BIO: Currently a freelance journalist after many years on staff with Complex, Shawn Setaro has written for The Atlantic, Vibe, GQ, and Forbes, and is the writer and reporter on the Spotify/Complex podcasts 'Infamous' and 'Complex Subject.' Prior to Complex, Setaro worked for Genius.com and hosted The Cipher, a podcast featuring interviews with 250 legendary figures in hip-hop. Dummy Boy: Tekashi 6ix9ine and The Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods was his first book. Shawn first appeared on The Upful LIFE Podcast episode 052, in Dec. 2021.

Shawn Setaro - author page COMPLEX

German article Shawn references/gets quoted

THE CIPHER SHOW pod archives!

Complex Subject: Pop Smoke [Shawn Setaro hosted pod series]

Dummy Boy: Tekashi 6ix9ine and The Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods by Shawn Setaro [Complex Presents]

Shawn Setaro on Grammy.com

Shawn Setaro IG

Vibe Junkie JAMZ

"24 Hrs. to Live"

Mase ft. The Lox, Black Rob & DMX

“The Last Huzzah (Remix)”

Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire ft. Despot, Das Racist, Danny Brown, EL-P