An exotic dancer who was paid to have ‘freak offs’ with Diddy and ex Cassie Ventura said he was near tears when he saw the disgraced mogul’s children plea for their father’s life.
Sharay Hayes was back in court on Friday for the Bad Boy rapper’s sentencing at New York federal court, but this time as an observer.
Hayes, known for his performer name ‘The Punisher’, told the Daily Mail he wanted to be in the audience for his own ‘closure’ after being thrust into the spotlight after he testified in May.
Hayes, 51, described during his testimony how he was paid around $2,000 to take part in a dozen ‘freak offs’ from 2012 onwards with Ventura and Combs.
On Friday, Hayes said watching Combs’ adult children, especially daughters Chance, Jesse and D’Lila, sob in front of the judge moved him.
‘Hey, look, I’m a grown, tough guy named ‘The Punisher’ and even I was about to ask for some tissue,’ Hayes said. ‘It was, very, very hard. Felt very heart wrenching. It’s very eye opening and it’s making me look at this situation from a different lens.’
Sharay Hayes, aka ‘The Punisher’, attended Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ sentencing on Friday holding his book, In Search of Freezer Meat, where he details his ‘freak off’ experience with the rapper and his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura
Hayes said he was moved when he heard Combs daughters Jesse, Chance and D’Lila provided their statements begging the judge for mercy for their father
Combs was facing up to 20 years behind bars for two lesser charges of transportation for prostitution, but was acquitted of the more significant counts of racketeering and two sex-trafficking counts.
The prosecution asked the judge for a sentence of at least 11 years. Combs’ defense attorneys, however, argued the Bad Boy mogul should be released with time served.
An emotional Diddy addressed Judge Arun Subramanian and said he was ‘broken to his core’ and begged for mercy.
‘I understand the severity of it and I’m having to deal with the consequences,’ Combs said. ‘I take full accountability and responsibility.
‘I know that the prosecution wants you to make an example of me. I want you to think about making an example of what a person can do if they get another chance.’
After nearly 8 hours listening to both sides, Subramanian handed down a sentence of 50 months and slapped the disgraced music mogul with a fine of $500,000.
Combs also will be under five years of supervised release after he is released from federal prison.
‘Why did it happen so long? Because you had the power and the resources to keep it going and because you weren’t caught,’ Subramanian said to Combs.
‘You were no John. You were more than that. Even if you currency was satisfying your sexual desires more than money, but the coercion was the same, if not worse.’
Combs was arrested in Sept. 16 2024 months after a 2016 video of him brutally attacking Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel was released by CNN
Before Combs learned his fate, Hayes said defense attorney Jason Driscoll did a ‘very good job’ comparing Comb’s case to other Mann Act convictions and why the rapper should be sentenced to a lower term.
‘I understand the law, and everything depends on precedence,’ the dancer said. ‘Driscoll was able to rip the prosecution’s argument apart because all of the people that the prosecution used as examples had multiple offense and profited from their crimes.
‘He [Driscoll] pulled up cases of people that was similar to Combs’ case, and they were getting 12 months and a day, maybe 6 months. Even the people who got 27 months were convicted of having sex with minors.
‘How does somebody commit prostitution with a minor and get 24 months, but the prosecution is asking for 11 years? It’s such an excessive disparity.’
Hayes walked into the courthouse carrying his book, In Search of Freezer Meat, which explores the topic of erectile dysfunction.
Although he didn’t name the couple in his now best-selling book, Hayes includes a six-page description of his sordid encounters with the hip-hop mogul and Ventura.
Hayes had told the Daily Mail he initially didn’t know the man who paid him was Combs because Diddy would wear a black burka that covered his face. He also said he didn’t know his trysts with the couple were recorded until he heard Ventura’s testimony.
Hayes testified he was paid around $2,000 to take part in a dozen ‘freak offs’ from 2012 onwards with Ventura and Combs. He is pictured above
Hayes said while he thinks the sentence the prosecution asked for was an overreach, he also thought about Ventura and the other victims.
‘I don’t want to invalidate anything the victims I went through, and I have been thinking of Cassie,’ he said ‘This this is a man who did terrible things.
‘But the world is so harsh because everybody thinks his remorse is not real. This guy’s life — his fall from grace — is a devastating circumstance. I have a ton of empathy, and I actually feel very sorry for the guy.’
Hayes said the time Combs has already spent in jail and the public embarrassment were enough.
‘I believe there’s a genuine remorse,’ Hayes said of Combs.
When asked about his reaction when prosecutors alleged Diddy had an event booked this weekend under the belief that he would walk out of court on Friday, Hayes said, ‘I’m not even mad at him. You’ve got to project what you want to happen in life, and he’s the master of that.’
Diddy looked visibly distraught as he watched his children address the judge in court during his sentencing on Friday
Hayes said since he testified, he finally had time to process about participating in one of the biggest cases in the country.
‘I was kind of like hiding in the house and wasn’t coming outside,’ he said. ‘Although I’ve done a bunch of interviews to try to create a different narrative about myself, I think subconsciously I just felt like, “Man, I’m in the middle of all this stuff.” It wasn’t easy.
‘But coming out here in public, and I have to say, the majority of people are responding to me positively. There are some people that you know, turn their face up at me when they see me, or whatever. It is what it is.
‘But I think I needed to just experience this head on because it is coming to a place of closure for myself. ‘
