Sharay “The Punisher” Hayes said he was shocked and disturbed by reports that a sex tape possibly featuring him was shown to the jury in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial..
In a revealing interview on NewsNation’s Banfield, the exotic dancer explained that he learned of the possible tape appearance less than 24 hours earlier, after receiving a follow-up call from a news outlet. Earlier this week, Diddy’s defense team showed multiple and lengthier clips of the “freak-off” parties to the jury.
“I’m still kind of in disbelief,” said Hayes. “There’s that saying of, when it rains, it pours. And, you know, last couple of weeks, you know, starting with your program, I’ve been trying to create a different narrative. You know, the association to the situation is already a black eye and then pretty ugly. And I’ve been doing my best to do some sort of damage control to kind of circumvent the bad decision that I made all those years ago.”
Hayes, who testified about “freak-off” sex parties connected to Diddy, emphasized that he had no idea he was ever being recorded. He claimed his phone was confiscated before anything happened during the parties which made him feel “secure in the moment.”
“I thought precautions were taken to protect everyone’s privacy,” said Hayes. “So I’m really kind of blown away at this possibility that there could be a video of me circulating, and I know it’s supposed to be evidence, right? But somehow these things have a way of ending up in the public so, you know, I’m just hoping there’s just not another layer of damage control that I’m faced with.”
Hayes, who has been attempting to shift public perception since first speaking out about his experiences, also expressed frustration at being left in the dark, saying he had no idea the tapes would be played for the jury in the trial.
“There was no conversation or indication whatsoever that there was video associated with me and my participation with any of this,” Hayes added. “So this is all news to me. It’s my first time hearing anything like this. I’m also curious. I’m not even sure if the prosecution presented these tapes,where they came from, whatsoever. I’m just, I don’t know. Man, this is, there’s already been a lot to manage, so I’m just hoping that this doesn’t take on a new challenge for me.”
Hayes then revealed he would be reaching out to the attorney that was appointed to him by the prosecution to get information on the tape and its contents.
“I do plan on emailing him early tomorrow and hopefully getting some sort of clarity to the possibility of this tape I know, and none of my preparations and with the prosecution was anything mentioned to me that there was video of me,” he said. “So this whole scenario just coming out of the blue the way it is. It’s just, I’m just utterly shocked.”
