Diddy's life is full of dark truths. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at dark truths about the life of Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs, from his childhood to his recent legal troubles.
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00:00The federal indictment against Combs reveals graphic details of so-called freak-offs.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at dark truths about the life of Sean P. Diddy Combs,
00:11from his childhood to his recent legal troubles.
00:14Do you believe Diddy is a dangerous person?
00:17Yes.
00:17How his father died.
00:19Raised by his mother Janice, Diddy barely knew his father Melvin Earl Combs, a US Air Force veteran.
00:25My father's name is Melvin Combs.
00:27Like I said, he was a very stylish dresser.
00:30The ladies loved him.
00:31His whole everything was real meticulous.
00:33Diddy's mom led him to believe that his dad died in a car crash around his third birthday.
00:38As Diddy grew up, though, he noticed that the name Combs had a reputation on the streets of Harlem.
00:43Doing his own research, Diddy realized that his father was a drug dealer,
00:47working for the infamous crime lord Frank Lucas.
00:50Half of what Janice told her son was true.
00:53Melvin did die in a car, but it wasn't an accident.
00:56Diddy's father was reportedly gunned down in his vehicle when a deal went south.
01:00So my first time in college, I did the research.
01:04Janice concealed the truth, fearing her son may follow the same criminal path.
01:08It was like a sigh of relief, you know what I'm saying?
01:10Because I finally knew that what I was feeling was true, you know what I'm saying?
01:13That I was a son of a hustler, a gangster.
01:15Growing up in poverty, Janice Combs worked multiple jobs to provide for her son and daughter,
01:21living in a New York public housing development.
01:23My mother was, I guess, raising me for the real world.
01:26She was always telling me if somebody hit me, make sure I hit them back harder.
01:29According to Diddy, money was so tight that when he asked for a new pair of sneakers,
01:33his mom was practically moved to tears.
01:36His family's financial struggles became especially apparent one night while his aunt was babysitting.
01:41Diddy claims that he woke up with roaches covering his face.
01:44People were like, how do you know it was 15?
01:45I was like, if you had 15 roaches on your face,
01:48you would know that it was around 15 roaches on your face.
01:51At this exact moment, Diddy decided to pursue a better life for his family.
01:55Diddy fulfilled his life goal, becoming one of music's most lucrative names.
02:04By 2022, Diddy's net worth reached an estimated $1 billion.
02:09Within the next two years, Diddy's rags-to-riches story took an unexpected turn,
02:14with his living conditions becoming less than ideal again.
02:16The music mogul who once traveled by private jet to all those mansions
02:21is now in a jail that is notorious for its bad living conditions.
02:25His ties to the City College stampede.
02:27In December 1991, Diddy helped organize a fundraising basketball game at the City
02:32College of New York Gymnasium.
02:34I always like seeing people entertained and seeing people have a good time.
02:37And I thought, you know, over the holidays,
02:39I just wanted to throw a celebrity basketball game in Harlem where I'm from.
02:44Heavy D and Boyz II Men were just some other performers in attendance.
02:48Although the gym could only hold around 2,700, an estimated 5,000 showed up.
02:53We open up the doors, everybody starts flowing through, but then thousands more come.
02:58People started to force their way in as fights broke out and attendees were trampled over.
03:03In the deadliest case, one group became trapped between the walls and the doors
03:07near the bottom of the stairs for 15 soul-crushing minutes.
03:10Nine lost their lives and almost 30 others endured injuries.
03:14It was just definitely like the worst day of my life.
03:17While several lawsuits were filed, no criminal charges were pursued.
03:21Jason Swain, who lost his brother in the stampede,
03:24called it, quote, karma as Diddy's legal issues escalated in 2024.
03:29Sean John and sweatshop labor.
03:31Beyond music, Diddy built up his brand through numerous business ventures.
03:35In 1998, he launched Sean John, a fashion and lifestyle company.
03:39Diddy, the new collection is great.
03:41You can call me Sean, Harold.
03:42Okay, Sean.
03:44Matter of fact, you can call me Sean John.
03:46Five years later, Sean John was accused of using a Honduran sweatshop,
03:50subjecting workers to inhumane conditions.
03:53These included supplying tainted beverages, lengthy hours without overtime pay,
03:57and non-negotiable body searches.
04:00Women were also required to take pregnancy tests and would be fired if positive.
04:05Reported wages ranged from 15 cents to 24 cents per article of clothing sewn.
04:09Designer.
04:10Don't stop now, baby.
04:11This controversy did little to hurt Sean John's image.
04:14It even won CFDA's menswear designer of the year award the following year.
04:19This has been a partnership of over 13 years that is constantly and still evolving.
04:25The brand made hundreds of millions over the decades.
04:28Although in 2023, Macy's announced they'd be phasing out the Sean John line.
04:33A pattern of infidelity.
04:35Diddy's on-and-off relationship with actress-slash-model Kim Porter lasted almost 13 years.
04:40She would not give any interviews.
04:43She would not want to sully the name of the father of her children.
04:45The two had four children, including twin girls born in 2006.
04:49We're about to have a little tea party later.
04:51Around this time, Diddy fathered another daughter with Sarah Chapman.
04:55In the wake of this revelation, Porter ended things with Diddy for good.
04:59It wasn't the first or last time Diddy was suspected of infidelity.
05:03After almost two years together,
05:05Jennifer Lopez broke up with Diddy, certain he was cheating on her.
05:08I had broken up with somebody.
05:09Who?
05:10I don't wanna, I don't wanna say.
05:11Do we know the person?
05:13Maybe.
05:13While she never caught him in the act, Lopez said,
05:16quote,
05:16It was the first time I was with someone who wasn't faithful.
05:19Throughout their 11 years together, Diddy and Cassie both accused each other of having affairs.
05:24Of course, Cassie made even more concerning accusations after they broke up.
05:29The shooting scandal
05:30Speaking of Lopez,
05:31her relationship with Diddy is primarily remembered for the 1999 shooting incident.
05:36It's been like a year and a half.
05:37It was like a year and a half with this.
05:39Two days after Christmas, the couple were seen at a Manhattan club with fellow singer Shine.
05:44Diddy and Shine were accused of entering an altercation with criminal Matthew
05:47Scar-Allen, resulting in gunfire.
05:50Shortly after, Diddy, Shine, Lopez, and bodyguard Anthony Wolf Jones were arrested.
05:55While Lopez was ultimately released,
05:57Diddy and Shine were among those charged.
06:00Although witnesses testified against Diddy, he was acquitted along with Jones.
06:04You know, you got people that you're blessed to have people around you that,
06:07you know, tell you to keep going and hold your head up.
06:09Shine didn't get off so easily, being sentenced to 10 years in prison, serving roughly nine.
06:15He's since turned his life around, becoming a politician in Belize.
06:19Shine forgave Diddy, but he stated in 2024 that the music mogul, quote, destroyed his life.
06:25Let us not lose sight of what the cold hard facts are.
06:29Bad Boy Records is bad record.
06:31Founded by Diddy in 1993, Bad Boy Records has a reputation for mistreating artists,
06:37including Shine.
06:38Don't worry if I write rhymes, I write checks.
06:40Mase and Don Richard accused Bad Boy of withholding royalties.
06:44Former Denny D. Cain singer Don Richard just filed a lawsuit against Diddy.
06:48The latter's lawsuit also alleges that Diddy committed copyright infringement and sexual
06:53assault.
06:54When hip-hop trio The Lox wanted out of their contract, Bad Boy refused to budge.
06:59Their Free The Lox campaign eventually made Bad Boy comply,
07:02although the trio claimed Diddy retained 50% of the publishing rights.
07:06Black Rob felt betrayed by Bad Boy, saying the label, quote, left him for dead.
07:11In a more literal case of left for dead, R&B group 112 says Diddy ditched them in a blizzard.
07:17Whether or not a Bad Boy curse exists, many regret making a deal with Diddy.
07:22Because it's Bad Boy for life.
07:26The Biggie and Tupac Conspiracy Theories
07:28In September 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur was gunned down,
07:32succumbing to his injuries almost a week later.
07:35Shakur was shot four times after leaving the Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas.
07:39While there have been numerous conspiracies surrounding this murder,
07:42L.A. detective Greg Kading accused Diddy of offering gang member Dwayne Keefe D. Davis
07:48$1 million to take out Shakur and manager Suge Knight.
07:51Although Knight survived, Kading theorized that he had the notorious
07:55B.I.G. assassinated six months later in retaliation.
07:58Combs chopped up Kading's claims to, quote, pure fiction.
08:01In 2023, Davis was arrested for Shakur's murder after almost three decades.
08:06They say it was in retaliation for a fight the rapper had with Davis' nephew earlier that night.
08:11Davis previously implicated Diddy in the hit on Shakur and Knight.
08:15According to court documents, Davis made these claims in separate interviews,
08:19including one with Metro Police.
08:21Nevertheless, the Las Vegas police never consider Diddy a serious suspect.
08:26Davis' word alone won't hold up in court, but a shadow of doubt remains.
08:31A history of violence
08:32From threatening business partner Kirk Burroughs with a baseball bat,
08:36to punching Nas' manager Steve Stout,
08:38to assaulting party-goer Gerard Rechnitzer outside a nightclub,
08:41to attacking football coach Sal Alosi,
08:44to sexually harassing former chef Cindy Rueda,
08:46Diddy's history of alleged violence was already infamous by the time
08:50Cassie Ventura filed her 2023 lawsuit.
08:53I felt like I was in the presence of his monster inside.
08:55Yet Ventura's claims and the corroborating video evidence proved
08:58to be the straw that broke the camel's back.
09:01More people soon pursued legal action against Combs.
09:04A few weeks after Combs' arrest in September 2024,
09:07over 100 others joined in new lawsuits asserting abuse.
09:11New allegations involve 120 individuals.
09:14Many of them are being represented by attorney Tony Busby,
09:17who claims that more than 3,000 people have approached him about Diddy's alleged crimes.
09:22The biggest secret in the entertainment industry
09:25that really wasn't a secret at all has finally been revealed.
09:45The parties.
09:46Just as Sean Combs has gone by multiple names,
09:48the same can be said about his parties.
09:51For decades, an invite to one of Sean Diddy Combs' infamous parties
09:55was a ticket to rub shoulders with Hollywood's elite.
09:59They've been called Puffy Parties and Diddy Parties.
10:02Amid Diddy's downfall in 2024,
10:04they came to be publicly known as Freak Off Parties,
10:07allegedly involving sex workers, drugs,
10:10and many bottles of baby oil, among other fluids.
10:13Not everyone who participated in these so-called parties was of age.
10:17I believe the indictment is the tip of the iceberg.
10:19Some would argue that these gatherings weren't parties
10:22so much as they were sex trafficking,
10:23which was among the charges brought against Combs.
10:26Various A-list celebrities have been linked to Combs' parties over the years.
10:30While we may never know everything that occurred behind closed doors,
10:33the guest list paints the parties as the worst kept secret in the industry.
10:37A year ago, Sean Combs stood in Times Square
10:42and was handed a key to New York City.
10:46Today, he's been indicted and will face justice in the Southern District of New York.
10:50Is there a dark truth about Diddy we missed? Let us know in the comments.
10:53We have to create an environment where survivors feel empowered to come forward,
10:57where they are met with empathy and respect.
11:11you