FOR decades, he was the heart and soul of the rap world, a God-like figure in the music industry whose name alone opened doors.
But since last year, Diddy — the man who once bragged he could make anyone a star — has been behind bars.
In October, he was jailed for just over four years for transporting prostitutes across state lines for “freak-off” sex parties at his mansions, but acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.
More than 100 civil cases have been filed alleging sexual assault or related misconduct by Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs. Currently, 77 cases are pending.
Seemingly oblivious to his fate, and apparently cocky enough to believe he would get away with his crimes, in September last year, Diddy, 56, had a videographer follow him around New York while he was under investigation as part of his PR campaign.
Things are happening and I’m going to fight for my life. I am going to fight for justice. Not guilty. I want to be able to have a life to live
Diddy
Controversially, the footage of his last days as a free man was obtained after his arrest and now features in new Netflix four-part documentary, Sean Combs: The Reckoning.
He is seen holed up in a room at the five-star Park Hyatt Hotel in the Big Apple, lashing out at his team as scandal after scandal engulfs him.
The egomaniac insists he has handled the allegations against him with “complete honour” and been the perfect client for his lawyer, before vowing to “fight for justice”.
Pacing the room like a caged tiger, he is a world away from the power and privilege he once enjoyed.
‘Dirty business’
Diddy’s label, Bad Boy Records, has sold more than 500million albums, while his own debut record, No Way Out, sold 7million in the US alone.
In never-before-seen footage, Diddy — worth over £300million — rages, ”we are losing the war” as he watches his former fans turn on him on TikTok and Instagram.
In the remarkable recording, Diddy also rants on a phone call to his lawyer: “Things are happening and I’m going to fight for my life. I am going to fight for justice. Not guilty. I want to be able to have a life to live.
“It’s really going to be hard for me to take more hits than I’ve taken if, God forbid, I get in front of a jury and have a chance.
“We have to find someone — whether it be in this country or another — who has dealt in the dirtiest of dirty business of media and propaganda.”
Close to losing his temper, the three-time Grammy winner fumes: “I have taken eight nuclear bombs to the head, and I am tired of going back and forth. I am not a referee. Listen to me. I am going to get off the phone right now and let you professionals come back to me with a solution. No matter what anybody says, you are not working together the right way. We are losing.”
He later adds: “It’s just a bunch of silly bulls**t noise. But now the legal system is doing it legally. “I’ve got to go and spend money to get rid of this bulls**t. They aint breaking me, though.”
When cops raided his room at the Hyatt last September, they found a prescription bottle in the name of Frank Black, thought to be a pseudonym, that contained Clonazepam.
My mum always raised me for the real world
Diddy
The drug is used to treat everything from panic disorders to psychosis.
A bag with $9,000 inside was also retrieved, as were packets of a pink powder which later tested positive for Ketamine and MDMA.
It’s a far cry from the clean-cut Catholic schoolboy who grew up in Mount Vernon, New York, and actively despised drink and drugs.
Recalling Diddy’s rise to the top, Kirk Burrowes, who co-founded Bad Boy Entertainment with him in 1993, said: “In our early days, Sean was clean as a whistle. He did not drink alcohol and he did not like drugs. He didn’t want any of that around him.”
Diddy was raised by his mother, Janice Combs, after his father Melvin was shot dead in his car in 1972, when Diddy was just three years old.
In an old clip used in the documentary, Diddy boasts: “My mum always raised me for the real world.
“She taught me if someone hits you, make sure you hit them back harder. Make sure they never hit me again. Make sure I f*** them up.”
The documentary claims Janice would hold lavish dos at their home — hinting Diddy’s later love for partying hard was learned at a young age.
Recalling their early years, childhood friend Tim Patterson said: “His beatings made me scared.
Recalling their early years, childhood friend Tim Patterson said: “His beatings made me scared. I got beatings, but when he got his beatings, it wasn’t normal, it wasn’t a normal thing.”
‘I’m not sorry’
He added of the rapper’s ruthlessness in getting one up on his rivals: “Sean didn’t fight like this [with his hands]. He is going to bite you, bite your ear, cut open your neck with his mouth. He’s not losing.”
His brutality and desire to win at all costs stretched into his relationships.
The rapper — previously known as Puff Daddy — reportedly saw no issue with going after any woman, even if she wasn’t single.
An ex-employee recalls: “One thing about Puff is he is like a cat. You know how a cat sneaks up, but only a cat knows what he is going to do? He takes his time.”
Diddy’s relationship with singer Cassie Ventura, from 2007 to 2018, was equally fraught.
She was just 19 when they first met in 2006, having moved to New York to become a singer the year before.
A leaked video from 2016 showed Diddy beating and dragging Cassie down a hotel hallway as she tried to escape the building via the lifts.
He said last year, when the footage emerged: “My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video.
“I was disgusted when I did it. I’m disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help.
His beatings made me scared
Childhood friend
“I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”
Prior to the leak, he had denied Cassie’s claims of assault.
Speaking in an unearthed clip in the documentary, Diddy admitted he had “never been a good boyfriend”, but bragged: “I just wanted to have a girlfriend and just have maybe some girls on the side — you know what I’m saying? I like to have my cake and eat it too, I’m sorry . . . but may I add, I’m not sorry.”
Those close to him, including Kalenna Harper, a member of the rapper’s trio Diddy — Dirty Money, claimed the rapper became warped by drugs and alcohol.
When I first worked with Sean, I liked him as a person as I didn’t know him. I began to see the ugliness in him, in his nature, as a human being
Roger Bonds
She tells Netflix: “Puff had this 14 day cycle where he would go hard for like 14 days, as he was like a baby he didn’t want to go to sleep. It was like get in that motherf*ing zone. The motherf*ing zone was cocaine, strawberry cocaine, purple cocaine, pink cocaine, designer drugs . . . that’s the bad boy way.”
Clayton Howard, a former male sex worker who was hired by Diddy to spice up his relationship with Cassie, added: “He was always high. I don’t think I ever encountered Puff at a time when he wasn’t.”
‘Ugliness in him’
Throughout his career, Diddy became one of the most lauded stars of all time. And behind the scenes, he was feared.
And as his power grew, the awards and accolades rolled in.
In 2022, he received the Lifetime Achievement gong at the BET Awards.
In September the next year, he scooped the Global Icon Award at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York alongside his family.
Both times, he was treated like a king — openly enjoying the adoration and being in the spotlight.
Speaking for the first time, his former bodyguard, Roger Bonds, said it quickly became clear that all Diddy cared about was himself.
He explained: “When I first worked with Sean, I liked him as a person because I didn’t know him. I began to see the ugliness in him, in his nature, as a human being.
“That came from me seeing the only thing he cares about is himself and from me seeing the way he treated Cassie.”
In exclusive footage shot by Diddy’s team days before his arrest, he can be seen visiting his old neighbourhood of Harlem.
The bizarre trip reveals a man going back to his roots for support as the world closes in on him — a PR move to show everything was fine.
But Diddy was captured on camera arrogantly branding his supporters dirty, as if he was better than them.
He says: “Oh my god I need some hand sanitiser. I am out on the streets amongst the people.
“I gotta go under the water. The water got to boiling hot, and put some rock salt in it.”
Netflix is plainly desperate to sensationalise every minute of Mr Combs’ life
Diddy’s lawyers
Roger reckons Diddy only returned to his roots when he wanted to further his career — or save his skin.
He said: “I began to see him use the culture that he came from only when he needed it.
“Sean was uncomfortable around so many black people. It was only when he needed them that he felt capable enough.”
Diddy’s lawyers have slammed Netflix for using the footage, claiming it was stolen.
In a statement, they said: “Netflix’s so-called ‘documentary’ is a shameful hit piece . . . Netflix relied on stolen footage that was never authorised for release.
“Netflix is plainly desperate to sensationalise every minute of Mr Combs’ life. If Netflix cared about truth or about Mr Combs’ legal rights, it would not be ripping private footage out of context, including conversations with his lawyers never intended for public viewing.
“No rights in that material were ever transferred to Netflix or any third party.”
Netflix has not responded to a request for comment.
But the documentary’s director Alexandria Stapleton, has previously said: “We obtained the footage legally and have the necessary rights.”
- Sean Combs: The Reckoning is on Netflix now.
Kids conned too
FOR decades Diddy was the all-powerful, all-seeing eye of the hip-hop world. The 2023 MTV VMAs saw him crowned with the Global Icon Award – with stars rushing to pat him on the back.
I was there that night, and he was lapping up every second.
He was presented as a family man – with his daughter Chance joining Mary J Blige on stage to hand him the gong.
In the run-up to the show I’d been reporting from the red carpet and all anyone could talk about was Diddy.
When he eventually appeared, he did so alongside five of his kids – dressed all in white as if he was the messiah.
But having seen Sean Combs: The Reckoning there is little doubt in my mind that while his kids may have innocently wanted to support their dad, he had used them to distract from the reality of what was really going on.
He would have known full well about the storm that was brewing.
That was his life, smoke and mirrors.