Domestic violence, threats and more

As Sean “Diddy” Combs remains in prison awaiting trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, former associates and close friends of the mogul speak out in Peacock’s new 90-minute documentary “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy », presented in preview. on the streamer on January 14.

Since Cassie Ventura filed her explosive lawsuit in November 2023, Combs has been the target of dozens of lawsuits from John and Jane Does, as well as plaintiffs using real names, containing similar allegations of being drugged, sexually assaulted and threatened if they did so. make their experiences public. Combs’ representatives have strongly denied all accusations against him, and since then the accusers have had few public interviews with them.

In “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy”, his former bodyguard, an anonymous Bad Boy employee, his makeup artist, a former member of Da Band and Al B. Of course! share their experiences with Combs, reflecting on moments that provide insight into experiences the world has never seen. Representatives for Combs denied all claims made in the documentary in a statement shared with Variety: “This documentary recycles and perpetuates the same lies and conspiracy theories that have been thrown at Mr. Combs for months. It’s disappointing to see NBC and Peacock rolling in the same mud as unethical tabloid journalists. By providing a platform for proven liars and opportunists to make false criminal charges, the documentary constitutes irresponsible journalism of the worst kind.

Here are some of the documentary’s biggest moments, from Al B’s speculation. Sure! from the circumstances surrounding Kim Porter’s death to the lengths Combs would have gone to to keep his personal life private.

*Kim Porter, Combs’ girlfriend who died in 2018 of lobar pneumonia, is a recurring topic of discussion in the documentary, with several people saying she was a victim of domestic violence. Al B. Of Course!, who shares a son with Porter, gave his first interview since the allegations against Combs began, reflecting on the moment he met Porter. After Sure and Porter had their son Quincy Brown, Combs was introduced to Porter while they were all in the studio, and shortly after they started dating.

Sure, whose real name is Albert Joseph Brown, remembers Porter warning him to stay away from Combs. “Kimberly said don’t get involved, you’ll be killed.” Even to the point where I remember…” he said, choking up. “No, I can’t bring that one up. Legal proceedings are currently underway. But yes, I will share that at some point. But this is part of the evidence and I must refrain from this part of this segment. Let’s just say you need to listen to Kimberly, because not only was she trying to save me, she was putting her own life in danger.

Gene Deal, Combs’ former bodyguard, suggested that Combs had abused Porter and that he was once called to rush to St. Luke’s Hospital. “She looked like she was bruised and stuff like that, but she wasn’t saying much,” he said. “He played too much.” Deal also claimed that at other times he could tell Combs was manhandling her. Veteran journalist Kim Osorio appears in the doc and says there have been rumors that Porter was a victim of Combs’ abuse, and the lawyer for a client who sued Combs said her client had witnessed of acts of violence against Porter. The documentary notes that “there was no evidence that Kim Porter was a victim of domestic violence.”

*Of course, he has spoken about what he believes to be the mysterious circumstances of Porter’s death, and he reiterates those concerns in the documentary. He gestures toward the conspiracy theory pushed by Jaguar Wright that Combs is responsible for the deaths of fellow Uptown Records co-founders Andre Harrell, Heavy D and Porter. “This person is telling a story, this person is writing a book, this person is about to tell the truth,” Sure says. “Why is everyone dead?” Oh, it’s a coincidence. Get the hell out of here.

The documentary clearly states that “medical professionals found no evidence indicating that Kim Porter’s death was the result of unnatural causes,” and the Los Angeles Police Department stated that there had been no criminal act or criminal involvement. It also points out that in 2024, Porter’s children released a statement claiming “there was no foul play” in his death, calling the rumors “false and hurtful.” Authorities also did not consider the deaths of Heavy D and Harrell suspicious.

Of course, he had his own medical issues, suffering from several illnesses, organ failure, and a subsequent hernia operation that didn’t go well. He was placed in a medically induced coma, and Sure suggests there were bad actors at play that contributed to his health problems: “Every single person, I was attentive enough to remember, I kept track of every single one of you who was sent to frame me, to assist in the attempted murder of Al B. Of course ! You are in the file.

*Combs’ former bodyguard Gene Deal, who was employed from 1991 to 2005, makes several allegations throughout “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy,” recalling a time when Combs berated his mother Janice Combs and that Deal had inevitably left his job after refusing. to get food at Janice’s request. But one of his most vivid memories involves the night the Notorious B.I.G. was shot and killed on March 9, 1997. Rumors have swirled for years that Combs had something to do with his murder, which Combs has denied.

Deal states that, based on information, he warned Combs that someone was going to die that night before going to a Vibe magazine party in Los Angeles. Combs responded, “Gene, I don’t want to hear that shit.” After shots rang out and Biggie was killed, he remembers that Combs looked “stunned” and had “a look in his eyes that he couldn’t believe it.” When asked by the documentary’s producers if he thought Combs was involved, Deal responded, “Feelings can’t change facts, but facts can change feelings.” I think he’s playing Big in the mood, so does he directly have anything to do with it? He could have.

*In her explosive lawsuit, Cassie made sweeping claims that Combs abused her and forced her to have sex with sex workers while he watched. Last May, CNN released a shocking video of Combs assaulting her in a hotel hallway in 2016. Mylah Morales, Combs’ makeup artist, witnessed the violent nature of their relationship firsthand. She said that in 2010, they were staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel when Cassie left for a party. After midnight, Combs burst into the room, angry that she had attended an event. “They go to the next room, close the door, so I pack her things and put her in safety,” Morales said. “It was panic mode. That’s when she came out, her head knotted, her lip broken, she was just beat up. She took Cassie home and tried to figure out what to do, but Cassie told her she wanted to keep the incident a secret.

*Sara Rivers, who appeared on MTV’s “Making the Band 2” from 2002 to 2004, recalled her time on the show and her relationship with Combs, saying his behavior was shocking and that he reprimanded verbally to his group mates: “When he got angry with one of my group members, he said, ‘You make me so angry I want to eat your flesh.’ And then he said to another member of my group, ‘You roll your eyes, I could go find a crackhead and pay him $20 to beat the shit out of you.’ Who says that? It’s crazy.

She also said she did not want to be near Combs unless there were cameras because of an incident in which he allegedly groped her. “Basically, during the incident, I was alone,” she explained. “He touched me somewhere he shouldn’t have. It was inappropriate. I felt intimidated, I was like, oh my God, what just happened just now? I’m really nervous, because like I said, I haven’t said anything for so long and it’s been building. I think it’s been 20 years. It happened, it happened, it was stopped. Mentally exhausting.

*An anonymous former Bad Boy employee, whose voice was modulated for fear of retaliation, claims to have seen Combs be “very violent” and threatened him if he left Bad Boy. He said he met Combs around 2015 or 2016 and said he was sent on “missions” that were outside his professional skills, including recruiting underage girls for the now-infamous “freak-off” sex parties by Combs.

“Whenever the studio or any room is red, it’s red because it feels like that’s the frequency for fucking, making love or making love,” he said. -he declared about freak-offs. In the documentary, exclusive footage shows a party room bathed in red light. “He looked at two of the girls and blinked, pointed and said, ‘You all come here.’ And he came out and went into his room and didn’t come out until 24 hours later. Of course, they were minors.

*Tim Patterson, Combs’ childhood friend, reflects on their childhood together in Mount Vernon, New York. He says Combs was bullied as a child and describes himself as protective. Patterson says Combs’ mother, Janice, threw illicit parties attended by drug dealers and drenched in alcohol and marijuana. “At night, it wouldn’t be a thing to accidentally walk into one of the bedrooms and have a couple naked,” he said. “That’s what we knew about. This is what we were fed on. Does this desensitize us? I’m sure it was. Were we aware of this? No, it was just Saturday night. Janice Combs did not respond to producers’ request for comment.

*The documentary features two relatives of victims who died during a stampede at the City College of New York in 1991. Combs was the headliner alongside Heavy D at a charity basketball game at the college, which was presented as an event bringing together 10,000 people for a 2,700-seat room. Jason Swain and Sonny Williams, who both lost siblings in the stampede, remember Combs giving them settlements that they reluctantly accepted.

Williams said Combs called him to his office and offered him $50,000, while Swain received $40,000. Combs never apologized for the incident. “His image is important to him,” Swain said. “The lies go back to City College. If someone had found him responsible, it could have slowed down the process of all the other things that happened to other people.

“Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy” was produced by Ari Mark, Phil Lott, Sumit David, Stephanie Frederic, Laura Jones and Justine Kershaw. It was co-produced by Sara Lavery and produced by AMPLE Entertainment, Blink Films and FGW Productions.