The mother of embattled hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs released a statement Sunday defending her son against the criminal charges and multiple allegations of sexual misconduct that he currently faces while in federal custody in New York.
Combs, 54, was arrested at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center since pleading not guilty Sept. 17 to federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.
In a statement released through her lawyers, Janice Smalls Combs says it has been “unbearable” to witness “what feels like a public lynching of my son before he had a chance to prove his innocence.
She then mentions that her son “made mistakes in his past” and references an episode captured on security video that appeared to show Combs attacking singer Cassie, his former girlfriend, in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel. Angeles in 2016. In May, Combs apologized for the incident, saying his behavior was “inexcusable” and that he took “full responsibility” for his actions.
In November, Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a trial accusing Combs of rape and abuse during their relationship; he denied the accusations. They reached a settlement the day after.
The indictment against Combs refers to the incident captured on hotel security cameras. According to the indictment, Combs tried to bribe a member of the hotel security staff who intervened in the incident to keep them quiet.
“My son may not have been completely truthful about some things, like denying he was ever violent with an ex-girlfriend when hotel surveillance showed otherwise,” Janice Smalls said Combs in the press release. “Sometimes truth and lies become so intertwined that it becomes terrifying to admit part of the story, especially when that truth is out of the norm or too complicated to believe. This is why I believe that my son’s civil legal team I chose to settle the ex-girlfriend’s lawsuit instead of fighting it all the way, which had a ripple effect as the federal government used that decision against my son by interpreting it as an admission of guilt.”
She adds that it has been “scary” to see people joking about her son’s situation “because of lies and misconceptions.”
At the end of the statement, she asks fans and the public “not to judge him before you have had the chance to hear his point of view.”
“My son is not the monster they painted him to be,” she said. “I can only pray that I am alive and sees him speak his truth and be vindicated.”
In the indictment, prosecutors allege that since 2008 Combs has been part of a criminal organization that has engaged or attempted to engage in sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, corruption, obstruction of justice and other crimes.
Prosecutors accused Combs of using his business empire as a criminal enterprise to cover up his allegations of abuse of women at events Combs called “Freak Offs.”
“The ‘Freak Offs’ sometimes lasted several days at a time, involved multiple sex workers, and often involved a variety of narcotics, such as ketamine, ecstasy, and GHB, which Combs distributed to victims to keep them obedient and docile ” said the US Attorney. Damian Williams, of the Southern District of New York, told reporters when the indictment was unsealed.
On October 1, Texas attorney Tony Buzbee said he representing 120 accusers who came forward with new allegations of sexual misconduct against Combs. Buzbee said he expects lawsuits to be filed within the next month. Buzbee described the victims as 60 men and 60 women, and that 25 were minors at the time of the alleged misconduct.
