This week Rolling Stone published a damning exposé into the secretive world of Sean "Diddy" Combs, uncovering an alleged history of abuse, narcissism, drugs and sexually violent behaviour.
Titled "Bad Boy for Life: Sean Combs’ History of Violence," the article also delves into his close relationship with rapper the Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls (real name Christopher Wallace), which has been revealed to be fraught with tension.
The publication interviewed dozens of former friends, employees, and Bad Boy artists, some of whom claim Biggie was fighting to regain his publishing rights back from Combs and planning to leave Bad Boy Records before his untimely death on March 9, 1997.
“[Biggie] was absolutely about to leave Puff,” hip-hop photography Monica Bunn says. “I know for a fact [because] he told me that.” Another source adds, “Everybody wanted to leave Puffy. Everybody leaves him.”
However, according to Dan Charnas' book The Big Payback, Combs was adamant that he would never relinquish control of Biggie's rights to his music. “I will never give it up until I’m dead and my bones are crushed into powder,” he told the lawyers.
The article also claims that just months after Biggie's death, Rolling Stone approached Combs about putting the fallen rapper on the cover. Instead, Combs rejected the idea and insisted they give him the cover to promote his debut album, No Way Out.
“I was telling Sean, ‘Let’s make it Biggie. You still have a chance [for a cover in the future],’” recalls Kirk Burrowes, Bad Boy’s co-founding partner and president. “He’s like ‘No, he’s dead. I’m putting out [No Way Out] in July. I need to be on the cover of Rolling Stone.’”
Combs ended up getting the cover story, which declared him "The New King of Hip-Hop." In a separate feature two years later, he even admitted to benefitting financially from Biggie's death. “I think his passing added to the fame,” he said. “At least 2 million [of the nearly 5 million copies of No Way Out] sold were due to [his death], straight up. And that doesn’t necessarily feel good, but that’s the reality.”
Since the investigative story by Rolling Stone was published, Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace, has issued a statement to the magazine, saying, “I’m sick to my stomach. I’m praying for Cassie. I’m praying for his mother. I don’t want to believe the things that I’ve heard, but I’ve seen [the hotel video]. I pray that he apologizes to her."
“I hope that I see Sean one day and the only thing I want to do is slap the daylights out of him," she adds. "And you can quote me on that. Because I liked him. I didn’t want to believe all the awful things, but I’m so ashamed and embarrassed.”
Last fall, Combs was accused by multiple women of sexual assault, including his long-time girlfriend, singer Cassie. Earlier this month, video leaked of Combs punching and kicking Cassie in the hallway of the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles on March 5, 2016.
In March his homes in Miami and Los Angeles were raided by Homeland Security Investigations as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation. Combs's lawyers have since called it a "witch hunt based on meritless accusations."
You can read the full Rolling Stone story here.