Increasingly, the answer looks like a notorious Y.E.S. for the native New Yorker.
He was born Sean John Combs, but changed it legally to Sean Love Combs. His stage name has changed from Puff Daddy to P. Diddy, and for the past several years, just plain Diddy, and briefly, Brother Love, or just Love.
Beware the man who feels the need to constantly change his identity.
As long as we're naming names, "Puff" was a childhood nickname given to him by his family because Combs had a quick temper, and would "huff and puff" when angry. (Cue eerie music.)
A rapper getting tossed in jail is hardly news, and we have avoided contributing to the TMZ-style fascination with this story thus far, but here it is, in our Brooklyn backyard, and Combs is one of the biggest names in the music industry.
Further, he is accused of trafficking, and that's a matter we care about deeply, whether it is human trafficking in Springfield, OH, and Charleroi, PA, or sex trafficking, as is alleged to be the case with Combs, 54.
Combs was born in Harlem and grew up in Mount Vernon. His mother Janice Combs, was a model and a teacher. His father, Melvin Earl Combs, served in the US Air Force, but would eventually run afoul of the law, dealing drugs with Frank Lucas. Lucas was a big player in the Harlem drug trade. He was portrayed in the 2007 movie American Gangster by Denzel Washington, and famously claimed that he smuggled heroin in the caskets of dead US servicemen.
Suffice it to say, Combs grew up in a polarized environment. On the bright side, his mother was a teacher, and he could take great pride in the fact his father served in the USAF. On the dark side, his mother did "modeling" work, and his father was a drug dealer.
More bright side: Combs was an altar boy at his Catholic church, and he played high school football and won a division championship. He went to Howard University and majored in business. More dark side: he dropped out after two years, and began a new life in the rap/hip-hop world, where the leading cause of death (for rappers) is homicide.
After being fired by Uptown Records, Combs formed Bad Boy Records and went on to become one of the top producers in the industry, discovering Biggie Smalls, Mary J. Blige, and Usher, to name just a few. Combs' solo album, No Way Out, was released in the wake of Biggie's murder and was a commercial smash--septuple platinum.
But the death of Biggie had an unmooring effect on Combs. The shy producer behind the fat man was now squarely in the spotlight. Combs couldn't maintain the solo commercial success for long. While his albums did well, they all paled in comparison to No Way Out. Critics derided Combs' over-reliance on samples and guest rappers.
Combs, it seems, was never meant to be the star. He was the star maker. A businessman.
The list of Combs' career highlights is too long to list. A few surprising facts: he ran the NYC Marathon in 4 hours, 18 minutes (!). He has acted on the silver screen (Carlito's Way, Get Him To The Greek), television, and the stage. Let's not forget his clothing line, Sean John. In a 2023 interview, Combs stated that he believes God is a woman. Oh, and he's worth an estimated $1 billion.
Now that we're reasonably up to speed on Combs, if the story seems familiar, that's because it is. It's the arc of Greek tragedy.
A hero, better than the common man in some noteworthy way (for Combs, producing hits), makes his way in the world, gaining fame, or power, or wealth. But he has a fatal flaw, and it is his undoing. In the case of Combs, there appear to be several flaws. Hubris, recklessness, and sexual debauchery.
Arguably, none of what is transpiring now would have happened if Combs hadn't pursued his girlfriend at the time, Cassie Ventura, into a hotel hallway wearing nothing but a towel.
The InterContinental Hotel in Century City, CA was the scene for the infamous 2016 beatdown of Combs' then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. The couple met when she was 19, and he was 37, in 2007.
The ugly incident was released in May after being obtained by CNN. It led to an apology video.
Ventura and other alleged victims derided the video as a public relations stunt, claiming the rapper had only come forth as the evidence piled up against him.
A domino effect of accusations led to raids of Combs' California and Florida mansions.
Famously, the feds seized 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant. Per the indictment, they also learned about sex parties, referred to as "Freak-Offs" where orgies with hired male prostitutes and associates of Combs took place. What did authorities learn about the sex parties? For one, violence and sex were admixed. As reported by Page Six:
During these Freak Offs, the Bad Boy Records founder allegedly “hit, kicked, threw objects at, and dragged victims, at times, by their hair,” according to the indictment.
“Combs subjected victims to physical, emotional, and verbal abuse to cause the victims to engage in Freak Offs,” the formal charge reads.
“Combs maintained control over his victims through, among other things, physical violence, promises of career opportunities, granting and threatening to withhold financial support, and by other coercive means, including tracking their whereabouts, dictating the victims’ appearance, monitoring their medical records, controlling their housing, and supplying them with controlled substances.”
Combs fled to Antigua via private jet during the raids in March. In July, he, or someone using his jet, flew from LA to North Dakota, then on to Berlin, while speculation about fleeing to avoid extradition grew in the press.
On Tuesday, the star chose to appear in an odd public venue: Central Park. Combs laughed with four fans on Sheep's Meadow before being arrested by feds at the Park Hyatt hotel half an hour later. His attorney claimed Combs knew of the pending arrest.
Our guess? He wanted to visit the locale that another "bad boy" spent one of his last moments as a free man: Gordon Gekko from the 1987 classic Wall Street.
Yesterday, Combs pled with the judge on his case to release him to home arrest for an exorbitant bail, promising that he would not allow and women visitors. His request was declined for the second time yesterday, as reported by AP News:
Sean “Diddy” Combs is staying locked up after a judge Wednesday rejected the hip-hop mogul’s proposal that he await his sex trafficking trial in the luxury of his Florida mansion instead of a grim Brooklyn federal jail.
U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter ruled that Combs’ plan — which included a $50 million bail offer, GPS monitoring and strict limitations on visitors — was “insufficient” to ensure the safety of the community and the integrity of his case.
Carter, agreeing with prosecutors who fought to keep Combs in jail, found that “no condition or set of conditions” governing his release could guard against the risk of him threatening or harming witnesses — a central charge in his case.
Combs’ lawyers were making their second attempt in as many days to spring him from the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he has been held since pleading not guilty Tuesday to charges he physically and sexually abused women for years.
Combs released a cryptic statement on Instagram, stating, "Time tells truth. LOVE"
We shall see. For now, the future looks bleak for the New York mogul.
