For the first time since sexual-abuse allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs surfaced in 2023, his mother, Janice Smalls Combs, is speaking out in defense of her son. Last month, the disgraced mogul pleaded “not guilty” to charges of racketeering and sex trafficking and is currently being held without bail as he awaits trial. The disturbing grand-jury indictment detailed Diddy’s alleged “Freak Offs,” in which prosecutors claim he drugged victims and forced them to engage in sexual acts with male sex workers. On Sunday, Janice released a statement to the media via her attorney, Natlie G. Figgers, decrying the “public lynching of my son.”
“It is heartbreaking to see my son judged not for the truth, but for a narrative created out of lies,” Janice said in a lengthy statement, per Us Weekly. “To bear witness [sic] what seems to be like a public lynching of my son before he has had the opportunity to prove his innocence is a pain too unbearable to put into words. Like every human being, my son deserves to have this day in court, to finally share his side, and to prove his innocence.”
Janice explained that she was “not here to portray my son as perfect because he is not,” acknowledging that Diddy has made “mistakes in his past, as we all have.” She then referred to the 2016 footage in which Diddy appears to violently assault Cassie, his girlfriend at the time, in a Los Angeles hotel. Following the video’s release, Diddy — who, while denying the allegations against him, had also previously settled with Cassie — said “my behavior in that video is inexcusable.”
“My son may not have been entirely truthful about certain things, such as denying he has ever gotten violent with an ex-girlfriend when the hotel’s surveillance showed otherwise,” Janice said of the incident. “Not being entirely straightforward about one issue does not mean my son is guilty of the repulsive allegations and the grave charges leveled against him,” she continued. “Many individuals who were wrongfully convicted and later exonerated had their freedom taken from them not because they were guilty of the crimes they were accused of, but because they didn’t fit the image of what this society considers to be a ‘good person.’”
Janice also suggested that the stream of horrific allegations and lawsuits are financially motivated. “My son is not the monster they have painted him to be, and he deserves the chance to tell his side,” she concluded.
Since Cassie’s initial lawsuit, ten individuals have come forward with allegations of abuse against Diddy. Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported that at least 120 additional people plan to file lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Combs, some of whom say they were minors at the time. Diddy has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.
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