Years before his current legal battles, music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs had already faced heavy legal blows due to his violent behaviour towards American record executive Steve Stoute.
This happened during the direction of a music video for Nas’s 1999 song, ‘Hate Me Now,’ in which Diddy appeared. In the video, he was depicted wearing a crown of thorns and posing as though he were crucified on a cross. Initially, Diddy approved the final cut but changed his mind just before its release. However, since Sony had spent $14,000 on the scene’s production, they refused to remove it.
Days later, Diddy and two associates went to confront Stoute at his office. Stoute described the encounter to the Los Angeles Times, saying, “One minute I’m in the middle of a meeting, and the next minute I’m down on the floor, and Puffy and his guys are kicking and pounding me.”
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“Then Puffy throws my desk over and they just walk out like nothing happened,” Stoute recalled.
“I was laying there on the floor bleeding. My jaw and my head were all swollen. I couldn’t move my arm. It was a traumatic experience, and in the middle of it, I didn’t know exactly how to feel. I was upset. Embarrassed. Scared. Angry. As far as I’m concerned, this was an attempt on my life. The only reason I’m not dead is because they missed.”
Diddy was arrested on felony charges decades before
Following Stoute’s report, police arrested Diddy on felony charges, which could have led to a prison sentence of up to seven years if he had been convicted.
Stoute believed, “If this kind of behavior is allowed to go unpenalized, it’ll be like an invitation for extortion in the music business.”
“If somebody can get away with walking into the headquarters of the world’s biggest record company and beating up a senior executive over a disagreement, I guarantee you this is going to be a great business for criminals to thrive in.”
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The ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ singer is awaiting a federal trial scheduled for May 2025 and is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn following his September arrest on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has denied all allegations, pleading not guilty in court
