Sean “Diddy” Combs’ mother, Janice Small Combs, has expressed her heartbreak over the recent allegations against her son, calling them “lies.”
The music icon, famous for hits such as 1997’s *I’ll Be Missing You*, was arrested last month on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. He remains in custody at a Manhattan detention center after being denied bail.
In a statement, Janice Small Combs defended her son, acknowledging that while he has “made mistakes in the past, as we all have,” he is “not the monster they are portraying him to be.”
“It is heartbreaking to see my son judged not for the truth, but for a narrative created out of lies,” she wrote.
The statement, attributed to Janice Small Combs and the Combs family, was released by her lawyer, Natalie G. Figgers.
It followed revelations that Sean Combs could face lawsuits from over 100 additional accusers, both men and women, alleging sexual assault, rape, and sexual exploitation.
Combs’ legal team has denied these and all prior accusations, labeling them as “false and defamatory.”
The musician has been involved in several legal cases since last year, beginning when his former partner, Cassie Ventura, accused him of rape and abuse.
Although Combs denied those claims, the case was settled out of court the day after it was filed.
Following that, he was sued by 12 other women, many of whom accused him of drugging and assaulting them. In March, federal agents raided his properties as part of the criminal investigation against him.
In May, a video surfaced showing Combs physically assaulting Cassie Ventura in a hotel room in 2016.
In her statement, Janice Small Combs addressed the video, saying she was “not here to portray my son as perfect, because he is not.”
“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,” she said.
“Sometimes, the truth and a lie become so closely intertwined that it becomes terrifying to admit one part of the story, especially when that truth is outside the norm or is too complicated to be believed.
“This is why I believe my son’s civil legal team opted to settle the ex-girlfriend’s lawsuit instead of contesting it until the end, resulting in a ricochet effect as the federal government used this decision against my son by interpreting it as an admission of guilt.”
Mr Combs had previously apologised for the incident that was caught on film, saying: “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
Concluding her statement, Janice Small Combs argued that one lie did not make him guilty of all the other “repulsive allegations and the grave charges leveled against him”.
“It is truly agonizing to watch the world turn against my son so quickly and easily over lies and misconceptions, without ever hearing his side or affording him the opportunity to present his side,” she said, adding that she believed some of his accusers were motivated by money.
Mr. Combs is scheduled to appear in court next on Wednesday, October 9, where his legal team will seek his release on bail.
His previous bail request was denied after prosecutors argued that he posed “a significant risk” to the upcoming trial.
They told a New York judge that Mr Combs had “already tried to obstruct the government’s investigation of this case, repeatedly contacting victims and witnesses and feeding them false narratives of events”.