The Fall of P Diddy: An Overview of the End to Stardom

 October 1, 2024

The entertainment industry was shocked to find out that Sean "P Diddy" Combs was taken into custody in September. After receiving allegations regarding sexual assault and rape for the past 10 months, the authorities arrested him on the charges of him operating a sexual "empire" since 2008. 

The scandal initially started in November of 2023, when Combs' ex, Cassie, sued Combs for years of physical and emotional abuse. Within a day, the lawsuit was resolved privately, yet the fact that the news made it to social media made it very evident that this story would not be disappearing as quickly as the lawsuit was resolved. The social media platforms that didn't initially pick up on the story would soon do so, creating a large online presence and global relevance to this scandal.

Throughout the next few months, multiple other women came out to voice their past experiences with Combs by alleging that he had assaulted them, as well. After many of these allegations, in December, Combs posted a statement on Instagram, saying that he will fight for the truth amidst these "false" allegations towards him. Because this was posted on Instagram by Combs himself, I think that had a major impact on how it was received. It was immediately put out into the online public and onto a platform with so many opinionated users. I think that making a statement was inevitable, but making it on Instagram tends to leave the door open for comments from those who are going to send hate in that direction. In the end, I don't think it was very helpful to his case of trying to prove his innocence. 

In March of 2024, the police raided Combs' home, leading to even more online speculation regarding the findings within Combs' residence, and not long after, a lawsuit was filed against his son, Christian Combs, alleging that he had sexually assaulted a woman on his father's yacht. Combs was said to have had something to do with the assault and known about it while aboard the ship, obviously not helping his case for his innocence. 

In May, after a video surfaces of Combs attacking on of his alleged victims, Combs posted a video on both Instagram and Facebook, stating his apologies for attacking the woman in the resurfaced video. This is one of the few social media messages that Combs has made at this point, and the difference is that this one is actually sent out with some form of accepting responsibility. The one he made previously was just saying how he wants to find the truth and protect himself and his family's reputation from false allegations, but after clearly seeing a video that has proved his innocence otherwise, Combs decided to give the public some form of a "dignified" apology, in attempt to regain some credibility (if there is still any to salvage). 

On September 16, Combs was arrested at his home on account of a grand jury indictment for his charges. The reasoning behind the indictment included sex trafficking, forced labor, and drug offenses, leading for more internet speculation regarding the specific details for these charges. The more the offensive of the charge, the more likely the internet, specifically social media, will grab hold of the case and make it much more drawn out and dramatic as a whole. This case with undoubtedly have a much longer stream of prevalence on social media sites within the following months, as more information and legal issues come to the surface, and I imagine that the obsession online will become even more extreme as time goes on.