Taye Diggs admits he didn’t know Sean “Diddy” Combs’ dark side after the rapper’s sex crime arrest.
“I felt so naive when I heard all that because I… I didn’t know where I was, but everything was blindsided me,” Diggs said on an episode of Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson’s “Sibling Revelry” podcast.
The “Rent” star, 53, revealed that she had considered the Bad Boy Records founder a role model before all the abuse allegations came to light.
“He’s a hero to me. I love how he … didn’t come from a lot, he started out as a dancer. Everything that wasn’t me, growing up, was him,” Diggs said. “He has that confidence and arrogance that I love and he’s black.”
Diggs marvels that Diddy wears black “as a badge.”
“I really put people on a pedestal and it’s disappointing to see some of what happened,” Diggs continued. “I can’t believe it. And I don’t like that feeling.”
The Broadway actor said learning of all the allegations against Combs was a “double whammy” for him.
“On the one hand, I’m like, it’s good for people to know that this is happening,” Diggs said. “We can think that life should be a certain way, we can think that people are a certain way and it can be the opposite and it works, you know?”
The “I’ll Be Missing You” artist, 54, was arrested on September 16 and charged with three counts: racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution.
In an unsealed indictment, prosecutors claim Combs “tortured, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his actions” for decades.
He was also accused of “creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates participated in … sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.”
Combs, who is being held without bond in a NYC jail, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The music mogul’s reputation took a nosedive in November 2023 when his ex-girlfriend, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, filed a lawsuit accusing him of raping and abusing her during their 10-year relationship.
Combs, known for throwing wild star-sprinkled white parties, initially denied the allegations and settled the suit the next day. However, he was forced to issue a public apology after a shocking video emerged of Combs brutally beating Cassie at a hotel in 2016.
Since the “Me & U” singer bravely came forward about the abuse, at least a dozen people have made legal accusations against the father of seven.
Combs allegedly plans to testify in a sex-trafficking trial, his attorney said this week.
His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said Diddy was “eager to tell his story.”
If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues in this story, please call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
