A 2018 clip of Ellen DeGeneres‘ talk show included a subdued chat with Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs in which she alluded to his penchant for parties.
The clip comes under new scrutiny as Combs, 54, remains incarcerated amid his arrest last week on sex trafficking allegations, which included claims he organized parties that involved sexual exhibitions dubbed ‘Freak Offs.’
In the February 2018 appearance, DeGeneres, 66, noted that Combs had arrived late to her taping and asked if he would be tardy for a party she was planning.
‘Are you gonna be early for my party?’ said DeGeneres, whose career has been scorched over the past four years following a toxic workplace scandal that eventually saw her long-running show canceled.
Combs responded, ‘Yes I am – no – you know I have to arrive fashionably late,’ to which DeGeneres said, ‘Not too late, though – please.’
A 2018 clip of Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show included a subdued chat with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, 54, in which the comic, 66, alluded to his penchant for parties
The clip comes under new scrutiny as Combs remains incarcerated amid his arrest last week ago on sex trafficking allegations, which included claims he organized parties that involved sexual exhibitions dubbed ‘Freak Offs’
Combs asked DeGeneres, ‘What time would you like me there?’ to which she said, ‘I’ll tell you later.’
She added: ‘But not too late – cause, you know, once you get there the party really starts, you know what I’m saying?
‘Yeah … I got you – I promise you I’m not gonna let you down on this big one, for real,’ Combs said. ‘Your feet are gonna have blisters, you’re gonna be dancing so hard.’
DeGeneres – whose awkward November 2019 exchange with Dakota Johnson preceded an onswell of bad publicity during the 2020 pandemic – told Combs, ‘I can’t wait.’
In the wake of Combs’ indictment, there has been attention on celebrities who had past been pictured attending his parties, or spoke about them in interviews.
Among the stars who have acknowledged attending the events include Khloe Kardashian and Ashton Kutcher, while other celebrities photographed at his events include Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez, Tommy Lee and Russell Simmons (whose own career was halted by allegations of misconduct).
During his concert Sunday, Ice Cube told the crowd he had never attended any of Diddy’s events.
The reexamining of the talk show clip comes more than a week after Combs pleaded not guilty to allegations of federal sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
In the February 2018 appearance, DeGeneres noted that Combs had arrived late to her taping and asked if he would be tardy for a party she was planning
‘Are you gonna be early for my party?’ said DeGeneres, whose career has been scorched over the past four years following a toxic workplace scandal that eventually saw her long-running show canceled
Ellen told Diddy, ‘Once you get there the party really starts, you know what I’m saying?’
Diddy replied, ‘Yeah … I got you – I promise you I’m not gonna let you down on this big one, for real’
In an indictment, authorities said that the rap mogul had abused, threatened and coerced women ‘to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,’ with allegations going as far back as 2008.
Combs twice attempted to get bail following his arrest, but was ordered to remain in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. If convicted, he faces at least 15 years in custody and maximum life sentence.
Combs faced another lawsuit on Tuesday, as a woman named Thalia Graves said that the music mogul and his head of security raped her and recorded it on video at his New York recording studio in 2001.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York, the latest of several similar suits against Combs, comes a week after he was was arrested and a federal sex trafficking indictment against him was unsealed.
Thalia Graves alleges that when she was 25 and dating an executive who worked for Combs in the summer of 2001, Combs and Joseph Sherman lured her to a meeting at Bad Boy Recording Studios. She said they picked her up in an SUV and during the ride gave her a drink ‘likely laced with a drug.’
According to the lawsuit, Graves lost consciousness and awoke to find herself bound inside Combs’ office and lounge at the studio. The two men raped her, slapped her, slammed her head against a pool table and ignored her screams and cries for help, the lawsuit alleges.
At a news conference in Los Angeles with one of her attorneys, Gloria Allred, Graves said she has suffered from ‘flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts’ in the years since.
‘It has been hard for me to trust others to form healthy relationships or even feel safe in my own skin,’ Graves said, crying as she read from a statement.
Combs last week pleaded not guilty to allegations of federal sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. Pictured in NYC in 2018
She said it is ‘a pain that reaches into your very core of who you are and leaves emotional scars that may never fully heal.’
His representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the latest lawsuit. There was no immediate indication from the lawsuit or from Combs´ representatives whether Sherman had a separate attorney who could comment on the allegations.
The lawsuit was filed under the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act, and comes during a two-year window that suspends legal deadlines and allows sexual assault victims to sue over abuse that might otherwise be too old to pursue.
Allred declined to say whether her client had spoken to investigators in Combs’ criminal case. The indictment in that case mentions only allegations since 2008.
Graves’ lawsuit also alleges that late last year, after Combs’ former singing protégé and girlfriend Cassie filed a lawsuit that began the surge of allegations against him , Graves learned through her former boyfriend that Combs had recorded her rape, shown it to others and sold it as pornography.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused, unless they come forward publicly as Graves and Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, have done.
Graves’ lawsuit says both Combs and Sherman contacted her multiple times in the years after the assault, threatening repercussions if she told anyone what had happened to her. She was in a divorce and custody fight at the time and feared losing her young son if she revealed anything, the suit says.
Diddy joked about inviting William and Harry to debauched parties