A representative for Justin Bieber said the pop star is not a victim of Sean “Diddy” Combs, as the high profile sex trafficking trial of the hip hop mogul continues in New York.
“Although Justin is not among Sean Combs’ victims, there are individuals who were genuinely harmed by him,” the statement shared with TMZ read. “Shifting focus away from this reality detracts from the justice these victims rightfully deserve.”
Combs, 55, is accused using his status as a powerful music executive to force women into sex trafficking and abuse at drug-fuelled parties. Prosecutors allege Combs violently forced his ex-girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, and other women into marathon encounters with sex workers, called “freak-offs,” which sometimes lasted for days.
Combs insists all the sexual encounters were consensual.He was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs, who has been in custody since September, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. If convicted, he faces at least 15 years in prison.
For months, Bieber, 31, was the subject of online speculation suggesting that he might have been harmed by Combs. Following Bieber’s meteoric rise in the late 2000s, the teen idol often appeared publicly alongside the mogul.
The two appear to have first met shortly after Bieber signed with Usher and Scooter Braun’s label in 2008, when the Ontario-born singer was just 14. In a video shared by Bieber to YouTube, Combs is seen showing off his Lamborghini. In another video that surfaced from 2010, Combs tells Bieber he’s been acting “different,” adding, “You ain’t been calling me and hanging out the way we used to hang out.”
In 2011, the pair appeared together on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” where they were asked about how they met. Combs said that they met “in a strange way,” adding, “We wanna protect him because he’s genuinely such a nice person besides his talents.”
Bieber and Combs reportedly maintained their friendship over the years, and most recently collaborated on a song featured on Combs’ 2023 album “The Love Album: Off the Grid.”
Bieber has not spoken publicly about his relationship with Combs’ since the mogul’s arrest last September, though the Daily Mail reported that a source close to the singer said he was “so disturbed by the Diddy news and is unwilling to process it or discuss it so he has shut off.”
On Thursday, less than a week after Combs’ trial began, TMZ quoted “multiple sources in Justin’s life” who said that Combs “never sexually or otherwise abused Bieber.” The sources added that Bieber’s public appearances with Combs over the years were “performative,” and claimed that Bieber was actually friends with Combs’ sons.
Cassie speaks at Combs’ trial
Combs’ trial got underway this week after a jury was selected at a court in Manhattan.
On Thursday, Cassie was pressed to read aloud her own explicit messages to Combs, including texts that showed her expressing desire for the drug-fuelled group sex she previously testified left her traumatized.
Lawyers for Combs sought to portray Cassie to the jury as a willing and eager participant in the music mogul’s sexual lifestyle. Combs has pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. His defence says that, while he could be violent, nothing he did amounted to a criminal enterprise.
Messages between Combs and Cassie — both romantic and lurid — were the focus of the fourth day of testimony in a Manhattan courtroom. Defence attorney Anna Estevao read what Combs wrote, while Cassie recited her own messages about what she wanted to do during the freak-offs. Cassie’s testimony will resume Friday.
With files from the Associated Press.
