Da'Jae Allen 
In 2001, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs was featured on the song “Let’s Get It.” In this song, he said, “Send the cops, the feds and D.A. to come get me. Cats wanna leave me for dead, you coming with me.” And after recent events, it seems there may be more realness to these lyrics than the world previously believed.
Cassie Ventura rattled a sleeping beast when she accused her ex-boyfriend, Combs, of sexually and physically assaulting her during their time together. Unfortunately for many, that seems to have been just the tip of the iceberg.
Rapper Shawn “Jay Z” Carter is now being accused of raping a 13-year-old girl with Combs after an award show ceremony more than 20 years ago. Both men denied these allegations, and Carter even went as far as to release a statement that many believe threatened the (now) woman, was erratic, and was not approved by a PR Team.
According to people.com, in the statement Carter said the lawyer who filed the suit had made a “terrible error in judgement thinking that all ‘celebrities’ are the same. I’m not from your world. I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don’t play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain. Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable.”
He concluded with, “I look forward to showing you just how different I am.”
A junior from North Carolina A&T (NCAT) says, “Honestly, as a communications major, I think he really dropped the ball with his response. It didn’t follow the basics of handling a crisis like this—he came off defensive and didn’t seem to think through how it would land with people. And I think this is even more of a reason for people to not believe him. It makes him look more guilty.”
Creators and users on TikTok have been in a frenzy debating whether or not these allegations have any truth to them or if this is another example of the world wanting to drop another successful Black man down a notch. Here are some of the comments from a video on the topic.
“Waiting years later is insane frfr like really” -@shushawnajohnsonpayne
“Y’all believe everything the media tells y’all, black people like to see their own ppl fall” -@natura96
“Just by reading the comments now I understand why so much abuse goes unchecked in our community” -@guildedhummingbird
“How about believing the victim before anything else, innocent till proven guilty goes both ways” -@thornwood17
There is a lot of back and forth, discourse, and victim blaming. People are even returning to the age-old discussion of how young Beyoncé, Carter’s wife, was when they met and started dating to back up why they believe the allegations could be true.
A sophomore at Malcolm X College had this to say about the situation. “More than likely there is truth to it, the main people you used to see him with were R. Kelly and Diddy. I think that’s just something people say when Black predatory celebs get arrested. Sometimes it’s warranted like in reference to Michael Jackson’s allegations (victims recanted and said they were coached), but for the most part, people use it to defend rapists and abusers that hurt their community.”
This whole situation has people split, and it really shows how complicated it is to deal with serious allegations against big names, especially in the Black community. Some are quick to defend Carter and Combs, saying it’s just another case of the media trying to take successful Black men down. Others are saying we need to believe victims and stop letting power and fame shield people from accountability. No matter how it plays out, it’s clear these conversations are important for shining a light on abuse and making sure justice is served, no matter who’s involved.
By Da’Jae Allen, Sophomore, Howard University
Instagram: @dajae.10
True Star Media’s content is made possible thanks to donors like you. By donating at truestarmedia.org/donate you are helping to empower young creators and transform lives.
