Diddy couldn’t handle MeToo questions during an awkward interview: "The ladies love me..."
Over the years, Sean 'Diddy' Combs has had a couple of awkward interviews! During an interview with The Independent, Tressie McMillan Cottom shared her honest thoughts about the hip-hop mogul whom she was profiling for Vanity Fair's September 2021 issue. “I remember saying to my mom that he sounded like a child,” Cottom told the media outlet at that time. Then, Combs sent an invitation to Cottom for a sit-down interview at his sprawling Malibu mansion. Cottom stated that throughout the entire interview, Diddy referred to himself as the third person and bragged about his handsome looks.
Speaking of the disgraced rapper Combs, Cottom shared, "He kept talking about, ‘I’m an attractive young man.’ The way he would describe himself, first of all, was ‘young,’ which I thought was bizarre. It was telling that he has created a character version of himself that is powerful and sexy and physically attractive when really, what he is, is rich. Absent the money and the star power, I’m not sure we would look at him and think those things, but that’s the kind of story a very scared, self-conscious little boy would write about himself, right? The ladies love me. I’m so powerful. I’m so dope. I’m a playboy. That sounded like a child."
During the interview with Combs, Cottom also brought up the topic of the MeToo Movement, a social movement addressing sexual harassment and abuse that took the entertainment industry by storm in 2017. During the interview, Cottom stated how Combs became uncomfortable when she began discussing the MeToo movement. At that time, Combs showed support for the movement but failed to give crystal-clear answers when Cottom asked him a bunch of follow-up questions about the movement.
In the Vanity Fair profile, Combs said, "When they said it was over—when they said in the #MeToo, when it was over, it was over… The #MeToo movement, the truth, is that it inspired me. It showed me that you can get maximum change." While having a conversation with Combs, Cottom asked the rapper how the movement affected him and his thoughts on the movement as a girl dad. However, Cottom didn't get direct answers to her questions. "He couldn’t even perform it well… It was another one of those moments where it was clear that it was out of context, the quotes. He wanted to make the piece, but he didn’t have anything to make it significant. And he did get very uncomfortable when I asked follow-up questions," Cottom shared.
Right now, Combs is surrounded by his own legal troubles. Combs was arrested by the police authorities on September 16, 2024, in a New York City hotel after facing accusations of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, and transportation for purposes of prostitution. At the time of writing, Combs is being detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Combs' trial is slated to begin on May 5, 2024. Up until now, Combs has denied all the serious allegations pressed against him. As per BBC, Combs' attorney Marc Agnifilo said, "He looks forward to his day in court when it will become clear that he has never forced anyone to engage in sexual acts against their will."