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How hard is it to say that it’s wrong for a man to knock a woman to the ground, drag her across the floor and kick her repeatedly?
For some famous Black men lately, unfortunately, that appears to be too difficult a task.
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Each one has their professed reasons why — claims of ignorance, the significance of legacy, racial unity or flat-out pity — but they all underscore the underlying motivation: They simply don’t care enough about violence against women to take even the most minimalist public stance against it.
They certainly won’t go against another famous Black man getting out of prison sooner rather than later.
In a recent interview, Usher was asked about Diddy, who is currently serving a 50-month sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix, following a July 2025 conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
“I think certain people are prosecuted and maybe not recognized for the greatness that they offer,” Usher said in the interview for the Forbes series, The Enterprise Zone. “I don’t have anything negative to say about Sean Combs. My experience was not what the world has seen and how he’s been, you know, misrepresented.”
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Now, in fairness to Usher, Diddy has been in his life since he was a child and has served as a mentor and collaborator, so, understandably, he might choose to refrain from speaking ill of him, conviction or not, and public standing be damned.
However, did he have to say, “how he’s been, you know, misrepresented.”
And “prosecuted” as if Puffy is some kind of activist?
“I’m not saying that every man is perfect,” Usher continued. “I’m not saying that all of us don’t have flaws. But I can’t with any sense of humanity not recognize the valuable contributions that this man made for us as Black entrepreneurs, for us as people who transition culture and ideas into something that’s tangible and becomes a business. So many people benefited from what he created. And I acknowledge that, and that’s why I see him as legacy.”
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Usher cites his humanity to explain his defense of Diddy, yet goes on to talk about the Bad Boy founder’s entrepreneurial and business successes — things that have absolutely nothing to do with anyone’s humanity.
Meanwhile, he can’t be bothered to comment on Diddy’s behavior that denied Casandra “Cassie” Ventura her humanity. Cassie, Diddy’s ex-partner and former record label boss, filed a lawsuit against him in 2023, accusing him of physical violence and ****** abuse. The lawsuit galvanized a movement of survivors.
Let Usher tell it, because of what Diddy has accomplished in his life and the apparent symbolism behind it for all of Black people, we should tacitly acknowledge his “flaws” but focus more on how “so many people benefited from what he created.”
I wish Usher had been asked about all of the artists cheated out of their publishing in a follow-up question, but even so, quite a few Black folks agree with him. It’s why they think the Dr. Huxtable character on “The Cosby Show” matters more than Bill Cosby’s alleged crimes.
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Considering Usher’s public support in 2024 of Def Jam founder Russell Simmons, who has been accused by more than 20 women of ****** misconduct in incidents spanning from 1983 to 2014, it’s my fault for expecting more.
I’m sure, as he smiled for the selfie with Simmons following a yoga session in Bali, he was thinking about “legacy” over the humanity of Simmons’ accusers.
It will always puzzle me why some people feel that a Black man’s accrued celebrity, fame and purported symbolic victories matter more than the Black women who were physically and sexually abused along the way. What’s even more mind-boggling is the need for some to portray the violent man in these cases as a victim.
During an interview with Cam’ron on his “Talk With Flee”podcast, J. Cole shared why he isn’t interested in publicly revisiting his altercation with Diddy at a 2013 MTV VMAs afterparty.
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Cam’ron asked J. Cole about a longstanding rumor of a fight with Diddy, and though he confirmed it happened, he noted that after recording a podcast about the incident “like a year and a half ago,” he opted not to release it.
“We was gonna put it out, thinking like, ‘Yo, it’s cool, enough time has passed, he ain’t going to feel no way,’” J. Cole explained. “And then all the **** happened with him. I was just like, ‘Nah.’ It felt like **** near kicking a man when he’s down. It would have gave the news more ammo and the world more ammo to just destroy this dude. It wasn’t a good time. I want to tell [the story] because it’s ill, but it happened. … It did happen, but the stories be wrong. The narratives around it be wrong.”
Cole is free to tell his story or not, but to frame his decision under the pretense of not “kicking a man when he’s down” and giving “the news” and “the world” more “ammo to just destroy this dude” is frustratingly dense considering Diddy’s own actions — captured on video and proven in court — had already provided all the ammunition necessary.
I don’t expect much from a person who makes it known that “he hasn’t done a lot of reading,” but I foolishly expect better excuses from a man over 40.
The only one to come up with a half-decent explanation for publicly supporting this monstrous man is a City Girl.
In a sit-down interview with Charlamagne Tha God, Yung Miami addressed her relationship with Diddy and why she shared a character letter in support of him to the judge for sentencing.
Asked about the negative reaction to the letter, especially in connection with the release of footage that showed Diddy physically attacking Cassie, she explained: “I think I wrote a letter for a changed man. I think that the man that I met and that I experienced was changed. I’m not gonna justify some bull **** or like, support some ********. I felt like the person that I met was changed. It was a different experience, so that’s why I wrote the letter.”
I may not buy what she’s selling about him being a changed man, but notice she didn’t describe him as persecuted by the justice system, fans or the media, nor did she pretend she hadn’t heard about a video the rest of the world saw.
She also agreed that her fans had a right to question her allegiance.
In the coming months, more men like Usher and J. Cole will try to rehabilitate Diddy in similar fashion. Weak caveats about his grievances with no real interrogation of the harm he brought to “the culture.” It won’t be long before he’s released, professing to be a changed man and ready to claw his way toward a comeback.
His peers owe us more than silence — and it is up to us not to let him or his famous enablers make that comeback easy.
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