Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs continues to be a force in the entertainment world, maintaining his influence even while incarcerated.
The 54-year-old music mogul is currently in federal custody amid serious federal sex trafficking charges and various civil lawsuits.
According to a source speaking to People on Monday, his reputation continues to evoke fear among many in the industry, reflecting the enduring reach of his influence.
‘He’s so powerful. Everyone was afraid to cross him,’ the insider claimed. ‘Even though he’s behind bars now, he’s still so powerful. We all knew it even back then.’
The source added: ‘He’s incredibly smart, he knows a lot of people, and he’s helped a lot of people — so a lot of people owe him. He knows that.’
The insider went on to say that Diddy’s obsession with control was often attributed to his creative genius.
The report comes after concerning footage of Diddy boasting of his plans to go ‘buck full crazy’ and ‘find girls’ with a teenage Justin Bieber has resurfaced online following the disgraced music mogul’s arrest.
The rap star’s formerly close bond with Bieber has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks – with troubling videos of a then-15 year-old Bieber spending ’48 hours with Diddy’ circulating amid the numerous allegations being made against the Bad Boy Records founder.
In the clip, Combs stands next to the young pop sensation, now 30, and tells the camera: ‘He’s having 48 hours with Diddy, where we hanging out and what we’re doing we can’t really disclose. But it’s definitely a 15-year-old’s dream.
Diddy continued: ‘I don’t have legal guardianship of him [Bieber] but for the next 48 hours he’s with me and we’re gonna go buck full crazy.’
Bieber is seen wearing a black baseball cap and purple shirt while he smiles and looks up at Combs throughout the video, making small comments such as ‘yeah’ and ‘full crazy.’
The Tell Me artist then asked Bieber what he wanted to do, to which the teen replied: ‘Let’s go get some girls’.
‘Man after my heart,’ Combs replied. ‘That’s what I’m talking about.’
The video was uploaded on Bieber’s official YouTube channel back in November 2009.
The caption read: ‘I told you guys I produced a song for DIDDY and I wanted to show it to him and you got his attention. Best fans in the world.
‘Well this past weekend I spent 48 HRS with DIDDY and had some fun. Here is some of the action. Thanks for the car PUFF…haha’.
Combs could be seen showing off a luxury vehicle that he said Bieber would be allowed to drive once he got his license at 16.
‘And then, when you get 18, you get the house, you get the mansion,’ the Last Night hitmaker promised.
The singer’s mentor Usher, 45, previously revealed he was exposed to some ‘pretty wild’ stuff while living with Diddy aged 14.
In an unearthed interview from 2016, the Burn singer revealed details about his time living with Diddy in the spring of 1994.
While appearing on The Howard Stern Show, Usher alleged that it was record producer L.A. Reid’s idea to have him live with the R&B singer in Scarsdale to ‘see the lifestyle.’
When asked if Diddy’s ‘place was filled with chicks and orgying nonstop’ by Stern, Usher replied: ‘Not really… I got a chance to see some things … I don’t know if I could indulge and even understand what I was looking at.
‘It was pretty wild. It was crazy. There were very curious things taking place and I didn’t necessarily understand it.’
As for whether he would send his children to ‘Puffy Flavor Camp,’ Usher responded: ‘Hell no!’
Back in 2004, Usher told Rolling Stone that Diddy introduced him to ‘a totally different set of s**t — sex, specifically.’
‘Sex is so hot in the industry, man,’ he said. ‘There was always girls around. You’d open a door and see somebody doing it, or several people in a room having an orgy. You never knew what was going to happen.’
Bieber, who recently welcomed his son Jack with wife Hailey, 27, has not publicly commented on Combs’ arrest or the concern caused by the recently resurfaced clips of the pair, but fans have voiced fears over his ‘thin’ appearance in recent weeks.
Sources told DailyMail.com that the singer feels he has no one to talk to about the allegations and is ‘sailing these waters alone.’
Another insider claimed that Bieber is said to be so deeply ‘disturbed’ by the news of Diddy’s arrest on sex-trafficking charges that he’s cut himself off from the world.
Last month, Combs was arrested on shocking sex trafficking and racketeering charges and is being held in a notorious New York City jail without bond.
His case was reassigned to federal Judge Arun Subramanian on Thursday without explanation, reported CNN.
Initially Judge Andrew Carter presided over the case and denied him bail twice despite the rapper using both his and his mother’s homes in Miami — worth $50 million — as collateral.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
