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In his own words, Usher has nothing “negative” to say about Sean “Diddy” Combs – and instead wants to remember his legacy and his “valuable contributions,” not about the abuse allegations against the bad boy mogul.
The “Confessions” singer spoke at length with Forbes about his feelings toward his former mentor, with whom he lived as a teenager in New York while recording his 1994 eponymous debut album.
Since November 2023, Combs has faced allegations of sexual assault and physical violence after his ex-girlfriend, singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, sued him. This was followed by more than 50 additional civil lawsuits and a federal criminal case for sex trafficking against the music manager. Combs has denied all allegations of sexual assault and was acquitted of sex trafficking charges last summer but convicted of less serious offenses related to prostitution. He is currently appealing the verdict and is serving a four-year prison sentence.
Usher’s defense of Combs
Last week on an episode of “The Enterprise Zone,” interviewer Jabari Young asked Usher the first word that came to mind about a number of influences, friends and mentors in the music industry – including Jermaine Dupri, LA Reid, Babyface, Pebbles and Lil Jon. At Combs, Usher paused for a moment and replied, “Legacy.”
“In many ways, I believe that certain people are judged and may not be recognized for the greatness that they represent,” Usher explained, acknowledging that his perspective could be considered controversial. “I have nothing negative to say about Sean Combs because my experience was not what the world saw and how he was portrayed.”
Usher said he could separate Combs’ own admission of domestic violence in previous relationships and the sexual assault allegations against him from his role as a trailblazer for black musicians and entrepreneurs – pointing out that people have “weaknesses.”
Combs as a black entrepreneur
“I’m not saying every man is perfect. I’m not saying we all don’t have weaknesses,” Usher added. “But I cannot with any sense of humanity justify not recognizing the valuable contributions that this man made to us as black entrepreneurs, to us as business people, to us as people who transformed culture and ideas into something tangible. So many people have benefited from what he created, and I recognize that.”
Usher said he paid respect to Combs “because I realized that what I learned as a businessman before I even understood what business meant came from seeing the incredible things he was able to accomplish and the way he positioned himself as a businessman.”
During Combs’ high-profile federal criminal trial last summer, his lawyers openly acknowledged that Combs had physically abused Ventura over the course of their decades-long relationship. “We stand by domestic violence,” Combs’ defense attorney Marc Agnifilo told the jury in his closing argument. “It happened.”
Statements about Usher’s presence
Over the course of four days of trial, Ventura detailed how Combs kicked, punched, shoved and stomped on her “too many times to count.” Surveillance video footage was also shown showing Combs kicking and dragging Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016.
Former Danity Kane and Diddy-Dirty Money member Dawn Richard testified during the trial that Usher was present at an industry dinner in 2010 when Combs argued with Ventura before punching his girlfriend in the stomach and sending her out of the room.
