Taye Diggs has revealed he felt “blindsided” by Diddy’s arrest on sex trafficking charges, having previously considered the disgraced rapper a “hero.”
The musician, 54, real name Sean Love Combs, is currently awaiting trial at the Metropolitan Detention Center of Brooklyn in New York City on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
It is alleged that the rapper would coerce and manipulate victims into participating in days-long sexual performances, which he called “freak offs.”
Diddy’s associates allegedly gave the victims drugs to keep them compliant and made threats against anyone who refused to participate, in claims similar to those in a civil lawsuit filed by Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Cassie last year.
Actor Diggs, 53, said on Thursday’s episode of Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson’s Sibling Revelry podcast: “I felt so naive when I heard all those things because I… I don’t know where I was, but it made me all blinded me.
Taye Diggs has revealed he felt ‘blindsided’ by Diddy’s arrest on sex trafficking charges, having previously regarded the disgraced rapper as a ‘hero’ – pictured last week
The 54-year-old musician, real name Sean Love Combs, is currently awaiting trial at the Metropolitan Detention Center of Brooklyn in New York City on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
‘He was a hero to me. I loved how he… he wasn’t very common, he started out as a dancer. All the things I wasn’t growing up, he was. He had so much confidence and a certain arrogance that I loved and he made being black cool.
“I really put him on a pedestal and it was disappointing to see what happened. I couldn’t believe it. And I didn’t like that feeling.’
The Chicago star added: ‘On the one hand, I think, this is great for people to know that this is happening. We can think that life should be lived a certain way, we can think that someone is a certain way and he or she can be the exact opposite and get used to that, you know?’
It was recently revealed that Combs was “able to speak briefly with family members and his children over the phone” People.
Diddy’s call home came amid news that his lawyers are not asking for him to be transferred from the ‘Hell on Earth’ Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset, Brooklyn.
“He is very concerned about his children and their well-being,” the source said.
“He has three minor children, two of whom are now without a living parent while he is in prison. Four of his seven children have no parent available now that he is in prison.’
Another source said the Combs children are “in a state of crisis and shock” following Diddy’s arrest.
Actor Diggs, 53, said on Thursday’s episode of Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson’s Sibling Revelry podcast: ‘He was a hero to me. I loved how he… he wasn’t very common, he started out as a dancer. All the things I wasn’t growing up, he was. He had so much confidence and a certain arrogance that I loved and he made being black cool.”
“It’s heartbreaking to see the children in the state they are in. This is their father. But to them he’s not Diddy, he’s Dad. He has always been a loving, devoted father.”
He shares Christian, Jessie and D’Lila with the late model and actress Kim Porter, who died in 2018 at the age of 47.
Quincy was Porter’s son with partner Al B. Sure!, and Combs subsequently adopted him.
He shares Justin with stylist Misa Hylton, and Chance with businesswoman Sarah Chapman.
In December 2022, he welcomed the arrival of his youngest child, daughter Love, with model Dana Tran.
On Tuesday, Justin, Christian and Quincy arrived together in a New York City courtroom to support their father.
About Diddy, he added, “I really put him on a pedestal and it was disappointing to see what happened. I couldn’t believe it. And I didn’t like that feeling’; seen in 2022
Combs’ three daughters and the 23-month-old girl were nowhere to be found.
Another source said People that Diddy will not receive special accommodations at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
‘He is treated like any other prisoner awaiting trial. Like all public figures in his position, he was placed on suicide watch as a precaution upon entering the facility.”
Diddy was arrested last week and charged with sex trafficking, extortion and transportation for the purpose of prostitution.
The indictment, which details allegations from 2008, accuses him of abusing, threatening and coercing women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his behavior.”
He has denied being guilty of the charges.
Following his arrest, he was denied bail by a judge after using both his and his mother’s homes in Miami – worth $50 million – as collateral.
On Wednesday he lost an appeal to overturn the decision and will remain in custody pending trial.
He is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
‘He is treated like any other prisoner awaiting trial. Like all public figures in his position, he was placed on suicide watch as a precaution upon entering the facility’; seen in a court sketch from September 18
Reporter Meghann Cuniff also weighed in Tweet Monday that Diddy’s lawyers are not currently asking the judge to change where he is being held.
The Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset, Brooklyn, also known as MDC, has a reputation for extreme violence, multiple deaths, poor conditions, safety issues, severe staff shortages, drug and contraband smuggling, some carried out by prison staff, and food containing maggots – which have now been refuted.
The prison is considered so dangerous that some judges have refused to send other violent offenders there. Some of the infamous prisoners held there include Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman-Fried and R. Kelly.
Combs, who pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges on Tuesday, is being held in solitary confinement — far from the comfort of his $48 million mansion — and is being monitored for suicide.
There were two fatal stabbings this summer and another stabbing in April in which an inmate was stabbed 44 times by MS-13 gang members at MDC, NBC reports.
The indictment against Diddy unsealed this week alleged that federal raids on his mansions in Miami and Los Angeles led to the discovery of more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lube.
It is alleged that the rapper would coerce and manipulate victims into participating in days-long sexual performances, which he called “freak offs.”
Diddy’s associates allegedly gave the victims drugs to keep them compliant and made threats against anyone who refused to participate, in claims similar to those in a civil lawsuit filed by Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Cassie last year.
These allegations were critical for prosecutors who filed sex trafficking charges against the producer, with observers noting authorities are increasingly expanding the law to suit their cases against powerful defendants.
An increase in federal sex trafficking charges was passed by Congress in 2000 as an intentional step to eliminate prostitution rings and pimps, but the evolving nature of the charge has recently seen it used to ensnare the likes of Keith Raniere .
Notably, Diddy has hired the same attorney, Marc Agnifilo, who previously challenged the government’s increasing use of federal sex trafficking charges in Raniere’s 2019 trial, which led to a 120-year prison sentence.
