Usher may insist Combs’ legacy ought to remain unbesmirched, but frankly, “the reality of history” is that the rapper-turned-sex-pest’s music is now inexorably tied to his crimes against women. In September 2024, Diddy was indicted for sex-trafficking and racketeering, and abusing, threatening, and coercing women—in addition to charges of forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.
In October 2025, Diddy was sentenced to 50 months in prison on prostitution charges and fined $500,000, and he is still facing over 70 civil lawsuits across the country. Yet not even that iron-clad conviction could deter Usher from supporting his old pal. “Certain people are prosecuted and maybe not recognized for the greatness they offer,” he said, perhaps forgetting in the heat of the moment the rapper’s $400 million net worth, three Grammys, three BET Awards, and two MTV VMA’s.
Usher and Combs first met in 1994, when the singer lived with Combs for a year at age 15 to attend Diddy’s nefariously-titled “Flavor Camp.” In a 2016 interview with Howard Stern, Usher claimed that, during this time, he saw “very curious things taking place.” (Back in 2004, he had already admitted to Rolling Stone that at least some of those “very curious things” were, in fact, orgies). That Usher would support his longtime collaborator is less surprising than one might hope: between 2017 and 2019, the “Yeah!” singer faced his own deluge of lawsuits—from both previous sexual partners and his own insurance company—accusing him of exposing unknowing partners to herpes. The suits have since been settled or dismissed.
Combs is currently serving his time at New Jersey’s Fort Dix federal prison. Other notable inmates of the low-security facility have included former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, “pharma bro” fraudster Martin Shkreli, and Real Housewives of New Jersey ex-husband “Juicy” Joe Giudice. He is set to be released in 2028.
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