Diddy grills a nervous Justin Bieber, 16, in resurfaced clip: ‘You haven’t been calling me’
Clips of Diddy’s awkward exchanges with Bieber have resurfaced in the wake of raids on the music mogul’s homes in Miami and Los Angeles
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Your support makes all the difference.Diddy can be seen questioning a nervous Justin Bieber, who looks to be around 16, about why he’s supposedly been keeping his distance, in a clip that has resurfaced in the wake of raids on the music mogul’s homes.
Born Sean Combs, the rapper, label owner and business mogul was subjected to raids on his properties in Los Angeles and Miami this week by Homeland Security, reportedly in connection with “a federal sexual trafficking investigation”.
Diddy’s lawyers have hit out at the raids, branding them a “gross overuse of military-level force”. He was not detained and spoke to authorities, and neither he nor any family members were arrested, nor has their travel been restricted, according to his lawyer’s statement.
In the clip, which has been circulating on social media since Monday (25 March), Diddy and Bieber are shown together in a recording studio. It is unclear what the footage was filmed for, but it appears to have been taken around the time the future pop star was recording his 2010 debut album, My World 2.0.
Then, Bieber was working closely with his mentor, Usher, whose own career was cultivated in part by Diddy during the Nineties.
“What’s up man, you good?” Diddy asks Bieber, who shuffles around as the older musician looks at him from behind tinted sunglasses. “Selling out arenas and everything? Starting to act different, huh? You haven’t been calling me and hanging out the way we used to hang out.”
Fidgeting, Bieber shuffles his feet and mumbles: “Well I mean, you haven’t... you tried to get in contact with me through all my, you know, my partners and whatnot, but you never really got my number. So, you want my number? I’m gonna tell you my number.”
In another clip doing the rounds, Diddy is seen hanging out with Bieber when he was 15, as the older artist talks about spending “48 hours” with the “Baby” star.
“You ever seen the movie 48 Hrs? Right now [Justin is] having 48 hours with Diddy, him and his boy,” the rapper says in the video.
“They’re having the times of their lives, like where we hanging out and what we’re doing we can’t really disclose. But it’s definitely a 15-year-old’s dream.”
“I have been given custody of him,” Diddy says. “You know, he’s signed to Usher and I had legal guardianship of Usher when he did his first album. I did Usher’s first album.”
He adds: “For the next 48 hours, he’s with me. And we’re gonna go full. Buck full crazy.”
“Let’s go get some girls,” Bieber tells Diddy when asked what he wants to do.
“Man after my heart,” the rapper responds. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
The Independent has contacted Diddy and Bieber’s representatives for comment.
Combs, 54, is credited with helping launch the careers of artists including Biggie Smalls, Mary J Blige and Usher.
In yet another resurfaced clip, Usher can be seen talking about the year he spent living at Diddy’s home in New York when he was just 13 years old, claiming he saw some things that were “pretty wild”.
“I went there to see the lifestyle,” he told Howard Stern on his SiriusXM radio show. “And I saw it. But I don’t know if I could indulge and understand what I was even looking at. It was pretty wild. It was crazy.
“There were very curious things taking place and I didn’t necessarily understand it.”
“You’re a dad now. Would you ever send your kid to a Puffy camp?” Stern asked him.
“Hell no,” Usher replied.
In a 2004 interview with Rolling Stone, Usher recalled how Diddy introduced him to “a totally different set of s*** — sex, specifically”.
“Sex is so hot in the industry, man,” he continued, claiming: “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.”
Combs has been the defendant in several sexual abuse lawsuits in recent months.
In February, a male music producer accused Combs of sexually assaulting him and forcing him to sleep with sex workers.
In November last year, Combs’s former partner, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed a lawsuit in which she claimed she was trafficked, raped and beaten by the rapper on numerous occasions over the course of 10 years.
Ventura’s lawsuit was settled a day after she filed it for an undisclosed amount of money.
Another of Diddy’s accusers is a woman who alleges that he raped her two decades ago, when she was 17 years old.
Combs vehemently denied the allegations. In a statement in December, he called the claims “sickening” and said his accusers were “looking for a quick payday”.
“Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged,” he said in a statement. “I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
In a statement addressing the raids, Homeland Security said: “Earlier [on Monday], Homeland Security Investigations New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners.
“We will provide further information as it becomes available.”