R. Kelly Warned People About Making Fun of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and His Allegations
When Sean “Diddy” Combs’ homes were raided by law enforcement, fellow artist R. Kelly was one of the many who took notice. Kelly believed that Diddy was experiencing the same thing that happened to him. Because of this, he cautioned others from the outside about making light of the Bad Boy artist’s situation.
R. Kelly felt that what happened to Diddy could happen to anyone
It wasn’t too long ago that Kelly was under the same circumstances that Diddy is currently in. Sometime after accusations of Kelly’s abuse began to resurface, law enforcement raided a Chicago storage unit owned by the singer. There, they seized over 100 electronic devices.
Kelly was eventually arrested on July 11, 2019, for sex crimes. Although, unlike Diddy so far, Kelly was eventually able to receive bail in December 2020, after paying $1 million. But Kelly’s temporary freedom wasn’t indicative of his future. In September 2021, he was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison. To this day, Kelly still maintains his innocence.
It would be hard not to notice the parallels between Diddy’s and Kelly’s cases. The similarities weren’t lost on Kelly either, who’d been paying close attention to the Diddy controversy along with the rest of the nation. In an interview with Wack 100 Clubhouse (via Hot New Hip Hop), Kelly lashed out at the media’s treatment of Diddy. Reminded of the scrutiny he faced, Kelly also gave fair warning to comedians and other notable names for finding humor in the Diddy controversy.
“Motherf***ers out there laughing and making comedian jokes and doing all the other s*** on the radio and everything else, but they a** could be next,” Kelly said. “That’s what’s so f***ed up about [it]. They so stupid they don’t even realize the moves that’s going on. I don’t believe none of this s***. You could tell me about Puffy, you could about anybody. You could tell me on the news, the weather, the sky is blue, I’m not gonna believe the s***. Cause I’m in it now, and I know what they did.”
R. Kelly victim said that Kelly and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs are a lot alike
Kelly victim Lizette Martinez felt the same vibes from Diddy that she did from the “Ignition” singer. Martinez was one of many women who spoke about her experiences with Kelly in the Surviving R. Kelly documentary. Additionally, she wrote the book Jane Doe #9: How I Survived R. Kelly, which focused on her own personal reflections on Kelly. Martinez was an aspiring singer when she met the artist, and hoped he’d help launch her career when they met. But she claimed, at just 17 years old, she was manipulated into a relationship with Kelly, who seemed to have multiple sides to himself.
“It was like hanging out with one of your friends from high school. But while that’s how he drew me in with his young type personality, he was also a controlling monster. Honestly, it was like there were three personalities: the young person, the controlling, abusive person, and then the person on stage who was beloved by his fans,” she said in an interview with BET.
In the wake of Diddy’s scandals, Martinez further alleged that she also had a brief encounter with the music mogul. She met him in the late 90s, and he invited her to one of his now infamous parties.
“He’s like, ‘Hey, you have really pretty eyes.’ And said, ‘Hey, I’m having a party. You want to come with me?’ I didn’t have a good feeling about it and I just declined. Thinking about it now, it’s like, ‘Wow, I really dodged a bullet,’” she once said according to Billboard.
Martinez also touched on what struck her the most about the two controversial figures.
“They’re dangling a career in front of you. They use the power to get you to where they want you,” she added.
How to get help: In the U.S., call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to connect with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.
