Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Called Beyoncé a ‘Genius’ For the Way She Handled Jay-Z’s Infidelity
Hip-hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was once the guy everybody wanted to be friends with. Eventually, though, his façade came crumbling when an FBI investigation opened the door on what Diddy was truly like behind the scenes.
Through the years, Diddy always considered rapper Jay-Z to be a good friend of his (though Jay-Z later denied the friendship after Diddy was arrested). And during a 2018 interview, Diddy complimented Beyoncé for the way she handled learning about Jay-Z’s infidelity.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs called Beyoncé a ‘genius’ for her ‘Lemonade’ album
Back in the mid-2010s, things changed for the power couple that was Beyoncé and Jay-Z. The two had been together for years, but in 2014, rumors started to swirl that Jay-Z had been unfaithful to his wife. Eventually, Beyoncé released “Lemonade,” an album all about dealing with the hurt and the fallout of problems in their relationship, alluding to infidelity. In 2017, Jay-Z admitted that he had been unfaithful but that he and Beyoncé had worked through everything.
In 2017, during an interview with Andy Cohen, Diddy explained that Beyoncé telling her side of the story through “Lemonade” was a “genius” move. “I think it was genius; I think Beyoncé did a great job, and she tackled something that a lot of women have had to go through,” Diddy said when Cohen asked if he was “surprised” about what the album made reference to.
Diddy did say that he was surprised by “Lemonade” but that he wasn’t surprised that Jay-Z admitted to making mistakes. Diddy didn’t elaborate on why he wasn’t surprised.
Jay-Z has since denied having a friendship with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Although it seemed, at the time, that Diddy and Jay-Z were close, Jay-Z has since denied that he and Diddy share much of a friendship. In late 2024, Jay-Z was named alongside Diddy in a sexual assault lawsuit, and Jay-Z vehemently denied the claims. His attorney later said that he and Diddy were not close.
“Mr. Carter has nothing to do with Mr. Combs’ case or Mr. Combs,” Spiro said. “They knew each other professionally for a number of years … There is no closer association between any of them. That’s also a matter of fiction,” Jay-Z’s attorney said.
Diddy and Jay-Z obviously were once thought of as close friends, but Jay-Z has made a point to completely disassociate with Diddy since his arrest. The lawsuit against Jay-Z and Diddy is still ongoing.
