Post By : 2025-05-21"

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs used to be incredibly influential. Many of the people he helped to make stars aren’t talking about him"

TV and radio personality Big Tigger remembers a moment he had years ago with Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The DJ had connected with Combs at the music mogul’s restaurant, Justin’s, and a photographer captured a moment of the two men talking about life.

“I still had the picture and I had given it to my grandmother before she passed. It was a really great picture, like me and him just had a conversation about family,” Big Tigger recalled to CNN. “He had already had some of his kids and I had told him, you know, I hadn’t had any yet, and he was just talking about family and how important family was to him. And I never forgot that personal conversation.”

Combs is no longer in the position to easily offer such wisdom.

His federal sex-trafficking trial in Manhattan is entering its third week. Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Cassie Ventura, an artist and former girlfriend of Combs whom he also produced, has spent more than 15 hours on the stand this week, detailing disturbing allegations of abuse she said she suffered at the hands of Combs.

Dawn Richards, another artist who worked with Combs as both a solo singer and a member of the girl group Danity Kane, which Combs founded on his MTV reality series “Making the Band,” is expected to testify next week.

Ventura settled a civil claim with Combs in 2023. He admitted no wrongdoing.

Richards filed a lawsuit in September 2024, accusing Combs of sexual battery, sexual harassment and false imprisonment. He has denied her allegations.

It’s not the trajectory many expected for the founder of Bad Boy Records, whose music and artists ruled the airwaves in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Big Tigger likened him to Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records, for a younger generations.

“I lightweight grew up a little bit to Puff with the music, and then by the time I actually got into the business, he was already Puff,” Big Tigger said, referring to one of Combs’ many nicknames. “Puff from a business standpoint and a possibility standpoint was an inspiration.”

The influence of Combs extended beyond the music industry, as he also had various businesses that included fashion, hospitality and spirits.

But music - from being an intern at Uptown Records to founding his own label - is what opened the doors to those other industries for Combs. Many of the artists he helped introduce to the world have so far been silent about his legal issues.

Here’s what some of them have said - or not said - since Combs has been accused of running afoul of the law.

Mase

The rapper was a frequent collaborator with Combs and signed to his label.

And while they had joint success on songs like 1997’s “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” and the late Christopher Wallace a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G’s hit “Mo Money Mo Problems” that same year, Mase and Combs fell out after he accused Combs of exploiting him and other Bad Boy artists, which Combs denied.

Mase recently attended to the funeral service for Wallace’s mother Vonetta Wallace which Comb’s adult son Christian Combs also attended.

Mase told Billboard he would be open to reconnecting with his former mentor.

“I lightweight grew up a little bit to Puff with the music, and then by the time I actually got into the business, he was already Puff,” Big Tigger said, referring to one of Combs’ many nicknames. “Puff from a business standpoint and a possibility standpoint was an inspiration.”

The influence of Combs extended beyond the music industry, as he also had various businesses that included fashion, hospitality and spirits.

But music - from being an intern at Uptown Records to founding his own label - is what opened the doors to those other industries for Combs. Many of the artists he helped introduce to the world have so far been silent about his legal issues.

Here’s what some of them have said - or not said - since Combs has been accused of running afoul of the law.

Mase

The rapper was a frequent collaborator with Combs and signed to his label.

And while they had joint success on songs like 1997’s “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” and the late Christopher Wallace a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G’s hit “Mo Money Mo Problems” that same year, Mase and Combs fell out after he accused Combs of exploiting him and other Bad Boy artists, which Combs denied.

Mase recently attended to the funeral service for Wallace’s mother Vonetta Wallace which Comb’s adult son Christian Combs also attended.

Mase told Billboard he would be open to reconnecting with his former mentor.

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