Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs resides at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, following his arrest in September 2024. This isn’t the first time Combs has faced an arrest with possible serious charges. In 1999, police detained him and Jennifer Lopez for their involvement in a New York nightclub shooting. Here’s what his ex-bodyguard said about Combs’ unorthodox ritual that he used to try and win his case.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ ex-bodyguard claimed that Combs took part in a bird sacrifice to win a trial
Sean “Diddy” Combs has faced legal trouble in the past. In December 1999, Combs, Jennifer Lopez, bodyguard Anthony “Wolf” Jones, and protégé Jamal “Shyne” Barrow were involved in a shooting at a nightclub in Times Square. The shooting injured three people. Combs, Lopez, and Jones fled the scene by car as police chased them through New York City. Ultimately, police found a gun in the car.
Police detained Combs and Lopez and charged them for their involvement in the shooting. However, they got away unscathed. Unfortunately for Barrow, he didn’t get off easy. A New York jury found Barrow guilty on five charges, and he served nearly nine years in prison.
Combs’ ex-bodyguard, Gene Deal, discussed the shooting in the Hulu documentary, The Honorable Shyne. According to Deal, Combs participated in a ritual bird sacrifice in Central Park on the morning that the New York jury was set to announce a verdict on the shooting.
Combs allegedly encountered a man whom he prayed with in the park. “When (Combs) got close to the guy, he just dropped down to his knees,” Deal explained. “Next thing I see, is this smoke just going back and forth around (Combs). I guess it was sage or something like that.”
Combs then grabbed a white bird from a cage that belonged to the man and “threw it up in the air,” Deal continued. “The bird just fell to the ground, boom, like it was a brick. I was like, ‘Oh, s***!’ … The bird died, man … the bird didn’t even move. (Combs) just walked away from him real quick.”
Jennifer Lopez could get subpoenaed for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ current case
Jennifer Lopez was present with Sean “Diddy” Combs during the 1999 nightclub shooting in New York City. It remains unclear if prosecutors plan to bring up the shooting in Combs’ current case. According to New York lawyer Pete Gleason, Lopez’s “firsthand knowledge” of the event could leave her vulnerable to a subpoena.
“Jennifer Lopez’s presence the night of the shooting incident and then departing in the same vehicle as Combs makes her a witness with firsthand knowledge and could subject her to being subpoenaed to testify under oath,” Gleason told In Touch Weekly. “If there are any criminal charges or civil claims not outside the statute of limitations, this would likely prove problematic for Lopez.”
Jamal ‘Shyne’ Barrow says he takes ‘no joy’ in the hip-hop mogul’s 2024 arrest
Jamal “Shyne” Barrow claimed Sean “Diddy” Combs “destroyed” his life after he spent over eight years in prison following the nightclub shooting. Barrow claimed that Combs had witnesses who would assert Barrow’s guilt in the trial at the time.
“When I was an 18-year-old kid, just wanting to do nothing other than make my mother proud and make Belize proud and … be recognized for my talent and take over the world,” he said in the Hulu documentary. “I was defending him, and he turned around and called witnesses to testify against me.”
Barrow says he’s since forgiven Combs and doesn’t wish ill upon him. “One of the things that I would never wish on my worst enemy is to be incarcerated … so, I take no joy in anyone’s challenges,” he continued.
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.
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