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Inside Jay-Z and Diddy’s 30-year close friendship in business and life-Kitty Chrisp-Entertainment – Metro
‘Whenever I get in trouble, this is the one I call.’
Jay-Z and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs have gone through a lot together, from rising hip-hop artists in the 90s to billionaire status (Picture: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation)
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Jay-Z’s close friendship dates back to the early 1990s, and now 30 years later they are embroiled in a rape allegation together – and both deny it.
An anonymous woman, Jane Doe, claimed Jay-Z, 55, and 55-year-old Diddy – real name Sean Combs – took turns raping her at an MTV VMAs afterparty in 2000 when she was just 13 years old.
Jay-Z – real name Shawn Carter – denied the allegation and as did Combs, who is now facing multiple lawsuits of charges including rape and sex trafficking.
Since allegations against Combs first came to light in November 2023, the 99 Problems hitmaker has failed to voice support for his friend. In fact, even 50 Cent has joked about his radio silence – given their long-standing friendship – as he posted a picture of Jay-Z on a milk carton asking if anyone had seen him.
Combs revealed last year on an episode of Carpool Karaoke with James Corden – before allegations were made – that only his mother and Jay Z are allowed to call him Sean, showing the level of their brotherly friendship.
‘There’s only one person, and I call him Shawn. That’s Jay-Z. We call each other Sean,’ he said, adding: ‘Nobody else could call me Sean. There’s not a single person, outside of my mother, that should be calling me Sean.’
Here’s a look at their friendship over the years.
They have been pictured at many events together over the years which mark their friendship, but Jay-Z stayed silent when Combs was faced with allegations in November last year (Picture: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation )
1990s – Music collaborations and rising together
Combs founded his record label Bad Boy Entertainment in 1993 and produced The Notorious B.I.G’s debut single Juicy the year later,which would rocket them to success.
Meanwhile, Jay-Z released his debut album Reasonable Doubt in 1996 and found his own path to Hollywood heights.
They worked together on a number of hits in the 1990s (Picture: Lester Cohen/Getty Images)
Together during this time they collaborated in 1997 on No Way Out – Combs’ debut studio album, in which they worked on Young G’s together, nodding to the death of Biggie Smalls.
Combs also joined Jay-Z on his second album In My Lifetime, Vol. 1.
After winning a Grammy, in 1999 Combs teamed up with Jay-Z for his sophomore studio album, Forever, including the track Do You Like It, Do You Want It.
1999 – Legal troubles
In 1999, both Jay-Z and Combs faced prison time for separate incidents.
After a two-year legal battle Jay-Z pleaded guilty to third-degree assault of former record producer Lance ‘Un’ Rivera. While Jay-Z avoided prison time, he served three years of probation, in which he couldn’t leave the country.
However, in a 2022 interview Rivera said it wasn’t Jay-Z who stabbed him after all.
Asked if Jay-Z was ‘the one who actually stabbed’ him, he responded: ‘Jay-Z was not the guy who actually stabbed me that night.’
In 1999 both faced legal troubles from seperate incidents (Picture: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
He told DJ Vlad: ‘I don’t know where people got Jay-Z stabbed me from because if anybody knows Jay-Z, Jay-Z’s a nice guy.’
Meanwhile, Combs – alongside girlfriend of the time Jennifer Lopez – was involved in a 1999 nightclub shooting at Club New York in Manhattan that left one woman shot in the face.
Both were released, but Combs was charged for gun possession before he was later acquitted.
2000s – Hip-hop royalty and billionaires
The exact date Beyonce and Jay-Z met is not known, but the Destiny’s Child icon previously told Seventeen that she met Jay-Z when she was 18 and he was 30.
They appeared together on the cover of Vanity Fair in November 2001, and went on to collaborate on 03 Bonnie & Clyde and Crazy in Love in the two years that followed.
It wasn’t long before Beyonce and Combs collaborated, as he featured in her 2003 track Summertime.
In 2004, the three were pictured together at the MTV VMA awards.
Beyonce and Combs ended up collaborating on Summertime together after she and Jay-Z got together (Picture: Evan Agostini/Getty Images)
While Combs’ music empire grew, Jay-Z founded Roc Nation in 2008, with the intention of signing pop and hip hop artists which ended up including the likes of Rihanna, Shakira, and J Cole.
In September 2005, Jay-Z and Combs jointly donated $1 million to the Hurricane Katrina relief fund, handing over a big cheque during a telethon.
‘This is our community,’ Jay-Z told The Associated Press at the time. ‘When I turn on CNN, I see a lot of black people on the streets. I know it’s other people too, but those projects have been hit hard.’
Combs added: ‘We are all descendants from each other’s families. When you hear black people say “brothers” and “sisters”, it’s really true. These are all people that I know I’m related to somehow, some way — the human race family.’
Jay-Z is pictured hear attending Combs’ birthday in 2004 (Picture: Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
They topped the Forbes rap rich list in 2010 (Picture: Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
By 2010, the pair had topped the Forbes rap rich list in first and second place. Jay-Z was worth a reported $37million (£22), while Combs was just £1mill behind him.
In 2009 Combs was asked by a reporter if he remembered a picture of them both chatting close together.
Combs explained the picture was from his birthday party, for which Jay-Z had flown to especially, even though his schedule was tight.
‘People see us as competitors and different icons in the hip-hop game, but that was just a moment of two Black brothers telling each other how much they appreciate each other,’ Combs said.
2016 – ‘Whenever I get in trouble, Jay-Z is the one I call’
In 2016, Jay-Z joined Combs on stage for the Bad Boy Reunion Tour ahead of what would have been Biggie Smalls’ 44th birthday.
‘Bad Boy’s celebrating 20 years of hits, but this is extended family,’ Combs said of Jay Z while on stage.
Combs has called Jay-Z a ‘brother’ in the past (Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Live Nation)
‘You’ve been there with me through my ups and downs, whenever I get in trouble, this is the one I call. This my strategist right here, this my brother, this B.I.G.’s brother,’ he added.
‘It’s Brooklyn’s own, Brooklyn!’ he added.
‘That’s why I appreciate you,’ he told Jay Z. ‘He came five thousand miles away to come here to Brooklyn, to represent the B.I.G.’
2019 – Combs’ 50th birthday
Combs and Jay-Z were pictured together at the former’s 50th birthday in 2019.
It also marked the moment Watch The Throne hitmakers Jay-Z and Kanye West appeared to squash their long-running feud, and posed for pictures together.
Combs hosted the celebrations at his Holmby Hills mansion in Los Angeles and was pictured between Jay-Z and the Bound 2 rapper.
Here, Jay-Z and Combs enjoy a glass together at the latter’s 50th birthday (Picture: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Sean Combs)
2020 – Jay-Z and Combs toast to successful careers at annual Roc Nation brunch
At the January 2020 Roc Nation Brunch, the men toasted to their successful careers.
”It’s 2020, y’all, and it is different than when it was 2016,’ Combs said in a speech as Jay-Z stood beside him.
‘The game has been elevated. As you know, there has been no expense spared. We had a Black billionaire lunch year, understand, right? And, we’re here together in keeping staying together. We’re getting tighter, and united we stand.’
That same year, the pair were also pictured together at the pre-Grammy Awards Gala hugging and smiling.
Combs gave a speech alongside Jay-Z at the Roc National party in 2020 (Picture: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation)
2022 – The pair continue to hang out together at public events
In April 2022, the hip-hop pair watched DJ Khaled being honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Meanwhile, at the BET Awards, Jay-Z narrated a montage of Combs’ life after the mogul was presented with a lifetime achievement award.
‘The whole mantra of can’t stop, won’t stop, you’ve got to be relentless, you’ve got to have a bit of crazy, you can’t take no for an answer, got to make it happen. He embodies that,’ Jay-Z said.
‘Here’s this guy from a neighbourhood similar to where I grew up, who made it to these unreachable heights. Puff was the first one that came through and made it feel like it was us.’
Jay-Z narrated a montage of Combs’ life at the BET Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2022 (Picture: Bennett/Getty Images for BET)
He continued: ‘We took our rightful place at the tables and the board rooms and the fashion shows. We arrived. That impact obviously had an effect on all of us. It let us carve our own space, and it was like, “Oh, we can be in these spaces without assimilating. We’re going to be in these spaces as ourselves.
‘To change someone’s mindset and take the limits off kids dreams, you dream about things when you see it done. Then that dream becomes obtainable. It’s something that you can reach for.’
He ends: ‘You can’t measure that. You will get in there and he will make you believe you can do anything.’
Jay-Z’s statement in full
My lawyer received a blackmail attempt, called a demand letter, from a “lawyer” named Tony Buzbee.
What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle.
No sir, it had the opposite effect! It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!’
These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one!! Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree? These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.
This lawyer, who I have done a bit of research on, seems to have a pattern of these type of theatrics! I have no idea how you have come to be such a deplorable human Mr Buzbee, but I promise you I have seen your kind many times over. I’m more than prepared to deal with your type.
You claim to be a marine?! Marines are known for their valor, you have neither honor nor dignity.
My only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people.
I mourn yet another loss of innocence.
Children should not have to endure such at their young age. It is unfair to have to try to understand inexplicable degrees of malice meant to destroy families and human spirit.
My heart and support goes out to true victims in the world, who have to watch how their life story is dressed in costume for profitability by this ambulance chaser in a cheap suit.
You have made a terrible error in judgment thinking that all “celebrities” are the same. I’m not from your world.
I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don’t play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor.
We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain. Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable.
I look forward to showing you just how different I am.
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