Former Vibe magazine editor Danyel Smith has claimed Diddy sent her death threats for refusing to show him his cover photos.
In an essay penned for the New York Times, Smith recounted the incident which originally occurred in 1997, when Diddy (real name Sean Combs) was set to star as Vibe‘s cover star for his album ‘No Way Out’.
However, when Smith denied Diddy access to his cover photos prior to the magazine’s release as per their policies, Diddy allegedly showed up at the Vibe offices with “two associates.” Diddy and his crew reportedly went through “various cubicles and offices” to find the photos; Smith was “shuttled … from office to office” so she could safely leave the building and head home.
She accused Diddy of sending a threatening call to her the next day; after reiterating it was not in their policies to let artists see cover photos before release, she alleged Diddy “told me, as I’ve retold hundreds of times over the years, that he would see me ‘dead in the trunk of a car.’ Not missing a beat, I told him he needed to take that threat back.”
Smith claimed Diddy told her “fuck you”; when she said she would notify her lawyer, Diddy allegedly went on to say: “I know where you are right now.” Upon Smith’s lawyer talking to Diddy, Smith said she was sent an apology. However, the following theft of the heavy servers holding the Vibe cover photos unsettled her.
“I had reason to fear for my life,” Smith wrote in the introduction to her piece. “What happened was insidious. It broke my brain. I forgot the worst of it for 27 years.”
NME have reached out to Diddy’s representatives for comment.
The essay follows a wave of accusations and lawsuits against Combs, beginning in November 2023 when R&B singer and ex Cassie filed a lawsuit against him on allegations of physical and sexual abuse. Diddy denied the claims. They then settled the lawsuit “to mutual satisfaction” a day after it was filed.
A week after Ventura’s original lawsuit filed in November last year, two new allegations were made against Diddy; one claimed Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her and the other alleged that Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping the plaintiff and her friend in 1990 or 1991 – adding that Diddy turned violent days later. Diddy went online to deny all allegations against him, but Hall hasn’t replied to the accusations.
Earlier this year, producer Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones sued Combs alleging he sexually assaulted him, had parties where sex workers and underage girls were present, and coerced him to sleep with prostitutes. Diddy replied, saying Jones’ claims were “pure fiction”.
Diddy continues to deny any wrongdoing.
On May 22, he was accused of drugging and assaulting Crystal McKinney, a former model. McKinney accused him of assaulting her at a Men’s Fashion Week event in 2003 by giving her a “powerful” joint and then assaulting her in a bathroom. Diddy did not respond for comment.
A former porn actress also came forward this month (July 4) to accuse the rapper of sex trafficking. Diddy’s lawyer has denied the claims, maintaining that “Mr Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone.”