The rap mogul shook off decades of rumored bad behavior with wholesome PR revamps.
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This article was originally published on April 17, 2024.
I want to be known for giving the most money away.
His business empire blossomed across the 90s and the early aughts in spite of jarring investigations into hisenterprisesandmorals.
Im going to get out of here.
Im going to be somebody.
Combs earned the nickname Puff for his temper, which was also the impetus for his hip-hop empire.
as its dynamic duo.
(Lopezs charges were dropped.)
Hes a $100 million corporation, and they looked at me as the enemy.
Combs retired his Puff Daddy moniker after the trial.
Puffs pivot to P. Diddy propelled a shift in public opinion in 2001.
This eased Combs into a respectable-elder-statesman role as his attention shifted from albums and songs charts to boardroom plays.
Hed become something of a totem for the ambitions of a generation of Black creatives.
Mainstreaming Diddys persona worked because admirers of his aspirations needed the hero.
The scale of Diddys alleged double life is breathtaking.
(Diddy has denied all her allegations.)
Its an inelegant nonsolution, a misguided mass uncorking of the most macabre humor reflex.
It models the inability of the industry to disseminate a clear-eyed response to the gravest news.
Domestic violence and sexual-assault accusations dont curb feature requests and festival spots in this climate.
Its the good time you provide thats most important.
The urge to throw someone under the bus without dismantling the infrastructure upholding abuses of power is the allure.
The flame of fearful and corrective disassociation burns hot and clean.
We cant let wealthy men treat everyone in the vicinity like chattel.
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