Bow Wow spoke out amid the arrest of Sean “Diddy” Combs, talking about the music mogul’s contributions to hip hop and how his absence is impacting the genre’s social scene.
Bow Wow is speaking out amid Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal troubles.
After Diddy was arrested on charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking in September, Bow Wow made some eyebrow-raising comments about the music mogul and rapper’s infamous parties and his view on how Diddy’s arrest has impacted the industry.
“He’s like the gatekeeper to the game,” Bow Wow said of Diddy on a recent episode of the More to the Story podcast with Rocsi Diaz. “Like BET Award weekend, the past two they just didn’t feel right because there was no emotion. There was no parties. There was nowhere to go.”
He added that Diddy’s absence felt like a “hole” to the hip hop community, calling it “a very, very messed up situation.”
“For me, thinking on it, bro’s supposed to be on a 250-ft yacht with his wife, leg up, chilling that’s how you ride it out,” he said. “And I think a lot of us probably thought we’d never see this. But for me it’s just unreal. It seems unreal at times. I would never have thought that we’d seen him in this position.”
Bow Wow, whose birth name is Shad Gregory Moss, got his start in the late ‘90s under the rap name Lil Bow Wow, rapping with Snoop Dogg. He noted that Diddy “was the guy that every young hustler looked up to and either wanted to be like or wanted to pass.”
He continued, “He was everything hip-hop. So for that to die out, you just really never thought. Especially when you look at somebody as somebody you studied, somebody you idolized.”
The “Broken Heart” rapper—who shares 13-year-old daughter Shai Moss with his ex Joie Chavis and a 4-year-old son with ex Olivia Sky—also clarified that he was separating Diddy’s contribution to the hip hop community from the allegations against him.
“Once again, I’m separating, right?” he explained. “I’m talking about him as the artist, as the person. It shows how monumental, how important he was to the culture.”
Diddy is currently in prison awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. He has pleaded not guilty on all counts as new allegations continue to pour in.
Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, detailed Diddy’s alleged “freak-offs” during a Sept. 17 press conference, accusing Diddy of of using a vast network of employees within his business empire and other associates to cover up crimes including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and the obstruction of justice.
“The indictment alleges that Combs abused and exploited women and other people for years and in a variety of ways,” the prosecutor continued, using “force, threats of force and coercion to cause victims to engage in extended sexual performances with male commercial sex workers.”
The freak-offs would sometimes last for days, Williams said, and often involved Diddy doling out drugs including ketamine, ecstasy and GHB to keep the victims “obedient and compliant.”
Diddy’s trial is set to take place May 5, 2025, with his attorney Marc Agnifilo continuing to maintain his innocence.
“Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts,” the lawyer previously stated. “These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
For more on the case, read on.
Sean “Diddy” Combs Remanded
After Sean “Diddy” Combs pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges on Sept. 17, his legal team proposed a $50 million bond package that included equity in his Miami home and his mother’s house, as well as limited his travel to within certain parts of Florida, New York and New Jersey.
The defense also offered, per a letter obtained by E! News, to “walk the Court through a series of actions taken by Mr. Combs over the past six months that prove that he is not a risk of flight or a danger to anyone in the community.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky rejected the package and ordered that Combs be remanded without bail. He remains in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Combs’ Lawyer Says Rapper Is Getting Treatment and Therapy
“He is not a perfect person,” Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo told the court, per NBC New York. “There has been drug use. He has been in toxic relationships.”
Therefore, he added, his client was getting “treatment and therapy for things that he needs treatment and therapy for.”
Overall, though, Combs’ “spirits are good,” the lawyer told reporters after court Sept. 17. “He’s confident.”
Combs Creates a Slippery Situation
More than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and personal lubricant were seized during the March 2024 raids on Combs’ L.A. and Miami homes, according to the 14-page indictment unsealed Sept. 17.
Per the indictment, the oil and lube were stockpiled for use in so-called “freak-offs,” the term Combs used for gatherings in which he allegedly orchestrated sexual encounters between women he coerced and threatened into doing his bidding and male sex workers.
“I don’t know where the number 1,000 came,” his attorney Agnifilo said in the TMZ documentary The Downfall of Diddy: The Indictment, which premiered Sept. 27. Pondering out loud why anyone would need so much, the lawyer added, “He has a big house, he buys in bulk. I think they have Costcos in every place where he has a home.”
Costco, meanwhile, wanted no part of it, telling TMZ in a statement that “none” of its U.S. stores carry baby oil.
Alleged Combs Texts Read in Court
In May 2024, CNN published a clip of hotel surveillance video from 2016 that appeared to show Combs attacking his then-girlfriend Cassie, born Cassandra Ventura. (The assault matched up with an alleged incident detailed in the lawsuit she filed against Combs on Nov. 16, 2023; both parties announced a settlement the next day.)
“I was f–ked up. I hit rock bottom,” Combs said in a video posted to Instagram in response to the footage. “But I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video.” He had gone to therapy and rehab since, he added, and was “committed to be a better man each and every day.”
During a Sept. 18 hearing on Combs’ second request for bail, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson said, per NBC News, that Combs allegedly sent a text in the days following the assault that read, “Call me, the cops are here.” Another read, “I have six kids. Call, I’m surrounded.”
Johnson did not say Cassie’s name in court. She said that Combs’ victim replied via text, “Sick you think it’s OK to do what you’ve done.”
Bail was once again denied, this time by U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr.
The Combs Case Is Set for Trial
On Oct. 3, the Combs case was reassigned to Judge Arun Subramanian because Carter was unable to accommodate a trial date.
During an Oct. 10 status hearing, Subramanian set a trial date of May 5, 2025.
Prosecutor Johnson told the judge she expected the trial to last roughly three weeks, but said there was still the possibility that a superseding indictment could lead to more charges against Combs.
Agnifilo said in court they’d need about a week to put on their case.
Meanwhile, the attorney said in the TMZ doc that Combs was looking forward to testifying in his own defense.
“I don’t know that I could keep him off the stand,” Agnifilo said. “I think he is very eager to tell his story.”
