Sean Puffy Combs Press Releases

Puffy denies Talk magazine article
NEW YORK (AP) - Sean Puffy Combs denied a report Thursday in Talk magazine that alleges he's the subject of three criminal investigations. "For the record, it's not true, none of it is. All of it absolutely not true, 100%," Combs told The Associated Press in an interview, adding: "This has to stop, fact-check all your stuff and don't throw things out there that you know would possibly have speculations or affect a person." "We stand by the facts of the story," Talk publicist Lisa Dallos said. Combs, 31, was acquitted in March of weapons and bribery charges stemming from a 1999 shooting in a New York nightclub. However, Talk magazine reports in its August issue that his legal woes are far from over.

It said the Internal Revenue Service office in New York was investigating Combs for possible tax violations, Las Vegas police were looking into an allegation of gun possession, and Atlanta authorities were probing Combs and a bodyguard in connection with the slaying of a gang member who had been hired to protect Marion Suge Knight. A nemesis of Combs' and head of Death Row Records, Knight has been imprisoned since 1997 for violating parole on assault charges and is due to be released in August.
 

 

 
'Shyne' sentencing postponed
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Sentencing for rapper Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, a co-defendant in Sean Combs' recent nightclub shooting trial, has been postponed until June 1. Barrow, who was found guilty last month of assault, gun possession, and reckless endangerment, was scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday in New York, but the hearing was postponed at the request of his lawyer. Barrow remains in jail and faces up to 25 years in prison.

Rapper Puffy Combs arrested in Miami
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Rapper Sean Puffy Combs was arrested Saturday and charged with driving with a suspended license after police pulled him over while he was riding a scooter along Ocean Drive, a South Beach strip. Police pulled Combs over about 6 p.m. for making an illegal lane change, said Miami Beach Police Sgt. Peter Bitume. A driver's license check showed Combs' license was suspended, so he was arrested and released 20 minutes later after he signed a promise to appear in court, Bitume said. The charge is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 and possibly jail time, Bitume said. Combs was acquitted last month of bribery and weapons charges stemming from a shooting at a New York nightclub in which three people were injured. A member of his entourage was convicted of first-degree assault and is scheduled to be sentenced Monday. Combs has since announced that he's changing his stage name from Puff Daddy to P. Diddy when he releases his next album.

March 29 —  Sean Combs says he’s not blowing smoke — he’s getting rid of his much played-upon “Puffy” moniker. The rap mogul, who was acquitted earlier this month of bribery and weapons charges, told MTV News that he’s dumping the nickname when he comes out with a new album. “I’M NOT DOING it as serious as Prince. I’m not just going to be crazy with it,” he said Wednesday. “I just need a fresh start. That’s all.”
       So what will be his new rap name? Actually, he said he will just take one of his other nicknames — P. Diddy. The rapper said he can even envision a name change ceremony, with another beleaguered celebrity helping him out.
 So probably, like, the first week in June we are going to have a name change ceremony. Clinton is probably going to change my name. Bill Clinton, I like his style,” Combs said. “He is a survivor, they went at him, he is still standing
Combs says his priorities changed
Video
Rapper reflects on acquittal in shooting that saw
his protege convicted
March 16 — NBC's chief legal correspondent, Dan Abrams, reports on the acquittal of Sean "Puffy" Combs, shown with his mother, Janice Combs.
March 18 —  Sean “Puffy” Combs says the trial that ended with his acquittal on gun and bribery charges changed him. “I’ve changed, I’ve matured,” the hip-hop mogul told Time magazine Saturday. “This whole thing has made me deeper. It’s not what it was about before. ... I want to sit down and think about it and try and understand it on an intellectual lclicevel.”

Click Here Rapper Speaks
A JURY on Friday acquitted Combs and his bodyguard, Anthony “Wolf” Jones, of gun possession and bribery charges stemming from the Dec. 27, 1999, shooting inside Club New York in which three people were injured.
       Rapper Jamaal “Shyne” Barrow, a Combs protege who admitted firing a gun inside the nightclub near Times Square, was convicted of assault, reckless endangerment and weapons charges. He faces up to 25 years in prison.
       In an interview published in Sunday’s Newsday, Combs said the trial had been “a life-changing experience. I’m going to be taking some time off to make sure I evaluate everything and get my priorities straight. I have to see what’s important: my family, my children, my faith in God.”
       He said the ordeal had upset his children - Christian, 2, Justin, 7, and stepson Quincy, 10 - “because kids were talking about it at school.”
       Combs credited God, his lawyers Johnnie Cochran and Benjamin Brafman, and the jury for his victory.
       “I thank God, I’m blessed, I was able to find fine lawyers like mine,” he told the newspaper. The jurors “took the time and followed the facts. If you really broke it down like the jury did, you would know the proof wasn’t there.”
       It was a stunning victory for Combs, 31, who presides over a $300 million empire — Bad Boy Entertainment — that encompasses music, movies, clothing and restaurants. He founded the company just seven years ago.
       “I told him, ‘You’ve got your life back,’” Cochran said outside the courtroom. “‘Good luck. Do the best with it.’” Cochran called it an “honor and a privilege” to represent Combs and said that it was his last criminal trial.
       

The rapper speaks
March 16 — Combs responds to being found not guilty.

       
LAWYER EXPLAINS STRATEGY
       Brafman, in a telephone interview Sunday with The Associated Press, said the key to winning over the jury was “to get 12 ordinary citizens to get past the hype and the terribly prejudicial media coverage going in and simply look at the facts.”
       Brafman said part of his task was to get the jury to see Combs, 31, as “an extraordinary young man who has accomplished so much at this early stage of his life.”
       Brafman said Combs had “learned a lot” about protecting his image. “I think he’s going to be more careful about where he goes and who’s going to be allowed into his inner circle,” he said.
       Brafman also said he succeeded in getting an acquittal in part by bringing out two important elements that were not related to anyone’s account of what happened in the club.
       “One was the fact that within minutes of Sean and Jennifer [Lopez, his then-girlfriend] arriving at the precinct, you had the duty sergeant calling up the press because he deemed this to be a newsworthy case,” he said. This suggested to the jury that Combs’ celebrity might have affected how his case was being handled, the attorney said.
       The other element, Brafman noted, was that Combs faces lawsuits seeking more than $1 billion.
       Combs is being sued by the three people who were shot in the club; by his driver Wardel Fenderson, who claimed Combs tried to bribe him to take the gun charge who is suing for $3 million for emotional distress; and by the owner of Club New York, who claims his business was harmed by the shooting.
       “The amounts of money being requested by these people made them look not like victims but like opportunists,” Brafman said.
       Luke Pittoni, the lawyer who is defending Combs against the civil lawsuits, said Sunday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that he will seek to have the lawsuits dismissed in the wake of the acquittal.
       He noted that the money sought from Combs is not directly related to the criminal trial, but Pittoni said he believes the acquittal could “discourage them from continuing the lawsuit.”
       Combs did not respond to calls seeking comment left at his office or with his spokeswoman, Nathalie Moar.

 

Detroit-area man sues Puffy
DETROIT (AP) - A syndicated television show host has sued rap mogul Sean Puffy Combs, his record label and members of the musician's entourage over an alleged attack after a 1999 interview. Roger Mills' lawsuit, filed Thursday in Wayne County Circuit Court, seeks unspecified damages from Combs, Bad Boy Entertainment, several of Combs' representatives and Detroit radio station WCHB-FM. Mills, of Harper Woods, Mich., alleges assault, false imprisonment, destruction of property, intentional infliction of emotional distress and a civil conspiracy. "As we have yet to be served with this complaint, we are unable to comment on specific allegations," Combs spokeswoman Nathalie Moar said. Representatives for Bad Boy Entertainment said they had not seen the lawsuit and had no comment

 Alleged murder plots in Puffy trial
NEW YORK (AP) - Allegations of murder plots against Sean Puffy Combs and an enemy of the rap mogul were raised in a conference between attorneys during Combs' weapons and bribery trial, according to a court transcript released Thursday. Prosecutors said Matthew Allen believed Combs was plotting to kill him. The defense said Allen wanted to kill Combs. A confrontation between Allen and members of Combs' entourage sparked a 1999 nightclub shooting that left three people wounded. Combs was acquitted of weapons and bribery charges last week. Combs' lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said during the trial that Combs had received a telephone threat at his office from someone who "gave us detailed information concerning a contract on Mr. Combs' life." Brafman also said court officers had heard a man with a walkie-talkie describe Combs' car and security precautions. He said the caller identified the man at the courthouse as an acquaintance of Allen's.

Prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos said Allen believed Combs was trying to bribe him to keep him from testifying, but that Allen learned from one of Combs' employees that the rap mogul planned to kill him. Bogdanos said Allen had refused to testify because he feared his relatives would be in danger. Brafman denied Combs schemed to kill Allen. The March 14 conference was held out of the jury's presence and the record was sealed until after the verdict at Brafman's request

Puffy says trial changed his life
NEW YORK (AP) - Sean Puffy Combs says the trial that ended with his acquittal on gun and bribery charges changed him. "I've changed, I've matured," the hip-hop mogul told Time magazine Saturday. "This whole thing has made me deeper. It's not what it was about before...I want to sit down and think about it and try and understand it on an intellectual level." A jury Friday acquitted Combs and his bodyguard, Anthony Jones, of gun possession and bribery charges stemming from the Dec. 27, 1999, shooting inside Club New York in which three people were injured. Rapper Jamal Shyne Barrow, a Combs protege who admitted firing a gun inside the nightclub near Times Square, was convicted of assault, reckless endangerment and weapons charges. He faces up to 25 years in prison. In an interview published in Sunday's Newsday, Combs said that the trial had been "a life-changing experience. I'm going to be taking some time off to evaluate everything and get my priorities straight. I have to see what's important: My family, my children, my faith in God."

Combs credited God, his lawyers Johnnie Cochran and Benjamin Brafman, and the jury for his victory. "I thank God, I'm blessed, I was able to find fine lawyers like mine," he told the newspaper. The jurors "took the time and followed the facts. If you really broke it down like the jury did, you would know the proof wasn't there." Brafman, in a telephone interview Sunday with The Associated Press, said the key to winning over the jury was "to get 12 ordinary citizens to get past the hype and the terribly prejudicial media coverage going in and simply look at the facts." Brafman said part of his task was to get the jury to see Combs, 31, as "an extraordinary young man who has accomplished so much at this early stage of his life." Combs is being sued by the three people who were shot in the club; by his driver Wardel Fenderson, who claimed Combs tried to bribe him to take the gun charge and is suing for $3 million for emotional distress; and by the owner of Club New York, who claims his business was harmed by the shooting

Puffy acquitted on criminal charges
NEW YORK (AP) - Rap impresario Sean Puffy Combs was acquitted Friday of taking an illegal handgun into a crowded Manhattan hip-hop club where three people were later wounded. He was also cleared of trying to bribe his way out of trouble by using a diamond ring given to him by ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez. Moments after he left the courtroom, Combs called his children on a cell phone with the good news. "I just wanted to tell you everything is all right," he told his son Justin. Combs' bodyguard, Anthony Jones, was acquitted of the same charges faced by his boss. Both men had faced up to 15 years in prison. Rapper Jamal Shyne Barrow, a Combs protege who had been charged with attempted murder, was convicted of two counts of assault, two weapons charges and reckless endangerment for the shooting inside the club in the early morning of Dec. 27, 1999. Barrow was jailed pending his April 16 sentencing. The 21-year-old, whose glum reaction stood in stark contrast to Combs' celebration, could be sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison.

"It's bittersweet," Combs said of the verdict. "My heart goes out to everybody who was hurt by this." As the verdict was read, Combs nervously held a green leatherette copy of the New Testament. The Grammy-winning multimillionaire embraced his legal team, with lawyers Benjamin Brafman and Johnnie Cochran burying their heads against Combs' shoulder. "I told him, 'You've got your life back,'" Cochran said. After the verdict, jurors were driven away from the courthouse without speaking to reporters. "The jury has rendered its verdict, and we accept it," Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said in a statement. The high-profile trial stretched nearly seven weeks, with jurors hearing from 59 witnesses and examining more than 130 pieces of evidence. Combs was the key defense witness, spending a full day testifying that he never carried a weapon on the night of his arrest and instead thought he was the target.

Puffy jurors recess deliberations
NEW YORK (AP) - Saying they were exhausted, the jurors in the Sean Puffy Combs gun possession trial finished their second day of deliberations Thursday without reaching a verdict. In a note to the judge, the jurors wrote that they were "very exhausted, and any further deliberations would be counterproductive." The jurors ended their day at about 6:30 p.m., more than eight hours after they began deliberating, as one juror appeared to wipe tears from her eyes. The jury spent part of the day rehearing the testimony of Detective William Wallace, a ballistics expert who recreated the trajectories of the bullets fired inside Club New York. It was the jury's first request for a repeat of trial testimony. Attorney Johnnie Cochran, part of Combs' high-powered defense team, declined to speculate on the seemingly emotional juror. "That would be like reading tea leaves," he said.

Combs, 31, was charged with weapons possession and bribery after his Dec. 27, 1999, arrest as he fled a Times Square-area nightclub where gunfire had erupted. Combs' protege and co-defendant, Jamal Shyne Barrow, is charged with three counts of attempted murder for allegedly shooting three people in the club. Combs' bodyguard, Anthony Jones, faces the same weapons and bribery charges as Combs. One of three alternate jurors, Aurora Garcia-Susana, said Thursday that she believed the hip-hip entrepreneur will emerge from the trial unscathed. "I would have voted not guilty, and I think he will be acquitted," said Garcia-Susana, 37, a medical records clerk. "But his testimony, I don't think, was all that truthful. Still, the prosecution did not prove its case." Three of the jury's five alternates were released on Wednesday before deliberations began. The jury has been sequestered since that day. The panel was expected to resume deliberations Friday morning.

Surprise witness in Puffy case
NEW YORK (AP) - A surprise witness in the case against rap mogul Sean Puffy Combs is in the custody of Maryland authorities and could be brought to New York to testify, a prosecutor said Wednesday. The witness, Matthew Allen, 29, is the man with whom Combs allegedly had the dispute that sparked gunfire in Club New York in the early morning hours of Dec. 27, 1999, as Combs and his entourage tried to leave the club. Prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos said Allen could be brought to New York as early as Thursday if he waives a hearing on his extradition. If he fights extradition, it could be a week before he's put on the stand, Bogdanos told state Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon. Bogdanos said Allen agreed last month to testify but fled before he could be called to the stand. New York City Police Detective Arthur Caddigan said it took about six weeks to track down Allen, who was found early Wednesday in Prince George's County. Bogdanos was expected to finish presenting evidence against Combs on Wednesday, but asked for permission to call Allen to testify after the defense begins putting on its case.

Combs' lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, objected to having his case interrupted by another witness for the prosecution and asked Solomon to allow Allen to testify only as a witness rebutting evidence in the defense case. Solomon did not immediately rule on the matter. Combs, his bodyguard, Anthony Jones, and rapper Jamal Shyne Barrow are on trial in connection with the shooting that left at least three people wounded. Combs and his bodyguard are charged with two counts of gun possession. Barrow is charged with attempted murder. Combs also is charged with bribery for allegedly offering his driver $50,000 to take the gun rap for him. Allen is considered a valuable prosecution witness because he was standing close to Combs in the club. Allen is on probation and has charges pending against him in two other criminal matters, Bogdanos said. He offered no further details on those cases.

Puffy takes stand in his defense
NEW YORK (AP) - Rap mogul Sean Puffy Combs, taking the witness stand Thursday at his gun possession trial, said he thought he was the intended victim when shooting broke out at a Times Square nightclub. "Do you know who was being shot at?" asked his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman. "No. I thought I was being shot at," Combs said. "My hands were up. I started to go down. Everybody started falling all over each other." Among the people falling on top of him, he added, was his bodyguard, Anthony Jones, who is also charged with gun possession in the trial in Manhattan State Supreme Court. Combs said the gunfire rang out shortly after Jones accompanied him and his then-girlfriend, singer-actress Jennifer Lopez, from the VIP section of Club New York to the exit early on Dec. 27, 1999. "I had felt the shots were for me," Combs added. "As fast as I could get down there, I was just trying to get away from danger."

Prosecutor: Puffy broke gag order
NEW YORK (AP) - A prosecutor complained Wednesday that Sean Puffy Combs violated a gag order by issuing a statement saying he would testify in his own defense on weapons charges and that ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez would not testify. Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos asked state Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon to hold Combs in contempt of court for violating a gag order barring both sides from talking to the press. He asked that Combs be sentenced to 30 days in jail. However, the gag order does allow Combs to assert his innocence and defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman argued that Combs' statement fell within that guideline. The judge said he would consider Bogdanos' request, and in the meantime he barred all statements and interviews from both sides, promising that any violation would be "swiftly and severely" punished. The morning arguments were made outside the hearing of the jury.

Update: Driver says Puffy had gun
NEW YORK (AP) - Minutes before he entered a Manhattan hip-hop club, Sean Puffy Combs stuffed a black handgun into the waistband of his pants, his driver testified Thursday. Wardell Fenderson, 42, said Combs adjusted his shirt and pants after positioning the gun, and then "continued to prepare for his night." It was the early morning hours of Dec. 27, 1999, when Combs, actress-singer Jennifer Lopez - his then-girlfriend - and rapper Jamal Shyne Barrow visited the Club New York just off Times Square. Fenderson was working as a driver for Combs. Barrow is charged with attempted murder in the case for allegedly shooting three people at the club. Combs and his bodyguard, Anthony Wolf Jones, 34, are charged with gun possession. Combs is additionally charged with bribery, for allegedly offering Fenderson $50,000 to take the gun rap for him.

According to Fenderson, he was parked outside Combs' recording studio when the multimillionaire rap impresario climbed into the back seat of the Lincoln Navigator to go to the club. Fenderson said when he glanced over his shoulder, Combs was hefting the gun in his right hand. "I thought, 'What in God's name is he doing holding a gun?'" Fenderson testified. "We made eye contact, but nothing was said. He went on about his business." Fenderson was again driving the Navigator, with Combs, Lopez and Jones inside, as they fled after the shootings. Fenderson said, Combs and Lopez were brought to the Navigator separately by bodyguards. Fenderson said he then drove on the sidewalk, around a police barricade, and sped north on Eighth Avenue. In afternoon testimony, Fenderson detailed how Combs allegedly offered him money as they stood inside a Manhattan police precinct. "I'm Puff Daddy, you know? I can't take this gun (rap). I'll give you $50,000," Fenderson quoted Combs as saying in hushed tones

Combs' driver recants gun ownership
NEW YORK (AP) - The police officer who found a gun in the vehicle that Sean "Puffy" Combs used to flee a 1999 nightclub shooting testified Thursday that the driver of the vehicle told him the gun was his, then recanted. Police officer Wiliam Meyer said he was doing the paperwork on the arrests of combs and others who had been in the sports utility vehicle when the driver, Wardell Fenderson, told him he had something to say. "I asked him what was going on, and he said the gun was his," Meyer said. But as Fenderson was about to be fingerprinted, he withdrew the claim. "He told me that the gun was not his and he was not going to take the rap for anybody else," Meyer said. Combs, his protege Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, and bodyguard Anthony "Wolf" Jones are on trial in connection with the shooting at club New York on Dec. 27, 1999.

Barrow, 21, is charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting three people during a dispute at the club. Combs, 31, and Jones, 34, are charged with gun possession and bribery. They have pleaded innocent. Fenderson, who was not charged, is expected to testify for the prosecution that combs offered him a $50,000 cash bribe if he would tell police the gun in the SUV was his. Earlier Thursday, a police sergeant testified that he never saw combs or anyone in his entourage throw a gun from their vehicle as they fled a nightclub shooting. A gun prosecutors have said was thrown from the vehicle was found along the vehicle's route from the nightclub. Sgt. Jack Konstantinidis said he followed the vehicle for 11 blocks after it sped from a times square nightclub on Dec. 27, 1999, and finally forced it to stop.

 

Puffy, Jennifer Lopez split
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Valentine's Day was a heartbreaker for Sean Puffy Combs, who confirmed his break-up with singer-actress Jennifer Lopez. "Mr. Combs confirmed that he and his love Jennifer Lopez have in fact broken up," his publicist Nathalie Moar said Wednesday. A break-up has been rumored for weeks. The performers have spent considerable time apart because she's promoting an album and he's been on trial in New York on weapons and bribery charges stemming from a 1999 nightclub shooting. "Mr. Combs is confirming this today as he wanted to put all the rumors surrounding their relationship to rest. At this difficult time we ask that you respect his privacy," Moar said. Lopez spokesman Alan Nierob said he couldn't reach the singer. Combs and Lopez got together recently in a failed effort to work things out. "The break-up happened the last couple of days. They will continue to be friends and he supports her, but the relationship is over," the source said

Driver testifies in Puffy's trial
NEW YORK (AP) - A driver testified Wednesday that he never taught Sean Puffy Combs, or a substitute driver, a series of Dick Tracy-style moves required to open a secret compartment in Combs' sports utility vehicle. Prosecutors have alleged that occupants of Combs' Lincoln Navigator tried desperately to open the compartment as police chased them on Dec. 27, 1999, to hide two illegal guns. Bill Williamson, 39, who for three years has been Combs' main chauffeur and had the compartment installed, testified he had taught only Paul Offord, head of Combs' security team, how to open the compartment, also referred to as a trap or safe. Williamson said that he did not teach the elaborate access sequence - which involved the ignition, radio and temperature controls and a hydraulic latch - to Wardell Fenderson, the driver working that night. Last week, a police officer testifying in the rap mogul's gun possession trial said he believed the trap was designed to hold guns. The four people in the Navigator, including Combs and his then-girlfriend, actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, 30, were fleeing Club New York, a Times Square-area nightclub.

Victim: Man at club threatened 'Puffy'
NEW YORK (AP) - A man called "Scar" threatened to kill Sean "Puffy" Combs and his companions just before shots were fired at a nightclub in December 1999, one of the wounded clubgoers testified at the rap star's trial. Julius Jones, 28, also said he saw Combs protege Jamal "Shyne" Barrow fire the bullet that injured him. In a profanity-spiced account, Jones said Wednesday he saw Combs' entourage moving through the jam-packed club and greeting people when "Scar" refused to shake Combs' hand. Then people started pushing and shoving while Scar yelled obscenities, telling Combs he was nothing special, Jones said. "Puffy Combs looked shocked," he said. Soon afterward, Jones said, he saw Combs holding a black automatic pistol. Jones said he turned to run and saw that Barrow was armed. Barrow then fired his gun, he said.

Jones, who is suing the defendants for $700 million, said he didn't care about the money. He said he sued because he wanted somebody to be held responsible for his injuries. Barrow, Combs and driver Anthony Jones are on trial in connection with the shooting at Club New York on Dec. 27, 1999. Barrow, 21, is charged with attempted murder; Combs, 31, and Jones, 34, are charged with gun possession and bribery.