Will Smith has denied any links to the disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, and requested that people stop associating him with the rapper.
The Oscar-winning actor was speaking onstage on Thursday (12 December) in San Diego, California, when he said he had noticed his name being associated with Combs, who is currently in a federal lockup in New York awaiting trial for sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.
More than a dozen women and a dozen men have sued Combs for allegations of sexual assault. The hip hop mogul, who went by many monikers including Puff Daddy, has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has repeatedly denied all claims of sexual assault.
Social media users have been speculating online about what celebrities could have attended Combs’ regular parties at his LA mansion, where “freak offs” are claimed to have taken place, which are days-long sex parties in which the musician would allegedly force others into sex acts.
In a video obtained by TMZ, Smith told the crowd he has seen memes that associate himself and Combs; some of them amusing, some of them not.
“I just wanna say this very clearly: I don’t have s*** to do with Puffy, so you all can stop all them memes,” he said, in reference to Combs.
“Y’all can stop all of that bulls***. I ain’t been nowhere near no damn ‘freak off,’” he said to the crowd, as they started cheering in response.
He continued: “I ain’t been nowhere near that man, ain’t did none of that stupid s***.”
Smith has been photographed with Combs in the past, but the Fresh Prince of Bel Air star told the crowd it was a “lie” that he was associated with the rapper.
Smith then joked, “I ain’t even like baby oil,” in reference to the 1,000 bottles of baby oil that were seized from Combs’ LA mansion in a raid in march, which are thought to be supplies for the alleged “freak offs”.
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He continued: “This is the first time I’ve said this publicly… I don’t usually respond to dumb stuff, but you know, y’all memes was doing too much, it was having me mad.”
Smith’s comments come days after an accuser referred to as “Jane Doe” claimed that musician Jay-Z raped her at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in 2000, along with Combs.
Jay-Z, real name Shawn Corey Carter, issued a strongly worded denial of the allegations on Monday, and his attorney Alex Spiro described the case as “a shakedown”.
Mr Carter’s lawyers have accused attorney Tony Buzbee, who filed the suit, of initially threatening to “immediately file” a “public lawsuit” against him unless he agreed to resolve the allegations through mediation for a financial payout.
His lawyers instead sued Mr Buzbee, citing Mr Carter as a celebrity John Doe, accusing him of trying to “extort exorbitant sums” from him through false assault allegations, US media reports.
Spiro said: “[Carter] is not mentioned, referenced, or implicated in any way in the criminal investigation of Mr Combs. He is neither a target nor a person of interest in that investigation.”
In a statement to Time, Mr Buzbee said the suggestion he was attempting to blackmail Mr Carter was “stupid and laughable” and that he had simply been seeking confidential mediation.
“What he fails to say in his recent statement is that my firm sent his lawyer a basic demand letter on behalf of an alleged victim and that victim never demanded a penny from him,” he said.
“Since I sent the letter on her behalf, Mr. Carter has not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me and this plaintiff. His conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened. I’m very proud of her resolve.”
