Greg Harris
Warning: This article contains discussion of rape and sexual assault allegations which some readers may find distressing.
Usher has claimed he has nothing ‘negative to say’ about Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs about the disgraced musician and businessman.
Combs was arrested in September 2024 on a number of charges including sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and racketeering conspiracy.
Ultimately, the judge found him guilty of two counts of transporting people across state lines for prostitution, but was acquitted of the other charges.
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Judge Arun Subramanian handed Combs a 50-month term, and the disgraced music mogul has been serving that prison sentence at the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Facility in New Jersey, which is said to house roughly 4,000 prisoners. Combs has consistently denied all allegations of sexual assault and misconduct made against him.
Combs worked with dozens of artists during his career, including Usher, whose self-titled 1994 debut album was co-produced by Combs.
In a new interview, Usher spoke positively about Combs and suggested that his conviction should not take away from his legacy.
“I think certain people are prosecuted and maybe not recognized for the greatness that they offer,” the 47-year-old star declared in an interview for Forbes. “I don’t have anything negative to say about Sean Combs. My experience was not what the world has seen and how he’s been, you know, misrepresented.”
The ‘Confessions’ singer said that while he’s not defending Combs’ alleged behavior, he wants people to remember what he achieved in the music industry.
“I’m not saying that every man is perfect,” he continued. “I’m not saying that all of us don’t have flaws, but I can’t with any sense of humanity not recognize the valuable contributions that this man made for us as Black entrepreneurs, for us as people who transition culture and ideas into something that’s tangible. SO many people benefited from what he created. And I acknowledge that. That’s why I see him as legacy.”
Usher was a teenager when he started working with the music producer in 1994. He also lived with Diddy around this period.
“Puff was a mentor above… I think that the idea of the level of discipline came with that time in business, especially in an era that was trying to prove itself culturally in hip-hop,” he continued. “Now, you can’t turn on the television and not see the influence of hip-hop. The people who actually made that appropriate and are the forefathers are people like Sean Combs. Not just in the great times that they had, musically, but in the idea of being able to find ways to monetize culture and create something that was not just black or white, it was colorless.”