Media mavens are recalling Sean “Diddy” Combs’ questionable past.
On Tuesday, two popular media personalities who covered Diddy for decades recalled past incidents involving the disgraced music mogul.
Former “Extra” host Tanika Ray — who also was a backup dancer for Diddy in the ’90s — posted on social media about a “horrific” experience from the era she says made her to steer clear of the Bad Boy Records founder for years.
She wrote of her experiences with Diddy, “I just knew to avoid him at all costs… Yes, I danced for him and kept my space. I interviewed him for his projects and kept my space. Nothing that is happening is surprising.”
Ray’s post came after The Grio’s creative director and former MSNBC host Touré — who has also previously worked for Rolling Stone and MTV News — shared a more specific story about a relative’s experience with Diddy.
During an interview with Joy Reid on Tuesday night, Touré recalled of the Bad Boy tycoon, “I know this man well enough to call him and say, ‘Hey, I need a favor.’” He added that, “this might have been 10 or 12 years ago that I called him and said, ‘Hey, I have a family member, who I want you to hire them as an intern.’ And he said, ‘Yes.’”
But Touré then claimed his relative’s internship with the flashy music man “stopped abruptly like three or four months into it.”
“I spoke to my family member, like, ‘What happened?’” he told Reid. “And they wouldn’t say… and years later, they finally came out — and this is a male — and said that Puff had said, ‘Come home. Stay the night with me or the internship is over,’” Touré said.
Touré added that his relative told him of Diddy’s offer, “‘Absolutely not.’ And the internship ended.”
His revelation sparked Ray to post her own video, in which she said, “Oh yeah, you know we all have stories… Seriously we all have stories.”
“Mine is horrific and only five people know it, and I probably will never tell it,” she said. “But since then, I’ve been like, ‘Yup.’”
Ray added that she’s “intimately aware that you tell your truth, and you become victimized over and over and over and over, and mind you, I’ve then interviewed him many times.”
The “Mamaste with TanikaRay” podcast host said that she may write a book one day after all she’s “been in Hollywood for 25 years, maybe longer 30?”
But until then she won’t divulge specifics because, “it’s just so traumatizing. Women just want to live every day and feel safe, and when we revisit… we live in a state of victimhood, and nobody wants to live there.”
She added: “So, for people, who say, ‘Why didn’t you say something then?’ Because we just want to live. We want to be happy, and we really just want to forget the trauma. So, there’s that.”
Ray also wrote, “Now if someone needs to pile on my story, give me a call. But I think Cassie got it!!”
Cassie sued Combs in November alleging decades-long physical abuse, rape and sex trafficking. Combs vehemently denied the allegations, but settled the suit within 24 hours.
Several other alleged victims have come forward with similar lawsuits and allegations, which Diddy has adamantly denied.
Federal agents raided the “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper’s homes in Los Angeles, Calif., and Miami, Fla., this week as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation.
His lawyer slammed the investigation as a “witch hunt” and insisted Combs is innocent.
“There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name,” his lawyer said.
Reps for Combs have not commented on Ray’s or Toure’s claims.
