Sean 'Diddy' Combs allegedly threatened former editor-in-chief of Vibe magazine, Danyel Smith, due to an argument over the 1997 December/January double issue of the publication.
via: RadarOnline.com
Danyel Smith, the former editor-in-chief of Vibe, wrote an essay detailing never-before-known secrets about the music mogul, including threats, intimidation, and menacing misconduct, RadarOnline.com today reveals.
In the first-person account, Smith described her “insidious” interactions with Combs that she said left her fearing for her life — and “broke my brain” — in the wake of the murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.
In 1997, Smith was thrust into a professional nightmare with Combs during preparations for Vibe’s December 1997/January 1998 double issue.
Smith recalled Combs’ insistence on seeing the magazine covers before publication — an unusual request that she refused.
Smith recounted: “It wasn’t our policy to show covers before publication. When I told him no, he threatened me, saying he would see me ‘dead in the trunk of a car.’”
Despite her request that Combs retract the threat, he allegedly responded, “I know where you are right now. Right on Lexington.”
The magazine’s publication process was further compromised when Combs visited the Vibe offices in New York with two security personnel, where he searched through cubicles and offices.
Vibe’s staff, feeling threatened, worked together to ensure Smith’s safety by shuttling their boss Smith from office to office.
Adding to the scandal over the covers, Smith said the servers inside the Vibe office containing crucial elements of the publication were stolen. Rumors spread that movers from Bad Boy Records, Combs’ own label, might have orchestrated the theft.
“The entire memory had been removed from my mind, like the servers that were stolen from the offices,” Smith said, indicating how deeply the experience had affected her.
In recent months, Combs has faced seven civil lawsuits, including allegations of sexual assault and abuse from various women, dating back as far as 1990.
One of the most publicized accusations was from Casandra Ventura, known as Cassie, who claimed that Combs raped, abused, and sex-trafficked her.
Reeling from these lawsuits, Combs took to Instagram and stated, “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family, and for the truth.”
However, surveillance video from 2016 obtained by CNN showed Combs attacking Ventura at an InterContinental hotel, which triggered even more public outcry.
Smith, who later authored the memoir “Shine Bright,” reflected on the broader issues of the “inescapable sexism perpetrated by Sean Combs and others.”
“It’s bizarre to see myself smiling in pictures with someone accused of such heinous crimes,” she recounted.
Throughout the years, Smith said she has wrestled with the realities of the music industry, where male dominance often overshadowed professional ethics and personal safety.
“It’s shameful and wack for me not to have known fully. I considered myself a hard-hitting journalist,” Smith said, questioning her own awareness and judgment during those turbulent times.
Smith went on to describe the music industry as a “mean place” kept “dangerous” by powerful and shadowy male figures “so they can keep it theirs.”
“The growing set of accusations against Combs has me angrily calling into question the fullness of my own memory and the precision of my timeline,” she said.
In response to the New York Times, Combs, via representatives, would not comment on the record.
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