Usher recently gave a video interview to Forbes where he defended Sean “Diddy” Combs and said the disgraced rapper and entertainment mogul has been “misrepresented.”
The Bad Boy Records founder was sentenced in October to 50 months behind bars after he was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. (His release from prison has since been moved up to April 2028.) Combs’ 2025 criminal trial ended with a split verdict, as he was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, avoiding serious charges that could have landed him in prison for decades.
Asked by Forbes to name a word that comes to mind when he heard Combs’ name, Usher responded: “Legacy.”
“In many ways, I think certain people are prosecuted and maybe not recognised for the greatness that they offer,” Usher explained. “I don’t have anything negative to say about Sean Combs because my experience was not what the world has seen and how he’s been misrepresented. I’m not saying that every man is perfect. 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 businessmen, for us as people who have transitioned culture and ideas into something that’s tangible.”
“So many people benefitted from what he created and I acknowledge that,” Usher continued, adding: “That’s who I see that man as. And that’s what I choose to remember. I put respect on his name because I realised that what I learned as a businessman before I even understood what business was came as a result of seeing the incredible things that he was able to do and the way that he positioned himself as a businessman.”
Combs’ 2025 trial began in early May and featured 34 witnesses accusing the rapper-producer of crimes ranging from drug distribution to physical abuse to sexual assault. A key piece of video evidence from 2016 depicted Combs violently beating his then-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, the star witness of the trial who delivered a gruelling four-day testimony. During the trial, Combs’ lawyers admitted to his pattern of domestic violence, reminding the jury that Combs was not charged with that specific crime.
Combs’ lead counsel Marc Agnifilo said in an interview with Variety after the trial that his client was hoping to “make something special out of his life,” adding that making more music is “way down the road.”
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Watch Usher’s full interview with Forbes in the video below.
From Variety US