Russell Simmons has come to the defense of Diddy (real name Sean Combs) despite the sexual assault allegations both men are currently facing.
The embattled Def Jam co-founder took to Instagram on Monday (May 6) to share his thoughts on Diddy, imploring people to “see the good in things.”
He began: “When you tear someone down or you watch someone tear someone down, try not to get so excited. I know it’s fun to watch for some people. If I had a nickel for every nasty meme sent to me by people whose lives were enhanced and built by Sean Combs, it’s like, it seems a bit hypocritical since the only reason you have a life is ’cause you worked for him, or he gave you a job or lifted you up somehow.”
He then urged his followers to uplift Diddy: “Watching our brothers fall is hurtful. Having everybody get together and laugh at our brother’s fall or supporting the tearing down of our brothers is tough.
“You may think it’s, you know, entertaining. Some of the memes are funny, right? But, we gotta look up, train our minds to see the good in things and not the negative.”
Check out the clip below:
Russell Simmons defends Diddy despite sexual assault allegations pic.twitter.com/ifiuXlgIqm
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) May 7, 2024
Simmons may also subtly be asking for grace regarding his own legal troubles.
Earlier this month, he was accused of falsifying a settlement document with the plaintiff in the sexual assault case that was filed against him earlier this year.
Russell Simmons Argues That Defamation Suit Should Be Dismissed
According to an amended complaint filed on Tuesday (April 30) and obtained by HipHopDX, he reportedly admitted to plaintiff that he was “sorry for what he’d done,” and that he wanted to settle the case without attorney involvement.
But the Jane Doe in this case has also accused the embattled mogul of falsifying a settlement document and submitting it to the court.
“The document is an Adobe pdf file titled “Agreement – Jane Doe v. Russell Simmons,” although the words “[Doe] – Executed Document.pdf” also appear in the body of the file at the top of each page. The metadata for the file states “Created: March 24, 2024.” The document is dated “January 9, 1997” at the top of each page, but states “[Jane Doe] 1-6-97” at the bottom of each page,” read the complaint.
“In addition to the discrepancy with the date and file name, a completely different employee’s name is listed at the top of page 3. The initials on each page are not Ms. Doe’s handwriting. The document is on Rush Associated Label letterhead as opposed to Def Jam’s letterhead. There is no date accompanying the signature of Russell Simmons or Lyor Cohen (President of Def Jam in 1997).”
Diddy, for his part, has remained defiant even after being sued by multiple people for alleged sexual assault and misconduct.
Earlier this month, the mogul shared a video montage that featured him in warm embraces with his loved ones before cutting to a shot of him standing on the beach and welcoming a storm with open arms.
The captionless clip featured audio from a 2022 sermon by Bishop T.D. Jakes during which he said: “Not hysterical, not frantic, not anxious, not fretful, but steady in the storm — looks bad, looks tough, but remain steady in the storm.”
