Justin Bieber’s camp says the pop star was not a victim of former mentor Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged sexual abuse.
Insiders, including some close to the 31-year-old “Love Yourself” singer, told TMZ that contrary to speculation, Bieber was not subjected to any of the Bad Boy founder’s alleged abuse, sexual or otherwise.
“Although Justin is not among Sean Combs’ victims, there are individuals who were genuinely harmed by him,” a rep for Bieber told the outlet in a statement. “Shifting focus away from this reality detracts from the justice these victims rightfully deserve.”
The remarks come amid the outlet’s doc, “What Happened to Justin Bieber?” and the start of Diddy’s federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial.
Bieber came under Diddy’s wing when he was a teen, and some of the videos of their association at that time have come under scrutiny since Combs’ arrest, particularly one in which Combs teases “the next 48 hours” he’d spend with Bieber, then 15.
“He’s with me and we’re gonna go buck full crazy,” Combs said at the time, though sources now tell TMZ that was merely “performative.”
Instead, they claim, Bieber was friends not with the Harlem-born hip-hop heavyweight but his age-appropriate sons Quincy and Justin, who are now 33 and 30, respectively.
Speculation about the nature of Bieber’s relationship with Combs ratcheted up when, in the weeks after the arrest, insiders said Bieber was “in a hard place mentally right now.”
The documentary also explores claims that Bieber was nearing “financial collapse” prior to selling his music catalog for $200 million a little over two years ago, and that the megachurch he’s part of — Churchome — is a cult.
