One Label Under Blackmail: PART 6
Diddy And The Epstein Network
Mentors in Crime
After the scandal around Combs began to break, Clive Davis, as well as Andre Harrell of Uptown and Russell Simmons of Def Jam/Rush Management, have been accused of propelling Combs into the patterns of criminal behavior for which he is now infamous. For instance, one-time rival (and former friend of Combs) Suge Knight has claimed that Davis, Harrell and Simmons used “alcohol, drugs” – specifically cocaine – to “compromise” Combs’ “manhood.” This is particularly significant in the case of Davis’ ties to the “Drugola” scandal, which involved using sex, drugs and bribes to specifically target “black-oriented radio stations” and music. Claims similar to those made by Knight have since been echoed by Combs’ former bodyguard Gene Deal.
It is worth noting here that Davis’ protégé L.A. Reid, who took over Arista Records from Davis, has also been accused of sexual misconduct and assault. Reid, alongside Combs, were both instrumental in the success of recording artists Justin Bieber and Usher. Knight has argued that Davis, Simmons and Harrell first “compromised” Combs and then Combs went on to use alcohol, drugs, and gay sex to “control” younger artists like Usher and Bieber. Notably, Combs’ entry into the world of Andre Harell, Simmons and, shortly thereafter, Clive Davis, coincides with the development of his obsessive drive to record everything, presumably for blackmail-related purposes. For instance, music video director Cole Bennett asserted that Combs told him that he’d begun recording “footage of everything” in 1992 and even advised Bennett to do the same.
In addition, Kirk Burrowes, the co-founder of Bad Boy Records with Combs, has claimed that Combs sought to compromise him using this same method. Burrowes has filed a lawsuit against Combs, claiming Combs subjected him to “repeated sexual harassment, physical aggression and forced compliance with degrading sexual acts” throughout the 1990s. Burrowes claims that Combs targeted him with “unwanted sexual advances” including acts of “nudity, sexual overtones, voyeurism and acts of exhibitionism,” some of which allegedly took place during business meetings, and that this was part of a larger “campaign of control.” The outcome of this campaign, per Burrowes, was the use of “physical violence, blackmail, career sabotage and financial extortion” to force Burrowes out of his 25% stake in Bad Boy Records. Though Davis was a key part of the early creation and formation of Bad Boy Records, he is not named in Burrowes’ suit.
However, Combs may have been “controlled” in a similar way by Davis, per some sources. Suge Knight, for instance, has alleged that he was told by the former head of Interscope Records, Jimmy Iovine, that Combs had regularly engaged in sexual acts with Davis, suggesting that his relationship with Davis and Davis’ early, crucial involvement with Bad Boy were built on the back of sexual favors. This is certainly possible given the well-known mechanism within the entertainment industry of sexual favors as a way to secure lucrative roles and deals –– e.g. the Harvey Weinstein scandal. In addition, Davis notably came out publicly as bisexual in a memoir published when he was 80 years old, where he writes that he began to openly engage in sex with the same gender in the 1980s. Combs’ alleged bisexuality has been a major topic of discussion in relation to the scandal leading up to his arrest last year. Knight has also claimed that Russell Simmons and Andre Harrell had also engaged in similar behavior with each other. Notably, the network behind Clive Davis, which overlaps with that behind Epstein, also involved similar “sugar daddy”-style relationships. These include rumors that Epstein and his long-time benefactor Leslie Wexner were intimate, e.g. former State of Ohio Inspector General David Sturtz telling journalist Bob Fitrakis that Epstein was Wexner’s “boyfriend.”