“The Fall of Diddy,” Investigation Discovery’s four-part series centered on the rise and fall of music mogul and businessman Sean “Diddy” Combs has just released its first episodes. There is a lot to unpack.
Over the course of two days, in four installments, viewers will see archived footage from Combs’ personal and professional life, and hear from several people, including former friends, colleagues and employees, who say they have either experienced or witnessed Combs’ alleged abuse. The first two episodes, titled “The Making of a Mogul” and “Empire Under Fire” detail Comb’s early beginnings living in a father-less home, Combs’ alleged abuse at Howard University, his rise as a young and talented artists and repertoire (A&R) representative, his relationships with Kim Porter and Jennifer Lopez and more.
The first two episodes dropped on Monday, Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST, and the series will end with its second installment on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST. On Tuesday, ID announced there will be fifth part to the series titled “The Assistant,” which will be a sit-down interview with Combs’ former assistant Phil Pines.
Each episode starts with: “This series contains descriptions of abuse and sexual violence. Viewer discretion advised.” Combs’ legal team’s response to the allegations made in “The Fall of Diddy” is: Mr. Combs has full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process. In court he will prevail: that the accusations against Mr. Combs are pure fiction.”
Read all the allegations that were made about Combs in “The Fall of Diddy” below.
Diddy threatened to murder former Vibe editor-in-chief Danyel Smith over a magazine cover
One of the first stories that opens the documentary series is the account from former Vibe editor-in-chief Danyel Smith. Smith, who was the first female to lead the magazine, said it was difficult to navigate music media without having to deal with Combs in some way.
In 1997, Smith selected Diddy for the cover of the magazine’s December 1997/January 1998 double issue. In the photos Diddy wore white feathered wings for an angel/devil theme. Days ahead of the cover’s release, Combs contacted Smith requesting to see the cover to give his own final approval. However, due to the publication’s policy, Smith couldn’t show Combs the cover and denied his ask. He then called Smith a second time and asked to see the images, but Smith denied him once more. That is when Smith says Combs threatened that he would see her “dead in a trunk” if she did not show him. A shocked Smith told Combs to take that remark back or else she would alert her attorney. He refused, which led Smith to involve her legal counsel, who contacted Combs to let him know that he would be notifying authorities if Combs did not fax over an apology. Within 90 minutes to two hours later, Combs faxed over an apology. But later on, Combs sent two “tough guys” to the Vibe office to attack Smith, and Vibe staff members had to send Smith away in a cab to protect her.
Diddy brutally whipped a female student with a belt while attending Howard University
One of the interviewees in “The Fall of Diddy” documentary series decided to remain visually anonymous while sharing her experience with Combs. Her account takes place at Howard University where Combs was briefly a student and quickly became popular for his campus parties.
In 1988, the woman overheard a female student screaming outside her dorm room. When she looked out her window she saw Combs, who was wielding a belt, forcibly instructing the student to go downstairs into a basement. Combs first started hitting the wall and then started to beating the female student. The student in the series says that is when she and her friend yelled at Combs to stop hitting hitting her, but he refused. Combs then took the student to a darker, less visible area and stayed there for a while until leaving. The female student left behind him shortly after.
A Diddy-orchestrated charity basketball game led to the deaths nine young people
On Dec. 28, 1991, Combs put together a celebrity basketball game at New York’s City College in partnership with Heavy D. Despite the event being filled with attendees, Combs’ entourage continued to sell tickets at the door. When his team decided ticket sales were done, they closed the doors to the event, leaving several people — including angry ticket holders who had bought early tickets — outside. This led to the crowd forcing themselves through the doors of the college and into the gymnasium where the game was being held. In the midst of the stampede, many were trampled over and later died. Three teenagers and six young adults tragically lost their lives at the charity game.
Diddy chased a concert promoter through Manhattan for wearing a Death Row Records t-shirt
During the rise of hip hop’s longstanding East Coast-West Coast beef/competition, Combs became very aggressive as West Coast record label executive, Suge Knight and his Death Row Records label started to mark its territory in the rap industry. During the mid-90s when Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. were at their height, Death Row Records was branching out into the East Coast with its new extension Death Row Records East.
While at a New York club in 1996, concert promoter DeWitt Gilmore, took and wore a Death Row Records East t-shirt that was being passed out to people at a club. After he left the club, Gilmore says Combs and his crew pulled up to him and started calling Gilmore a “b—h” for wearing the shirt. Gilmore tried to deescalate the situation, telling Combs he did not want any problems, but Combs did not stop. While Gilmore was in his car, more of Combs’ entourage surrounded him and started firing gun shots. Gilmore drove away, but he was being followed by Combs’ team who attempted to ram him off the road. Gilmore says he was chased through Manhattan and eventually drove into an island on the road.
Diddy was in an off-and-on relationship with Kim Porter while dating Jennifer Lopez
Kim Porter, Combs on-again-off-again girlfriend, and the mother of four his children, was said to have “softened” Combs up a bit when the two started dating during the late ’90s. They welcomed their first child in 1998. Interviewees in the series detail how Combs referred to Porter as the one woman he has ever truly loved, though he mistreated her. A year later in 1999, Combs started dating Lopez, whom he would flaunt around town at events and in the media, but he still had feelings for Porter.
“But then there is the infidelity. Kim Porter, a woman he described as the love of his life and the mother of four of his children, witnesses his relationship with Jennifer Lopez just flood the media,” Mara S. Campo, a former Revolt TV anchor shared.
Porter was also subjected to Combs’ alleged abuse. Former Vibe editor-in-chief Danyel Smith said she witnessed Combs pop up at a club she and Porter were at for a girls night. When he arrived he berated her publicly and told her she needed to go home and angrily emptied out her purse in front of Porter’s friends.
Diddy was sentenced to one day of anger management after beating up music executive Steve Stoute
During the late ’90s Combs started mingling with Interscope music executive Steve Stoute, who was also the manager for Nas at the time. In 1999, Combs got on the record alongside Nas in “Hate Me Now,” and subsequently recorded the music video for it. The video ends with Nas and Combs being crucified, but Combs did not like how he was being depicted and wanted it to be changed. However, the video ended up being serviced to MTV, which enraged Combs. In response, Combs went to Stoute’s office with his entourage and beat Stoute up. Per excerpts from legal documents shown in the series, Combs’ crew beat Stoute “to the ground with a telephone,” “pummeled him with a chair” and he was left bleeding on the floor. Combs was sentenced to one day of anger management for the incident.
Diddy let young rapper Shyne take the blame for 1999 club shooting
In the retelling of an infamous shooting that took place in 1999 inside of a New York club, Combs’ former driver, Wardel Fenderson, says he witnessed seeing a gun in Comb’s hand while driving him and Jennifer Lopez to the club. When the stars arrived, investigative journalist Peter Noel says Combs started to get negative attention from clubgoers, which resulted in name-calling, pushing and shoving inside. Having had enough of the boisterous behavior, rising rapper Moses “Shyne” Michael Levi Barrow — who met Combs and Lopez at the club — grabbed a gun from their waists and started shooting, per shooting victim Nantania Reuben.
Combs and Lopez fled the scene with Fenderson as the getaway driver and Combs threw his gun out the window while trying to evade police. Combs, his security guard and Lopez were all arrested. While at the precinct, Combs tried to convince Fenderson to take responsibility for the gun, offering him $50,000 in addition to loaning him a $300,000 pinky ring as collateral. Famous attorneys Johnnie Cochran and Benjamin Brafman defended Combs in his trial, and despite testimonies from Fenderson and Reuben, Combs was acquitted.
Diddy told D. Woods she was one “cheeseburger away” from being fat, and tried to have sex with Aubrey O’Day
As Combs continued to rise in fame, he also started to grow his brand into a massive empire, signing deals with alcohol company Diageo for his Cîroc vodka and branching out into fashion with his Sean John apparel company. By 2001, Combs rebranded himself as P. Diddy and in 2000 jumped into the TV industry with his own reality competition series “Making the Band.” In 2008, he launched his third season with girl group Danity Kane, which went on to be a major success.
In the series, Wanita “D. Woods” Woodgett recalled the music executive telling her she was one “burger away” from being fat in comparison to other members of Danity Kane. Woodgett also shared that Combs developed a strange relationship with her bandmate Aubrey O’Day, since she was recognized for being one of the most talented in the group. Woodgett says Combs sent “pornographic” images to O’Day. In 2008, O’Day and Woodgett went to New York Fashion Week together where O’Day revealed that Combs approached her during an outing, pulled her into him and told her, “Now I you are hot enough that I can f–k you. I can f–k you now.” Woodgett believes that she and O’Day were fired from Danity Kane because they declined Combs’ advances.
Diddy conducted a meeting while nude in the shower, and made employees bring him sex workers
Music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who was hired to produce Combs’ “Love” album, says he has never been paid for any of his work, and said Combs would subject his employees to unorthodox and inappropriate situations. In one instance, Jones says Combs called his staff together for a meeting and said he wanted to have it in one of the bathrooms of his Los Angeles homes. While there, Combs stripped down naked and got in the shower. Jones said he continuously made eye contact with him while naked. In addition, Jones said he and other staffers were tasked with bringing Combs sex workers, and one night Jones woke up to sex workers in his room. Jones believes Combs drugged him. In court documents, Combs has denied all of Jones’ claims and stated that Jones’ lawsuit is “replete with legally meaningless allegations and blatant falsehoods” and “full of hyperbole and lurid theatrics.”
Diddy drugged, raped and threatened his colleague’s girlfriend
The documentary series jumps back and forth between Combs’ earlier days and his most recent incidents. Taking it back to 2001, Thalia Graves, who is the former girlfriend of one of Combs’ colleagues, says Diddy drugged and raped her after luring her to his studio. That day, Graves got a call from Bad Boys Studios that Diddy wanted to talk to her about her then-boyfriend “f—king up again” at work,” an issue Graves said she had previously discussed with Diddy. Later on that day, Combs pulled up to Graves’ home and offered her a drink while on their way to the studio. During the ride, Graves said she felt her face become numb and she started to feel lightheaded and woozy. When they arrived, instead of going to the studio, she said she remembers being taken into a lounge area where she started feeling even more fuzzy and began crying. The next thing she remembers is being slammed onto a pool table while naked. Combs then raped her twice, anally and vaginally. Once she came to full consciousness, Graves ran out and caught a cab home. Three days later, she received a call from Combs who threatened saying “keep your f—kin’ mouth shut” and then hung up. Graves said she never told police because at the time she was in the middle of a divorce and a custody battle.
Diddy created an entire fake event just to lure in Cassie
Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura’s incidents with Combs are woven throughout the docuseries, with many interviewees sharing that they witnessed his abuse of her first-hand. When Ventura signed to Bad Boy Records in 2005 at age 19, Combs’ former security guard said he was adamant about being with her. The series spotlighted the beginning of their relationship, sharing that Combs made up an out of town event that Ventura “needed” to be at. However, while there the pair did not do any studio sessions for music and only attended social events. Combs staged the fake event in an effort to separate Ventura from her then-boyfriend, Ryan Leslie, interviewees say.
Diddy told Kat Pasion that there is a “little R. Kelly in all of us”
Canadian model and actress Kat Pasion moved to Los Angeles in 2013. That summer she came across Combs at SoHo House with friends. Initially, when Combs made an advance at her, Pasion said she was not interested. However, the two eventually became friends, finding connection through the recent deaths of Kim Porter and Pasion’s late friend. Over time, the two would hang out, and Combs would take in Pasion’s opinions about music during studio sessions. Pasion said their relationship was going well, though she would often see glimpses of Combs’ toxic behavior every now and again. In one instance, Pasion said she was watching the “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary and asked Combs to watch with her. While he was walking out of the room, he told Pasion that “there is a little bit of R. Kelly in all of us.”
But one night, Pasion while they were at his home, Combs snorted a pink substance he had never done before and woke her out of his sleep. That is when he told her that she could not go back to sleep because he needed “x, y and z” out of her and then forced himself on her. Pasion said the act was not consensual, and that two weeks later Combs called her and threatened to have her deported back to Canada if she did not keep quiet.
Diddy instructed his assistant to perform a sex on a woman to prove his loyalty
“The Fall of Diddy” extended its four-part documentary series with a surprise fifth installment featuring Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant Phil Pines, who served as Combs’ senior executive assistant from December 2019 to December 2021. Pines shared his experiences working for Combs through a sit-down interview with former Revolt News host Mara S. Campo, who was also one of the interviewees in the series. The interview took place on Jan. 22, 2025, roughly a week before the first two episodes of “The Fall of Diddy” dropped.
During their chat, Pines opened up about his time as one of Combs’ employees, detailing how he assisted Combs on a professional and private level, and eventually was tasked with managing Combs’ “Wild King Hotel” nights – Combs’ sex parties where most female guests were in their 20s. While in legal documents the orgy parties have primarily been called “freak-offs,” Pines said he never heard that title until Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura filed her lawsuit against Combs in 2023. In addition, he said the WKNs were usually attended by a “small batch” of people. Pines never witnessed the sexual acts in person, but did see videos in Combs’ devices, including his cell phone and iPads – which Pines also was instructed to wipe clean in the event Combs needed them for a business meeting. Between having to transport a visibly “shaken” woman home after a WKN and seeing Combs violently kick a woman he engaged with during a WKN, Pines said he too has been subjected to Combs’ alleged predatory behavior.
Pines recalled a time when Combs had been drinking all day, and at some point during or after a party, Combs told Pines to prepare a room upstairs for one of his WKNs. There was a small group of people who were left, and Combs called them in for a shot, a request Pines agreed to and a gesture Pines says was not uncommon but was rare. Combs, who Pines said looked “out of his mind,” then called him to the room and told him to take another shot. Pines says that is when Combs gave him a brief massage and told him “prove your loyalty to me, king” before handing him a condom and pushing him onto a couch next to a woman. Pines said at that moment he went into shock and out of fear of being assaulted by Combs he asked for the woman’s consent and then “performed” the sex act with the woman. Once Combs left the room, Pines said he ran out. Pines added that he had told Combs’ chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, about some of Combs’ violent activity, but she instructed him not to speak of it ever again. He said she was also one of the main people who would delegate tasks to him, which would include providing Combs with a myriad of items, including baby oil, marijuana, ketamine, male libido supplements, Astroglide, Zolpidem and more.