There aren’t many people in Diddy’s corner right now. It seems everyone who has interacted with the bad boy mogul is either happy or surprised by his fall. Diddy’s former bodyguard Gene Deal is no exception. Diehl was recently interviewed by The Art of Conversation. Not only did he claim Diddy should go to jail, but he also claimed that the tycoon learned his excesses from former tycoons. Namely Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons and Uptown Records CEO Andre Harrell.
Gene Deal placed the blame squarely on Diddy’s feet from the start. He holds no one responsible for Didi’s bad behavior except Didi himself. However, he did mention the people who mentored Diddy early in his career. Deere singled out three luminaries in the industry. “You have to realize, he learned it from Andre Harrell,” the former guard claimed. “He learned from Russell Simmons. He learned from Clive Davis.” Diddy worked for Harrell when he was an intern at Uptown Records in the early 1990s. However, Diehl claims Russell Simmons has been the most significant influence.
The guard felt Didi succumbed to his influence
“When those people tell you they’re addicted to drugs,” Dill explained. “They were into beating women and doing things in that crazy stage. It would make him think he could get away with the same thing.” The former bodyguard claimed he would see this whenever he was at Simmons’ home similar behavioral characteristics. “I won’t say so-called because I saw it with my own eyes,” he asserted. “It can turn the person into a monster, and that’s what it does.”
Russell Simmons, like Diddy, has experienced a fall from grace in recent years. The hip-hop legend was accused of sexual assault by multiple women in 2017. “They shocked me because I have never been abusive or violent in any way in my relationships with women,” he wrote. Although he denied it, more women accused him of assault and/or rape. Simmons resigned from his position at Def Jam. Interestingly, Russell Simmons was one of the few people to defend the braggadocio when his dark past came to light.
About the author
Elias is the music writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined the site in 2024 and covers a wide range of topics including pop culture, movies, sports, and, of course, hip-hop. You can find him publishing for HNHH from Monday to Friday, especially coverage of new albums and singles. His favorite artists are Andre 3000, MF Doom, pre-808 Kanye West and Tyler, The Creator. He likes L.A. hip-hop, but not L.A. sports teams. The first album he bought was Will Smith’s “Big Willie Style,” which he thinks still sounds great.
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