Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs used his mother’s name to allegedly form a criminal enterprise to hide money and other businesses, according to a former friend who worked with the disgraced Bad Boy mogul.
Deon ‘D1’ appeared best in DailyMail.com Podcast, ‘Diddy’s Trial‘, where he claims Combs used his mother Janice’s name to hide artists’ publishing rights, including deals Best said he negotiated in the late 1990s.
Best claims that his company, Finish Line Entertainment, signed Diddy to artists who worked on several albums for Bad Boy, including Christopher ‘Notorious BIG’ Wallace’s 1999 ‘Born Again,’ which reached platinum status and sold more than a million copies.
Best, 56, said the way Combs allegedly arranged his business deals not only stripped him and the artists who worked on the songs of publishing rights, but also defrauded them of future profits.
“All my publishing rights went to Janice Combs,” Best exclusively told DailyMail.com. ‘I’m here to talk about a different section of your allegations… and what I believe involves your mother, Janice Combs. The (Corrupt and Gangster Influenced Organizations Act) tries to hold people accountable for systematic actions.’
Deon ‘D1’ Best says he plans to file a lawsuit against Janice Combs because her son Diddy used the matriarch’s name to allegedly hide his business dealings with Bad Boy Entertainment.
He added: ‘You know, these actions have caused financial and emotional hardship, but not just for me, but for other artists in the business through what I feel was fraudulent and coercive activity. And I think Janice Combs fits those guidelines.
Best told DailyMail.com that he plans to sue Janice Combs and her company because the Bad Boy deals were signed in his name.
Meanwhile, Diddy remains in a Brooklyn jail facing multiple federal charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering.
His lawyers have declined to comment on Best’s allegations. DailyMail.com also contacted Janice Combs’ lawyers for comment.
Best also alleged that Combs did the same with songs his company created on other albums, including rapper Black Rob’s 2000 album ‘Life Story’ and Combs’ ‘Forever,’ which also achieved platinum status after its release on 1999.
While historically it was not uncommon for record label owners or record labels to take a percentage of an artist’s releases as part of their signing contract, artists have since objected due to the potential future profits their songs could make. trigger.
Far-right Janice Combs leaves a Manhattan federal courthouse with her grandchildren.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs remains in a Brooklyn jail as he awaits his court date in May 2025 to face criminal charges for sex trafficking and racketeering.
Other artists who worked with Combs, including Mark Curry, have alleged that Diddy was able to get around certain deals because he allegedly used Janice Combs to close them.
in a 2020 viral rant, rapper Mason ‘Ma$e’ Betha He claimed that Diddy also took away his publishing rights.
“How dare this black talk about wanting receipts,” Ma$e said of Combs in the clip. ‘Let’s start with your mother, black. Your mother got the receipts, black. Everything is in your mother’s name. That’s the one with the receipts, black.
Best, who left the gang life and turned to religion and now coaches youth sports, said he became friends with Combs and Notorious BIG after they met at parties in Los Angeles frequented by Hollywood celebrities.
Best said Bad Boy’s producer would call him for protection and “check” if it was safe for him to be in certain areas of Los Angeles.
Diddy’s former partner, Deon Best, claims that Diddy signed over the publishing rights for his artists to his mother, Janice.
Biggie (left) and Diddy (right) perform at the Chicago International Amphitheater in April 1995.
It was also at this point that Death Row’s Suge Knight, a Compton native, had allegedly threatened Combs, Best claims.
“So you know, this being my hometown, I knew how to maneuver through the community, through the streets,” Best said. ‘Let’s say everyone knew that Suge Knight and Puffy had a situation.
‘Suge is a big guy. I’m not a big guy, but I had the kind of relationship with Suge that I could say, “You know, Suge, calm down.” And, you know, he would respect the situation.
When Combs and his artists came to Los Angeles to work on music or party, he became close with Wallace, who was quieter than the “arrogant” Combs, Best said.
He claims he was with Wallace the night he was killed during a drive-by shooting on March 9, 1997, outside the Petersen Automotive Museum, where Vibe Magazine’s Soul Train Awards after-party was held. .
Best said he had warned Wallace that week to stay close to him while he was in Los Angeles. On that particular night, Best said he and Wallace briefly separated as they left the party.
The next thing he heard were the fatal shots that would ultimately kill Wallace.
“I never understood how he wasn’t with me when we walked out the door,” Best said. “Today I think about it more. I felt like someone literally pulled him away from me, pulled him away and said, “Let’s go this way.”
He continued, “I tried to explain that to him: ‘You know, man, you can’t just move by yourself.'”
Best said he believes Biggie, one of Bad Boy’s most lucrative artists, was looking to leave the label and Combs just before his death.
Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura sued the Bad Boy mogul in 2023, alleging that he forced her to have sex with prostitutes and drugged and beat her.
Best said he is not surprised that the former tycoon faces a possible life sentence if convicted on all charges.
He added that watching the now-viral video of Combs attacking his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in 2016 at a Los Angeles hotel made him angry.
“That video of Cassie broke my heart,” Best said. ‘I have two daughters, a mother, sisters. It’s like, “Wow, you can kick Cassie but you don’t want to face Suge?”‘
