CELEBRITY
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ mother defends disgraced music mogul as he sits in jail on sex crime charges…read more
Janice Combs, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ mother, broke her silence Sunday and admitted she was left “devastated and profoundly saddened” by the allegations waged against her son, she said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
Diddy was arrested Sept. 16 and charged the next day with racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution.
He entered a not guilty plea hours after an indictment detailing his alleged sex crimes was unsealed.
If found guilty, he faces a minimum of 15 years behind bars or a maximum sentence of life in prison.
“It is heartbreaking to see my son judged not for the truth, but for a narrative created out of lies,” Janice Combs wrote.
“To bear witness what seems to be like a public lynching of my son before he has had the opportunity to prove his innocence is a pain too unbearable to put into words.
Like every human being, my son deserves to have his day in court, to finally share his side, and to prove his innocence.”
She pleaded, “My son is not the monster they have painted him to be, and he deserves the chance to tell his side.
I can only pray that I am alive to see him speak his truth and be vindicated.”
“I am not here to portray my son as perfect because he is not,” Janice Combs said.
“He has made mistakes in his past, as we all have.
My son may not have been entirely truthful about certain things, such as denying he has ever gotten violent with an ex-girlfriend when the hotel’s surveillance showed otherwise.”
She added, “Sometimes, the truth and a lie become so closely intertwined that it becomes terrifying to admit one part of the story, especially when that truth is outside the norm or is too complicated to be believed.
This is why I believe my son’s civil legal team opted to settle the ex-girlfriend’s lawsuit instead of contesting it until the end, resulting in a ricochet effect as the federal government used this decision against my son by interpreting it as an admission of guilt.”
Surveillance video taken from a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 allegedly showed the billionaire publicly assaulting his then girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
In the footage, Sean Combs “kicked, dragged, and threw a vase at a woman as she was attempting to leave,” the indictment said.
“When a member of the hotel security staff intervened, Combs attempted to bribe the staff member to ensure silence.”