Sean Combs’ mother, Janice Smalls Combs, says she is “devastated” by the “narrative created out of lies” about her son, likening the fervor surrounding the Bad Boy Entertainment founder to a “public lynching.”
The 83-year-old released a statement in defense of Combs on Sunday night — her first public comments since Combs’ barrage of civil lawsuits last fall and his arrest on sex trafficking and racketeering charges in September.
Combs begged the world to “not judge” her son before hearing “his side” and claimed prosecutors used Combs’ settlement with ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura “as an admission of guilt” to build a federal criminal case against him. “My son is not the monster they have painted him to be, and he deserves the chance to tell his side,” Janice’s statement read. “I can only pray that I am alive to see him speak his truth and be vindicated.”
Combs is being held without bail after he was arrested in New York City on Sept. 16. He is appealing the judge’s decision, with the next court date set for Thursday. While a trial looms, he is also facing nearly a dozen civil lawsuits brought against him by several women and one man who claim Combs sexually assaulted them. The alleged encounters date back from 1990 to as recently as this summer.
Last week, Houston attorney Tony Buzbee announced in a press conference that he was representing upward of 120 accusers — both men and women — who say they have sexual abuse claims against Combs and his associates. Buzbee said 25 of the accusers were minors at the time of the alleged abuse — including a nine-year-old boy who claims he was forced to perform oral sex on Combs after auditioning for the iconic record label.
In her statement, Janice Combs broadly labeled these claims as “lies” that are “motivated by those seeking a financial gain, and not justice.” “These individuals saw how quickly my son’s civil legal team settled his ex-girlfriend’s lawsuit, so they believe they can receive a quick payday by falsely accusing my son,” she added. “False allegations of sexual assault thwart true victims of sexual violence from getting the justice they deserve.” (Combs’ lawyer, Erica Wolff, said Combs “emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors.”)
Janice acknowledged that Combs wasn’t perfect and “made mistakes in his past,” referring to unearthed hotel surveillance footage that showed Combs violently stomping on Ventura before dragging her back toward his hotel suite.
“My son may not have been entirely truthful about certain things,” she wrote. “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.”
Janice Smalls Combs’ Full Statement
“I come to you today as a mother that is devastated and profoundly saddened by the allegations made against my son, Sean Combs. It is heartbreaking to see my son judged not for the truth, but for a narrative created out of lies. 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.
“I am not here to portray my son as perfect because he is not. 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. 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.
“It is important to recognize that none of us, regardless of our status, are immune to fear or mistakes. Not being entirely straightforward about one issue does not mean my son is guilty of the repulsive allegations and the grave charges leveled against him. Many individuals who were wrongfully convicted and later exonerated had their freedom taken from them not because they were guilty of the crimes they were accused of, but because they didn’t fit the image of what this society considers to be a ‘good person.’ History has showed us how individuals can be wrongfully convicted due to their past actions or mistakes.
“Watching the world make jokes and laugh at my son’s life crumbling before our eyes is something I can never forget. It is truly agonizing to watch the world turn against my son so quickly and easily over lies and misconceptions, without ever hearing his side or affording him the opportunity to present his side. These lies thrown at him are motivated by those seeking a financial gain, and not justice. These individuals saw how quickly my son’s civil legal team settled his ex-girlfriend’s lawsuit, so they believe they can receive a quick payday by falsely accusing my son. False allegations of sexual assault thwart true victims of sexual violence from getting the justice they deserve. To make matters worse, the federal government is now using these lies to prosecute my son. This injustice has been unbearable for our family. The worst part of this ordeal is watching my beloved son be stripped of his dignity, not for what he did, but for what people choose to believe about him.
“I ask his supporters, fans, colleagues, friends, and the public to not judge him before you’ve had the chance to hear his side. I beg you to think about those who have been wrongfully persecuted, to remember that not everyone who has made mistakes in life deserves to have their entire existence judged by a single action or a few mistakes. 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.”
