Justin Bieber‘s workforce has spoken out amid the continued federal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who stands accused of intercourse trafficking and racketeering and faces potential life in jail for his alleged crimes.
In an announcement shared with Individuals Friday (Might 16), the pop star’s spokesperson stated, “Though Justin is just not amongst Sean Combs’ victims, there are people who had been genuinely harmed by him.”
The spokesperson added, “Shifting focus away from this actuality detracts from the justice these victims rightfully deserve.”
Billboard has reached out to Bieber’s reps for remark.
The assertion marks the primary time the “Peaches” singer has instantly mentioned Combs because the Dangerous Boy Data founder was arrested in September, with federal prosecutors accusing him with working a large-scale prison operation by which he “abused, threatened and coerced girls” for many years, partially by means of drug-fueled intercourse events often known as “freak-offs,” in line with the indictment.
Combs has denied all the accusations, and within the protection’s opening statements at his trial in New York Metropolis Monday (Might 12), his lawyer asserted: “Sean Combs is an advanced man, however this isn’t an advanced case. We take full accountability that there was home violence. Home violence is just not intercourse trafficking.”
Friday marks the fifth day of the trial, which has up to now targeted closely on the days-long testimony of Cassie Ventura, Combs’ ex-girlfriend. It was her now-settled civil lawsuit in November 2023 — by which she accused him of years of rape and bodily abuse — that first raised allegations in opposition to the hip-hop titan, sparking a flood of extra fits from others who claimed he abused them, and setting into movement the prison probe that led to his indictment.
Amid Combs’ fall from grace, a few of Bieber’s followers have remembered that the 2 musicians crossed paths up to now. In a 2009 video with greater than 11 million views on the “Child” singer’s YouTube channel, a then 15-year-old Bieber spends time with the producer for 48 hours, and the pair discusses vehicles and hitting on ladies.
“The place we hanging out and what we’re doing, we are able to’t actually disclose,” Combs says within the video. “But it surely’s positively a 15-year-old’s dream.”
In 2010, the 2 would take the stage with a gaggle of different musicians on the BET-SOS Saving Ourselves Assist for Haiti Profit Live performance. In 2011, they appeared collectively on Jimmy Kimmel Dwell!, with Combs saying on the time, “We’ve develop into pals in an odd approach … [Justin] is aware of higher than to be speaking in regards to the issues that he does with Huge Brother Puff on nationwide tv.”
Bieber additionally attended Combs’ Deleon Tequila launch occasion in Atlanta in 2014. In a single image from the occasion, the Canadian pop star sits subsequent to Ventura on the occasion; in one other snap, Combs poses together with his arm round Bieber.
