Taye Diggs reveals he was 'blindsided' by his 'hero' Diddy's arrest
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Actor Taye Diggs, who formerly admired rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs' ascent to prominence, expressed his disbelief at the rapper's arrest on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.
During a guest appearance on the Thursday, September 26, episode of Kate and Oliver Hudson's 'Sibling Revelry' podcast, the 'Rent' star revealed that he was "blindsided" to learn about Diddy's troubled background.
Taye Diggs felt 'naive' and was 'blindsided' by Diddy's allegations
The 54-year-old music mogul has been held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City pending trial on serious allegations, and providing transportation related to prostitution.
Confessing his disbelief over Diddy's recent arrest, Taye Diggs, 53, said on the podcast, "I felt so naive when I heard all that stuff because I was… I don’t know where I was, but all of it blindsided me."
The 'Rent' actor revealed that he had always seen the Bad Boy Records founder as a role model before the public revelation of all of Diddy's alleged mistreatment.
"He was a hero to me. I loved how he… he didn’t come from much, he started out as a dancer. All the things that I wasn’t, growing up, he was," Diggs added.
Diggs continued, "He had so much confidence and a certain arrogance that I loved and he made being Black cool."
He also mentioned how much he appreciated the 'I'll Be Missing You' rapper for wearing his race "as a badge," per OK! Magazine.
'The Best Man' star added, I really put him on a pedestal and it was disappointing to see some of what happened," about the Bad Boy Records founder. "I couldn’t believe it. And I didn’t like that feeling," he Diggs added.
The Broadway actor claimed that it was "double-edged" for him to learn of all the charges made against Diddy. "On one side, I’m like, this is great for people to know that this happens," he said.
"We can think life is to be lived a certain way, we can think a person is a certain way and they can be the exact opposite and get used to that, you know?"
Sean 'Diddy' Combs allegedly 'abused and threatened women and others around him'
Following his arrest on September 16, the 'I'll Be Missing You' singer was charged with three counts.
Diddy entered a not-guilty plea to the charges and refuted the accusations, but the judge rejected his bail request twice. He was eventually placed under custody until his trial at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Diddy's lawyer Marc Agnifilo sent a statement to Us Weekly saying, "We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr Combs by the US Attorney’s Office."
"Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal," the statement concluded.
