MDC is five miles from the public housing projects in BedfordStuyvesant, where Combs' biggest Bad Boy Records star, Biggie Smalls, grew up, but over 20 miles from the middle-class suburb of Yonkers where Combs himself was raised after his father was killed when he was a toddler. Smalls was murdered in Los Angeles in 1997, but Combs, who was privately educated, went on to amass a fortune and global fame by marrying street attitude to luxury consumer capitalism.
But that all crashed and burned last week. On Wednesday a New York judge rejected a $50m (£38m) bail package for Combs - in part because of witness intimidation allegations - in advance of his trial on three criminal counts, including racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution.
It is a staggering fall from grace, even in a world of US celebrity now littered with them. At his peak, Combs could be seen driving down Broadway in New York in a open-top Bentley. It was the era of opulent bling, and he was its king.
"Puffy connected a lot of dots, connected people to a different kind of glamour and aspiration, and brought hip-hop into a different place in the world," Vibe magazine's former editor Alan Light told the Guardian this year.
"He saw the connections to the fashion world, to the entertainment world. He wanted to see how large it could be." Combs launched a perfume; a clothing line, Sean John; a brand of vodka, Cîroc, and owned a $65m superyacht, Maraya, and a black private jet. He threw famous White parties in the Hamptons and St Tropez; he was profiled in Vogue as recently as 2017, promoting a line of "demure" jewellery.
Denne historien er fra September 21, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra September 21, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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