S. Samuel
Bad Boy Records CEO Sean "Diddy" Combs addresses his recent controversial sit-down with "Nightline" and questions why he was asked about purchasing his son a luxury vehicle for his 16th birthday in the September VIBE Magzine.
Looking back, Diddy now regrets having done the interview with reporter Martin Bashir.
“There were times in the interview when I had to give him an ultimatum. The questions weren’t being handled the right way. In hindsight, when I saw him I shouldn’t had done the interview because I know the style of interview that he does . . . The whole thing about giving a Maybach to my son, that’s really like a racist question. You don’t ask White people what they buy their kids. And they buy ’em Porsches and convertible Bentleys and it ain’t no question. It’s really a racist question and put things back in perspective with money and the way that people still look at you. And I’m not saying that consciously he’s a racist. But he probably don’t even realize that he would not ask Steve Jobs that. He would be like Steve Jobs has that money and that’s the gift his kid is supposed to get.” (VIBE)
Speaking on ABC’s “Nightline” last month, Diddy defended his expensive purchase for Justin Dior Combs.
“I think it’s appropriate to give my kids whatever I want to give my kids,” he told Martin Bashir. “I feel the way I raise my children, I don’t have to explain to you or anyone else, ’cause nobody knows the way I raise my children…Nobody knows the lessons that I’ve taught my children to understand, if they are mentally ready for that,” he said. “It wasn’t even about a lesson; it’s what I wanted to do. I could do whatever I want to do and you can’t question me about it.” (New York Daily News)
Details on the birthday celebration hit the Internet in late January.
Talk about a sweet 16. For his 16th birthday, Diddy gave his son Justin Dior Combs a brand-new silver Maybach (price tag: $360,000). The teen received the wheels at a lavish bash Saturday night at M2 Ultralounge club in NYC. (Among the guests: Jersey Shore stars Paul “Pauly D” Delvecchio, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and rapper Lil’ Kim.) Diddy, 40, also gave his son a $10,000 check to open a bank account. (For the record, Justin is donating it all to Haiti relief.) “I’m just ecstatic right now,” Justin told UsMagazine.com at his party, which will be featured on an upcoming episode of MTV’s My Super Sweet 16. “Words can’t even describe how I feel. I’m so blessed and thankful for all of this.” (US Magazine)
Bashir, who interviewed Michael Jackson for a controversial 2003 documentary, has since left “Nightline” and joined MSNBC’s “Dateline.”
Martin Bashir is packing his bag of ratings and moving from his co-anchor chair at ABC News’s “Nightline” to rival NBC News, where he will anchor a daily afternoon show on cabler MSNBC and contribute to “Dateline.” (Washington Post)
The September VIBE issue hits newsstands August 16th.
Check out some past Diddy footage below:
