Usher has expressed that he would not send his own children to live with Diddy, an experience he had at the young age of 13.
Interestingly, in an effort to immerse Usher in the rapper’s lifestyle, he was sent from his hometown of Dallas, Texas, to New York City to reside with Diddy, who was nine years his senior.
At the time, Usher was a budding artist and joined the ‘Puffy Flava Camp’ following a recommendation from L.A. Reid, the former CEO of Epic Records, to help him succeed in the hip-hop industry.
During a 2016 interview with Howard Stern, Usher recounted: “I lived with Sean Puffy Combs for a year.”
Stern inquired if the house was ‘filled with chicks and orgys’, but Usher clarified that it wasn’t the case.
“Nah, not really,” he said. “I mean, it was curious. I got the chance to see some things.”
“I went there to see the lifestyle. And I saw it. I don’t know if I could indulge and understand really what I was looking at.”
“It was pretty wild,” Usher added.
When asked about his parents’ awareness of his experiences, the 45-year-old revealed they ‘didn’t know nothing about this s**t’.
“You’re a dad now, would you ever send your kid to Puffy Flava Camp?” Stern asked further.
“Hell no,” Usher, now a father-of-four, responded.
Footage of the interview has reemerged online following Diddy, also known as Sean Combs, being arrested and charged with racketeering and sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion—charges to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Diddy was apprehended in the lobby of the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, New York, on September 16, and has been denied bail twice—even after proposing a $50 million bond in exchange for home detention with GPS monitoring.
The judge denied his request, labeling Combs a ‘serious flight risk’ with the resources to escape.
His attorney Marc Agnifilo has called the decision to arrest and charge Combs ‘unjust,’ telling UNILAD that his client is ‘not a criminal’ and anticipates clearing his name in court.
Diddy, who awaits the setting of his trial date, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of all charges.