Floyd Mayweather Jr. has no intention of delving into commentary regarding alleged sex scandals and Sean “Diddy” Combs. But ironically, it is the athlete’s own words about the topic that have provoked some to drag him online.
The 46-year-old is the latest guest on “The Pivot” podcast. Early in his chat with the hosts, Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor, he was asked about his relationship with his daughter Iyanna “Yaya” Mayweather’s ex-boyfriend and father of her son, rapper NBA YoungBoy. The exes have a tumultuous relationship.
In what was an attempt to explain his stance on not judging the young man for his past mistakes, Floyd brought up the myriad of accusations launched against Sean “Diddy” Combs in the past few months. “I’m not going to speak bad about P. Diddy ‘cause he’s still a Black man,” he began. “I mean, mistakes happen, and I can’t say if it is or it’s not a mistake, but things happen in life, and P. Diddy’s business is P. Diddy’s business. It’s not my job or anyone else’s job to go on the internet and stomp him and kick a man while he’s down.”
Mayweather added, “My take on it is it’s not my business. I don’t think it’s right at all, and I don’t condone it. Even if that happened to my daughter, I would be hurt, but that’s the choice that my daughter made. So, I don’t want to kick nobody while they’re down.”
Clark, a father to daughters and a son, said that he too cannot cast judgment on the matter because he was not in those rooms. However, the Super Bowl XLIII champion noted that if it were his son, he would educate him on the consequences of being in certain places where nefarious activities could take place.
“On the other side, that we have to be very careful of, especially when talking about women, is that if those things are true, right, and some of the things are true, that wasn’t a decision they made, right? That’s something that was done to them,” said Clark.
“If those things happened to those women, not only is it not right, it’s also not their fault,” he said. Floyd appeared to give a tight-lipped nod, acknowledging the host’s remarks before the edited conversation transitioned to an unrelated topic.
One X user unleashed a scathing read of the undefeated boxing champion. They wrote, “He beats women and can’t read, so expecting a moral or ethical take from him is foolish, but besides that: it is very alarming that there are black people who think the way you ‘support the black community’ is through eliminating accountability for black people. if you wanted to ‘support black men’ or wanted better for black people, you’d want bad actors out and held accountable, instead of telling us that there is no action bad enough for you to outcast someone if they’re black.”
The boxer was arrested in 2010 for allegedly threatening to kill ex-girlfriend Josie Harris, with whom he shared three children, and striking her. He served two months in jail after pleading guilty to a domestic violence charge and no contest to harassment charges. Harris died in 2020 of an accidental overdose. Additional women romantically involved with him have also accused him of abuse in the past.
“You don’t just mistakenly commit sex trafficking and rape,” read another post. In an attempt to contextualize Floyd’s rationale, another commenter suggested, “What Floyd is saying is we attack our own harder than we attack white men who do the same things.”
On Tuesday, Feb. 21, Combs responded to Jane Doe’s lawsuit claiming he and a Bad Boy executive participated in sex trafficking and gang-raping her when she was 17 years old in 2003.
His newly obtained attorney, Shawn Holley, wrote that the complaint is dated and robs the mogul of the opportunity to fully and fairly defend himself against the allegations and that the “entirely fictional account” never happened. “For example, some or all evidence that otherwise would have been available if the action had been promptly commenced may be unavailable, lost, or compromised,” she wrote.
The entertainment litigator argued that “the absence of evidence materially impacts the defendant’s ability to defend against essential aspects of the plaintiff’s claims. Witness identification, availability, and recollections are likely compromised due to the substantial passage of time since the alleged incident.”
And that photos of Doe with Diddy at his studio on the day of the alleged crimes may be fake. Her legal team hit back at their claim, calling it desperate.
Jane Doe's prominent atty, Douglas Wigdor, scoffs at Sean 'Diddy' Combs' answer to gang rape lawsuit:
— Nancy Dillon (@Nancy__Dillon) February 21, 2024
“The ridiculous claim that the photos are somehow fake and the law at issue is unconstitutional are nothing more than desperate attempts to conjure a defense where none exists” https://t.co/QJb5GG3XMm
Combs’ legal team has also filed a motion to dismiss his companies as defendants in the case. In November, the litany of accusations from multiple women led to his stepping down as chairman of REVOLT, the media company he founded over a decade ago.
And in January, he and Diageo, an alcohol production and distribution company, reached a settlement in a suit he brought against them, alleging they treated his Ciroc Vodka and DeLeon tequila inferiorly, only marketing them to urban markets, unlike white-owned brands, who were more extensively promoted.
As a result of his case being withdrawn, he agreed to sever ties with both spirits, making Diageo the sole owner of the products and ending his business partnership with the company.
