For better or worse, rapper Cam’ron is going to be himself at all times, including while live on CNN in a disastrous interview about Sean “Diddy” Combs’ abuse and sexual misconduct scandals.
And he is standing by his actions, instead calling out the network for not highlighting “positive things” in the culture. The Harlem native appeared on “NewsNight with Abby Phillip” on May 20, where he faced a line of seemingly unexpected questions about the explosive video of the disgraced mogul beating his then-girlfriend singer Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura in 2016. The video was exclusively publicized by CNN days earlier.
In so many ways, he dodged providing substantial answers to questions seeking to ascertain how much, if any, of the mogul’s alleged violent tendencies he knew of, as well as his perspective on how others in the industry may have aided Diddy in allegedly getting away with this monstrous behavior for years.
The “Hey Ma” artist wanted no part of the discussion, and he made it abundantly clear that he was unfazed by the backlash, calling him out for his unprofessional responses and disrespecting the journalist.
“They didn’t invite me on to say how successful our show is or the positive stuff we do in the community. How every day, five days a week, Ma$e talks to kids on a Zoom call. … He stops what he’s doing to talk to kids around the world to talk about being positive and doing what they believe in,” said Cam’ron on the May 21 episode of his and Ma$e’s “It Is What It Is” podcast.
He further vented his frustrations about how the interview panned out, stating, “You call me on CNN for the bulls—t, Imma give you the buls—t. That’s just what’s gone happen. So we got some free promo, I teased Horsepower [his sexual performance drink], they tried to bring up when Ma$e brought me to Biggie instead of Puff. I said yeah, if you seen it, what you asking me about it for?”
During the brief discussion with Phillip, the anchor asked The Diplomats group member if he recognized the abusive version of the Bad Boy Records founder in the bombshell video. “When I seen the video, everything in that video was egregious. I’m against, I don’t support all the charges that’s alleged against him. I don’t support any of that, trafficking minors, domestic violence,” he began.
I have never seen anything like this. Poor Abby! Because she navigated that even though he was determined to go off the rails. https://t.co/r4yfqxLQr2
— Arionne (Are-REE-ahn) Nettles (@ArionneNettles) May 21, 2024
“I’m totally against it. So when I seen the video I was kind of upset with it. Being that I know him, he’s not necessarily a friend, but yeah, I was upset when I seen it.”
Phillip continued her efforts to discuss the matter, asking if he recognized Diddy’s anger, his thoughts on his peer’s apology, and how the famed producer treats his artists. Cam’ron appeared annoyed by the trajectory of the conversation.
While plugging the podcast, his libido enhancement drink, and making it known that he planned to “get some cheeks” after the appearance, he said she would be better off asking his co-host about Diddy’s demeanor. Ma$e was formerly signed to the Combs’ record label.
“Who the talent agent for this joint? Like you think I be sitting around watching what Diddy do and all this. I didn’t know this was a Diddy joint y’all was inviting me to. Yo, who booked me for this joint,” he seemed to say to someone off-camera as Phillip concluded the interview.
“Honestly, Camron was so disrespectful to a whole Black Woman who was just doing her job; Like you have a whole podcast & demand respect from your guest as well,” read one reaction to the spectacle. Another person tweeted, “People in the comments are saying Cam needs media training. No. He doesn’t. He needs to not be on f—king CNN. I swear this s—t like this feels anti-Black.”
Some others believe that Cam’ron’s past interviews that went completely left should have been a forewarning of how things could play out for CNN. “I guess they didn’t watch the bill O’reilly interview, if they would have did their homework they would of concluded that Cam is the wrong one to play with,” quipped one individual.
For reference, fans began to recirculate his and Dame Dash’s joint appearance on “The O’Reilly Factor” from 2003, where Bill O’Reilly attempted to cast rappers as bad influences on the youth. The two hip-hop figures were blunt and direct with their responses. Another video floating around shows the rapper discussing the street “code of ethics” and not snitching in a 2007 “60 Minutes” episode.
