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In 1990s and early 2000s New York, Sean “Diddy” Combs was the person to be seen with. 

Now on trial in Manhattan, his hair grey, his beard grown, it’s hard to imagine that he was “the Pied Piper… of the most elite level of partying of that time” – but that’s how Amy DuBois Barnett describes him.

She was the first Black-American woman to run a major mainstream magazine in the US, and based in Manhattan at a time when hip hop was at its zenith.

“Urban culture really ran the city,” she says. “That’s where so much of the money was… you had all the finance bros trying to get into Puffy (Combs) parties, all the fashion executives trying to get into Puffy parties.”

And while he was welcomed by the highest echelons of the arts and entertainment world, she says: “He was never known for being a calm kind of individual.”

FILE - Sean 'P.' Diddy' Combs arrives at the annual Independence Day 'White Party' at the PlayStation 2 Estate in Bridgehampton, New York, July 4, 2004. (AP Photo/Jennifer Szymaszek, File)
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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in New York in July 2004. Pic: AP

Combs was “very dismissive” with her, and she admits: “Puff never particularly liked me that much.”

But DuBois Barnett would often get invited to his parties because she was able to feature his up-and-coming artists in her magazines.

From editor-in-chief of Ebony magazine, she’d go on to become the editor-in-chief of Honey and Teen People magazines, and then deputy editor of Harper’s Bazaar.

She says the man she met at those parties “lacked warmth” and seemed “complicated”.

Amy DuBois Barnett
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Amy DuBois Barnett

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“When he walked in the room, all of the energy changed. Puffy had his trusted individuals around him… immediately the area around him would become kind of crowded with everybody vying for his attention,” she says.

“I think that was also partially why he didn’t particularly like me because I wasn’t really vying for his attention.

“He really reserved that attention for the people that he was either attracted to… or the people that he thought were important enough to his business success.”

Amy DuBois Barnett at an event for Ebony magazine
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Amy DuBois Barnett (right) with publisher Desiree Rogers at an event for Ebony magazine

She says it was common knowledge that he wasn’t someone to cross due to “rumours… of what he could do”.

“There were a lot of people within journalism, within media, within other industries that were afraid of his influence and also afraid of his temper,” she adds.

“When things at parties would not go his way or somebody didn’t bring him something quickly enough, or… the conversation wasn’t going his way… he would just kind of snap and he was just not afraid to yell at whoever was there.

“There was not a lot of boundaries in his communication, let’s just put it that way.”

Diddy on the red carpet at the height of his success
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Combs on the red carpet at the height of his success

But she says it was a time when a tremendous amount of misogyny was running throughout music, things that in today’s culture would certainly give pause for thought.

“So many things happened to me, everything from getting groped at parties to getting locked in a limousine with music executives and having him refuse to let me out until I did whatever he thought I was going to do, which I didn’t.”

She insists: “We didn’t have the vocabulary to understand the degree to which it was problematic… it was a thread that ran throughout the culture.”

Diddy getting off a private jet during his heyday
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Getting off a private jet during his heyday

Star-studded parties were the ultimate invite

At the time, a ticket to one of Combs’s star-studded “white parties” was the ultimate invite.

She admits: “It was like nothing you’ve ever seen before… the dress code was very strict.

“No beige, no ecru, absolutely white, you would literally be turned away if your outfit was wrong. Puffy did not sort of tolerate people in his parties that didn’t look ‘grown and sexy’ as it were.”

She says people would mingle by the poolside listening to the best DJs in the world, while topless models posed dressed as mermaids and waiters handed out weed brownies from silver platters.

“It was every boldface name you could possibly imagine, just this gorgeous crowd.”

At an event with model Naomi Campbell
Image:
At an event with model Naomi Campbell

Behind the glamour, prosecutors now allege there was a man capable of sexual abuse and violence, and a serious abuse of power. Criminal charges which he’s already pleaded not guilty to and strenuously denies.

Without question, Combs had the golden touch. Expanding his music career into business enterprises that in 2022 reportedly took his net worth to around £1bn. For decades his success story was celebrated.

“I think that in the black community, there is a feeling that if a black man is successful you don’t want to bring him down because there are not that many… these are cultural forces that are rooted in the systemic racism that’s present in the United States… but I think that these were part of what potentially protected Puffy against people speaking out.”

Couple became ‘isolated and very unhappy’

While Combs had amassed a small fortune over the course of two decades which she encountered him, the former magazine editor says his behaviour had markedly changed from the first party she went to, to her last.

“The last was a post-Grammys party, in 2017 or 2018, and just the vibe was very different. He was really kind of isolated in a corner with Cassie, you know, looking very unhappy.”

Diddy and Cassie together on the red carpet
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Diddy and Cassie together on the red carpet

For around 10 years, Combs had a relationship with the singer Cassie Ventura which ended in 2018.

Once over she filed a lawsuit that both parties eventually settled alleging she was trafficked, raped, drugged and beaten by the rapper on many occasions – which he denied. Last week she made similar claims in court.

Casandra "Cassie" Ventura cries on the stand during redirect during Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, U.S., May 16, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
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A court sketch of Cassie giving evidence against Combs in court this week. Pic: Reuters

Sean "Diddy" Combs listens as his former girlfriend Casandra "Cassie" Ventura (not seen) testifies as a video from a hotel is played at his sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, U.S., May 14, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
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A court sketch of Combs listening to evidence from his former partner Cassie. Pic: Reuters

“Cassie looked very glassy-eyed and there was a sadness about her energy. Whatever was happening between the two of them, I mean, it didn’t feel positive,” says DuBois Barnett.

“They were sort of holed up in the corner for almost the entire night… it did feel very different from the kind of jubilant of energy that he projected in his earlier incarnations.”

For Combs, his freedom depends on how these next few weeks go. His representatives claim he is the victim of “a reckless media circus”, saying he categorically denies he sexually abused anyone and wants to prove his innocence.

In particular, they say, he looks forward to establishing the “truth… based on evidence, not speculation”.

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Strictly Come Dancing star arrested on suspicion of rape

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Strictly Come Dancing star arrested on suspicion of rape

A Strictly Come Dancing star has been arrested on suspicion of rape.

The unnamed man, who is in his 30s, was also detained over a separate allegation of “non-consensual intimate image abuse”.

The Met Police said an arrest was made in east London on Friday in a joint investigation with Hertfordshire Constabulary, following a “third-party allegation of sexual and drug-related offences”.

It is understood the arrest is not related to the upcoming production of Strictly Come Dancing – the 23rd series, which is in the rehearsal stage and is due to launch in September.

“On Friday 22 August, officers arrested a man in his 30s in east London on suspicion of rape and non-consensual intimate image abuse,” a spokesperson for the Met said in a statement.

The investigation is in its early stages and inquiries are ongoing, the spokesperson added.

The man was released on bail on Saturday until a date in November, the force said, according to BBC News.

Hertfordshire Constabulary did not add anything further.

A spokesperson for the BBC said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on an ongoing police investigation.”

Earlier this month, it was reported the broadcaster had called in lawyers to investigate following claims two of its stars had used cocaine.

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Taylor Swift announces engagement to boyfriend Travis Kelce

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Taylor Swift announces engagement to boyfriend Travis Kelce

Taylor Swift has announced she is getting married to her NFL star boyfriend Travis Kelce.

The pop star and Kansas City Chiefs tight end shared the news in a joint post on Instagram, with the caption: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”

The announcement was liked more than 1.7 million times just over 30 minutes after it was posted.

Pic: Instagram / @taylorswift
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Pic: Instagram / @taylorswift

Swift and Kelce started their relationship in July 2023, after the three-time Super Bowl winner said on his podcast New Heights that he tried and failed to meet the singer at her Eras Tour concert in Kansas City.

Rumours grew that the couple were dating after Swift was spotted at a number of Chiefs games. On her seventh time in the stands, she brought her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, along.

Kelce told the Wall Street Journal in November 2023: “There were definitely people she knew that knew who I was, in her corner [who said]: ‘Yo! Did you know he was coming [to the Eras Tour]?’

I had somebody playing Cupid… She told me exactly what was going on and how I got lucky enough to get her to reach out.”

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From January: Taylor cheers on Travis after Chiefs win

Earlier this month, Swift appeared on Kelce’s podcast, New Heights, and announced her 12th album, titled The Life Of A Showgirl.

Speaking to her now-fiance and his brother Jason Kelce, Swift said it was inspired by the Eras Tour – and also talked about Travis’s attempt at meeting her two years ago.

While she said his plan to give her his number on a friendship bracelet was a “wild, romantic gesture,” she joked he “didn’t do any proper logistical planning” and thought he would be allowed backstage.

“Because he knows the elevator lady, he thought he could talk to her about just getting down to my dressing room,” she added. “That’s how it works in 1973.”

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The new album, which will be released on 3 October, marks her first release since she took back control over her entire back catalogue from private equity firm Shamrock Capital.

Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.

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Despite rumours he would retire after losing this year’s Super Bowl, Kelce will play for the Kansas City Chiefs again this season.

He told GQ magazine his on-field performances “slipped a little bit” as he started acting, and added: “I’m just saying that my work ethic is such that I have so much pride in how I do things that I never want the product to tail off, and I feel like these past two years haven’t been to my standard.”

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Boy, 16, convicted in Germany over supporting failed terror plot at Taylor Swift concert

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Boy, 16, convicted in Germany over supporting failed terror plot at Taylor Swift concert

A 16-year-old has been convicted in Germany for supporting a foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Austria last year.

The teenager, named Mohammad A, who cannot be fully identified under Germany’s privacy laws, was convicted of preparing a serious act of violence and supporting a terrorist act of violence abroad.

He was handed a suspended 18-month sentence on Tuesday. According to the court, he made a “comprehensive confession” at his trial, which was held behind closed doors because of his age.

German judges found that the defendant, a Syrian national then aged 14, supported the ideology of the Islamic State group at the time.

The court heard he was also in contact via social media with a young man in Austria who planned to attack a Swift concert in Vienna, had sent him a video with bomb-building instructions, and organised contact with an IS member.

All three of Swift’s concerts at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium were cancelled in August last year after a terror plot was uncovered by authorities.

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Swiftie on cancelled Vienna show

Concert organisers had expected up to 65,000 fans inside the stadium at each concert and as many as 30,000 onlookers outside.

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Authorities said the main suspect, now 20, planned to target those outside of the stadium and hoped to “kill as many people as possible”.

Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of the directorate of state security and intelligence, added at the time that the suspect was “clearly radicalised in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels”.

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Swift later called the decision to cancel her shows in Austria “devastating,” and said: “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows.

“But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”

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