Because of Diddy’s latest run-in with the law, reports of his past legal troubles have been making headlines again. An article by The Root pointed out that because of the recent scandals that Diddy has been connected to, people on social media have been sharing unfavorable stories about him. One event that brought him a lot of negative media attention came to be known as the Harlem Stampede.
In 1991, a 22-year-old Diddy was the promoter for a basketball game titled ‘Heavy D And Puff Daddy Celebrity Charity Game.’ The game included Big Daddy Kane, Ed Lover, members of Run-DMC, Boyz II Men, Jodeci, and other famous artists of the time.
According to the New York Times, the City College Campus in Harlem where the event was taking place had a capacity of 2,700. But around 5,000 people came to buy tickets at the door that cost $20.
The game’s start time was pushed back by an hour. The Root reported that the huge crowds waiting outside were getting unruly.
People then began rushing toward the entrance of the gymnasium, not realizing that the doors had been locked. The other attendees ahead of them were being squashed. 9 people lost their lives that day, and 29 others were injured.
Diddy Lost Everything After the Incident
The New York Post recently interviewed Jason Swain, the brother of one of the victims. He had some things to say about Diddy and the current situation he’s facing. The rapper is still under federal investigation over trafficking charges.
Multiple cases have been brought against him, with a number of people accusing him of various crimes. And in late March, his homes in L.A. and Miami were raided by agents from Homeland Security.
Jason told the New York Post that he believed in karma. He claimed that Diddy never really owned up to anything. He never said that he was sorry for what happened in 1991.
Jason said that whatever was going on with Diddy now was meant to be. His mother reportedly told news outlets at the time that she wished Diddy would’ve taken some accountability for what had happened to her eldest son.
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She spoke to the Daily News in 1998. She wanted him to step up to the plate and say: “I made a mistake, I shouldn’t have done this.”
According to the DAILY BEAST, Diddy was just starting out in the industry at the time of the Harlem stampede. The catastrophe almost ended his career right then and there. The tragedy became global news, and Diddy’s label, Uptown Records, reportedly let him go because of the public backlash.
In an interview with Vlad TV, his ex-bodyguard Gene Deal revealed that he was at the celebrity basketball game. He saw how its aftermath affected his boss.
Gene explained that after Diddy was fired, he needed to be monitored at all times to make sure that he wouldn’t try to take his own life. He thought he’d lost everything.
Diddy Prioritized His Own Safety
The New York Post also spoke with someone who was actually at the City College Campus in Harlem when the stampede happened. Charrisse Miles was only twenty-one at the time, and after waiting in line for hours, she eventually made it inside to see the big game.
She explained that at one point, there was a rush inside, and that was when she just saw bodies dropping. It was chaos.
Charrisse also claimed that she saw Diddy when the stampede began. Yet, he only seemed to be focused on himself and his own safety.
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She said that he walked right past her. According to Charrisse, he didn’t seem concerned about what was going on. He just wanted to get his stuff and get out of there.
She went on to share that she never got a sense of remorse or accountability from him. Then, she made a comparison between Diddy’s past and his troubled present.
Charisse claimed that once the crowd rushed through, the people in charge didn’t care about anyone else. So she figured that Diddy’s past deeds were coming back to him, and she wasn’t surprised.
Diddy Faced Lawsuits into the Year 2000
Apart from being let go by his record label, Diddy also faced a number of lawsuits after the incident. They lasted for several years.
In 1999, the New York Times reported that a New York State judge ruled that Diddy was partially to blame and could be held liable for damages in a civil suit. He said that it did not take an Einstein to know that young people attending a rap concert camouflaged as a celebrity basketball game, who had paid as much as $20 a ticket, would not be very happy and easy to control if they were unable to gain admission to the event because it was oversold. Diddy and Heavy D had to settle several of the lawsuits against them.
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According to The Root, Diddy’s last settlement was in 2000, to a woman named Nicole Levy. Her lawyers called Diddy’s initial $50,000 settlement offer an insult because of the amount of wealth he had by that stage in his career.
A 1998 report by the New York Times used a quote by Diddy in which he confessed that he struggled with what happened in Harlem 7 years earlier. He said that City College was something he dealt with every day of his life.
But the things he dealt with could in no way measure up to the pain that the families dealt with. He went on to say that he prayed for the families and prayed for the children who lost their lives every day.
