Former Bad Boy rapper Moses “Shyne” Barrow has spoken out following Diddy’s arrest earlier this week on racketeering and sex-trafficking charges.
Shyne, who serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the Belize House of Representatives, shared his thoughts regarding his former boss’s legal troubles with the media on Wednesday (Sept. 18).
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“When I was an 18-year-old kid just wanting to do nothing other than make my mother proud and make Belize proud and be recognized for my talent and take over the world,” he said. ‘I was defending him, and he turned around and called witnesses to testify against me. He contributed … he pretty much sent me to prison. That is the context by which you must always describe that [relationship]. I forgave. I moved on. But let us not pretend as if I was in Miami for Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
Shyne is referencing the case surrounding a December 1999 NYC nightclub shooting at he, Diddy and Jennifer Lopez (the mogul’s girlfriend at the time) were all present during; Shyne ended up being charged with assault and sentenced to 10 years behind bars in June 2001. He was ultimately released in 2009 and deported to Belize.
He continued: “So, let us not lose sight of what the cold, hard facts are. This is not someone who I vacationed with and who he and I enjoyed this great, intimate relationship of brotherhood. This is someone who destroyed my life and who I forgave and who I moved on and for the better interest of Belize, because he was in a position at that time to give scholarships and to maybe invest, I would not deny attempting to bring the investment to Belize and contribution to education to Belize.”
“Don’t distort it as if he and I were boom bally. This is someone that destroyed my life,” he continued. “But do I take any joy with what he is going through? Absolutely not. I am different than other people — no one needs to fail for me to succeed.”
While Shyne has forgiven Diddy for their past, earlier this year, he admitted that the 1999 shooting case that sent him to prison still “opens wounds” when brought up.
Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested earlier this week on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges in New York City. He was once again denied bail on Wednesday (Sept. 18) after a federal judge cited concerns that the embattled music executive would pose a flight risk and might intimidate witnesses if he was released.
Diddy’s legal team drew up a $50 million bond package featuring strict requirements, but the judge was not moved. The rapper will remain in a Brooklyn federal prison until trial.
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