Justin Bieber is said to be ‘completely thrown’ after Diddy was arrested and refused bail for charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The relationship between the 54-year-old music mogul – real name Sean Combs – and the Baby hitmaker, 30, goes back to the latter’s teenage years, when he climbed to the world’s stage at the age of 15.
Just last year the pair collaborated on Combs’ track Moment on his The Love Album: Off the Grid.
Combs’ arrest comes after months of sexual assault lawsuits against Combs, with a number of women – including one who was 17-year-old at the time – accusing the disgraced musician of rape.
In the wake of the allegations and his arrest, Justin – who has just become a dad for the first time with wife Hailey Bieber – is said to have shut himself away, as concerns grow for the Sorry hitmaker.
A source told the Daily Mail: ‘Bieber is so disturbed by the Diddy news and is unwilling to process it or discuss it so he has shut off.
‘So many people who helped to make him who he is were very close to Diddy and it has completely thrown him.
‘Justin hasn’t been responding on this since the home raids. He’s not going to.’
They also added that Bieber deeply regrets their 2023 collaboration, and wouldn’t have done it if he’d known the allegations which have since come to light.
They continued: ‘He had a long break from Diddy when he believes most of this took place and he had distanced himself from him.
‘He was featured on Diddy’s most recent album, and had he known any of this, there is no way he would have done it.’
Following Combs’ 2023 album release in October, Bieber reflected on the moment they first met.
‘I remember going to my brother Diddy’s office to pitch him a song I wrote for him when I was like 14,’ he wrote on Instagram.
‘Sadly the song was trash haha and it would be a hard no from him.’
He continued: ‘Fast forward to a few years ago Puff asked if I would freestyle something for his upcoming love album. Wild full circle moment, love you @diddy.’
As Combs’ house was raided by federal agents in March this year, a disturbing clip resurfaced of Diddy and a then 15-year-old Justin.
The throwback clip from Bieber’s YouTube channel shows the mogul and a young Bieber hanging out at Combs’ house.
Combs tells the camera that he’s been given ‘custody’ of Bieber for ‘48 hours.’
The clip begins with Diddy showing Bieber his sports car and promising him he can drive the vehicle once he turns 16.
‘You ever seen the movie 48 Hrs? Right now [Justin is] having 48 hours with Diddy, him and his boy,’ the rapper tells the camera.
‘They’re having the times of their lives, like where we hanging out and what we’re doing we can’t really disclose. But it’s definitely a 15-year-old’s dream.’
He continues, ‘I have been given custody of him. You know, he’s signed to Usher and I had legal guardianship of Usher when he did his first album. I did Usher’s first album.’
In the resurfaced video Combs continues, as Bieber smiles, ‘For the next 48 hours, he’s with me. And we’re gonna go full. Buck full crazy.’
Combs then asks Bieber what he wants to do, to which Bieber responds, ‘Let’s go get some girls.’
‘Man after my heart,’ the rapper responds. ‘That’s what I’m talking about.’
Another clip, taken in 2010 when Bieber was 16, shows the young singer stuttering and looking uncomfortable as Diddy asks him why he doesn’t hang out with him anymore.
Combs has been credited with launching the careers of artists like Biggie Smalls, Mary J Blige, and Usher, and at 13 the latter lived in his New York home for a year.
The year was dubbed ‘Flavour Camp’ for Usher to learn from Diddy’s mentorship.
He later recalled the experience: ‘There was always girls around. You’d open a door and see somebody doing it, or several people in a room having an orgy.
‘You never knew what was going to happen.’
When asked if he’d let his own child live with Diddy, Usher responded, ‘Hell no.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Justin Bieber’s representatives for comment.
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