Sean “Diddy” Combs won a major legal victory this week when he managed to avoid the most serious sexual traffic allegations in his criminal trial, leaving people in the music world wondering how an industry with a notoriously disturbed past in the management of abusive behavior will go ahead.
“I am tired of living in a world where money, power, misogyny and patriarchy continue to win,” wrote Tiffany Red, an eminent defender of the music industry and a close friend of Cassie Ventura, wrote on Instagram after the verdict released on Wednesday.
The chances that the image of Combs is realized significantly seems to be thin, since violent and abusive behavior was taken in front of the camera and broadcast to millions of people in the world. And Combs still faces a litany of civil combinations which will continue to follow him in the predictable future. Whatever career he has to return, comes with an important asterisk.
It is early to know what, if an opportunity would even be possible for combs in the future. Combs faced weeks of brutal testimonies of witnesses such as Ventura and Kid Cudi, and his acquittal came from the fact that observers call an excessive accusation for his accusations. He was denied the surety on Wednesday, keeping him imprisoned during his conviction in October. And his two transports to engage in prostitution convictions could include a maximum sentence of 20 years, although it is not clear what will be its official punishment.
Put side by the prison, Combs will probably never hold the same call or consumer success he had before the allegations increased. But if there is a company where the burned image may not disqualify a certain level of return, say the initiates, it would be music. Despite years of attempted cultural work in the post-metoo era, fear of reprisals on these problems is still looming in the music sector. Seven different executives who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter For this article, all of them asked for anonymity citing the fear of reprisals or the desire to protect their relations in the industry.
“He’s a monster. And the reality is that the musical industrial complex has protected it for decades, “said a music entrepreneur.
Adds a long-standing communications manager who has worked with several major entertainment companies: “The music industry is lawless and people have very short memories,” she says. “Artists receive a license. Rock and roll has always been a dirty game, it has always been sex, drugs and rock and roll. You have always had bad boys, bad behavior. It was glorified, it was not punished. It is integrated into the roots of the company. ”
Indeed, the music sector, perhaps even more than the broader entertainment industry, has an unequal history with the way it manages controversies among its stars and high power frames. Although the commercial results vary, there are few artists who have been completely put on the company’s black list following allegations of abuse or bad behavior.
Chris Brown pleaded guilty to having attacked ex-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, a infamous case that tarnishes Brown’s reputation to date. And despite many criminal and civil allegations of violent behavior – including an arrest in England in May for an incident where he struck a producer above his head with a bottle of tequila – he remains one of the most popular artists in the company, freeing eight albums of major labels since then (which all started in the top 10) and currently selling stadiums in his current tour.
After CAA abandoned Kanye West as a customer according to the first anti -Semitic merger of the controversial rapper in 2022, he managed to find a new performance for reservations with 33 and West before this reservation agency decides to drop him earlier this year when he started to say his hateful remarks.
Seven women – including the independent superstar Phoebe Bridgers – presented themselves to the New York Times In 2019, on the allegations of reprisals against Ryan Adams, if they rejected his sexual advances, the singer refusing allegations at the time and expressed apologies in 2020. Adams is certainly less popular now, although he always obtains tour dates, including during an upcoming program at the famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
“Who can you indicate in the industry that has been banned for their behavior,” asks the communications director. “Russell Simmons always goes out to the events of the music industry warmly welcomed by his peers. Chris Brown sells arenas, Marilyn Manson still plays shows. There may be R. Kelly, but it only happened after being put in prison.”
The communications executive claims that Combs will be a “pariah” in the foreseeable future, and it does not expect it to come back significantly as an artist or producer, but adds that she thinks that the industry “will come back conveniently if they think that he can make them money”.
“I have no faith that in my career, there will be another #MeToo movement, I think it’s over,” says the executive. “What should we need?”
Another founder of the leading label, who said that he had “always had very good relations with Puffy” says that he doubts that Combres could restore a career in the brand as he had done with Diageo, but that he had not governed the chances of Combs with a music company.
“Will he have a career after that?” I don’t know. I suppose you have to determine the duration of the prison, ”explains the founder. “I think it will be somehow persona non grata for a few years, but if you can provide successes and find talents, it is the record for the record. It is a just game, everything is just in love and war. I would never count it, but it will certainly not be adopted for at least the foreseeable future.”
Several others are not so confident.
“I do not think that the Public Opinion Court will forgive,” said Dr. Ann Olivarius on Wednesday, an eminent lawyer focused on sexual harassment and women’s rights. “DIDDY’s reputation damage is real and demonstrates that the world is watching and that survivors count even if their attackers are powerful.”
A music director of music said that although Combs “can continue to get out of music, like a career with a caring audience, he will no longer have that.”
“And you shouldn’t have that anymore,” she says. “Will you really have admiration, superfans and love? I don’t think. But crazy things have happened, look at Michael Jackson. I don’t know if people will broadcast him. But new music, I’m sure he will have a story to tell.”
A leader of hip-hop and R&B says that Combres was “above the hill” in its popularity before allegations begin to surface. This, associated with horrible video, will keep it out of all relevance in the future, he said.
“Where are you going after having a video that comes out of you by beating your girlfriend on a hotel floor in front of an elevator,” said A&R. “Chris Brown was much younger, and people will soon have to forget. I don’t know where he is going from here. I hope he has to stay in prison for at least a few years. Because if he doesn’t, I have the impression that it will almost be back where it was. He could be more prudent, right? But he will always be this guy.”
However, the rule of courts for the possible condemnation of Combs, many in the company consider the Combs affair as a single problem which reflects wider systemic problems in the industry. How it was managed to this point did not inspire much confidence.
“Too many people are guilty of corruption and abuse in the music industry,” wrote Red on Wednesday, “but very few are exposed, and almost none is held responsible.”
