Inside Diddy’s 90s Music Empire: Power, Fear, and Controversy

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"I have so much money now that I could hire someone to kill you, and nobody would know. No-one would miss you. No-one would know anything."  

Former music executive Daniel Evans vividly recalls hearing these chilling words from Sean "Diddy" Combs—then known as Puff Daddy—directed at a colleague in 1997. It happened inside the New York office of Bad Boy Records, Combs’s Grammy Award-winning music label.

 

Nearly 30 years later, Combs’s empire is in tatters as he awaits trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, while also facing numerous lawsuits accusing him of drugging and assaulting individuals at lavish parties, upscale hotels, and even in his recording studio. He denies all allegations.  

 

In an exclusive investigation, the BBC has spoken with over 20 individuals who worked at Bad Boy Records during its meteoric rise in the 1990s—including former executives, assistants, and producers. They have come forward to share troubling incidents they claim to have witnessed. Among them is a former client who alleges that Combs raped her on the bathroom floor at a promotional party for The Notorious B.I.G. in 1995. In her lawsuit, she claims that after the assault, Combs warned her not to speak of it, saying, “You will disappear.”  

 

Jimmy Maynes, who worked closely with Combs, recalls his volatile temperament in the office. He describes moments when Combs would slam his hands against the desk like a "bratty kid" and erupt in anger if things did not go his way.  

 

Combs’s career took off after he was fired from Uptown Records at just 23 years old. He then founded Bad Boy Records, where he quickly became known for his relentless work ethic. "He's the hardest working man that I've ever met and always wanted people to match his energy," says Daniel Evans, who managed Bad Boy’s recording budgets and artists' contracts from 1994 to 1997.  

 

Combs often compared himself to "The Great Gatsby" and built a reputation for throwing extravagant parties—whether at exclusive New York nightclubs, on the beaches of Cancun, or at his infamous "White Parties" in the Hamptons, where guests were required to wear all white. "Bad Boy Records was a crazy house with a lot of young people who wanted to touch the King's robes," recalls one former employee.  

 

According to former staff, the label was predominantly run by young executives and a large group of interns, some of whom were still in school. They also allege that sexual relationships between employees and interns were common. Additionally, Evans claims that artists and staff would arrange for women to be flown in to have sex at the studio. "If they had a [sexual] specialty in something, they would be flown in," he says, adding that he knew about it because he controlled the budgets. The cost of these flights, he alleges, was recorded under travel expenses.  

 

Many former staff members struggle to reconcile these allegations with the man they once knew. "These accusations are a surprise to me, as I am sure it is to many of our circle," says Jeffery Walker, a close friend of Combs and a member of Bad Boy’s original production team. "I've been to White Parties and of course studio sessions, and none of what he is accused of went down in my sight."  

 

Evans, too, was initially skeptical—until he saw footage of Combs’s ex-partner, Casandra Ventura, being brutally beaten by him in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. Ventura was the first to sue Combs in November 2023, alleging he had subjected her to a cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking throughout their 10-year relationship. Combs settled the lawsuit the following day for an undisclosed sum.  

 

"It's not the first time I've seen that temper," Evans says, recalling the 1997 death threat he claims to have witnessed. "It's hard to see. The guy in the video with Cassie is almost identical to the guy who threatened the employee. So, you wonder, has anything changed?"  

 

Over the years, Combs has continuously reinvented himself—from Puff Daddy to P. Diddy and, more recently, to "Love." In a 2015 interview, he explained his different personas: "If I'm acting crazy, like 'ahhh!' that's Diddy. If I'm dancing real smooth with a girl, that's Puff Daddy. And if I'm looking like I'm nervous or scared or shy, that's Sean."  

 

With his trial set for May, those who were once closest to him are questioning whether they ever truly knew Sean Combs. "One could think that he's just a disgusting human being, but that's not my memory of Puff," says Maynes.  

 

After a long pause, he adds: "Or maybe money just gives people the freedom to be exactly who they really are, and he was that guy all along."

 

Based on a report by BBC 2025-02-07