Amidst Sean Diddy Combs’ ongoing trial, strings are allegedly being pulled to create an appearance of public support for the rapper. Recently, individuals were reportedly paid $20 per hour to protest for the rapper’s freedom outside the New York courthouse. A video that has gone viral on Reddit captures a crowd wearing “FREE DIDDY” shirts outside the courthouse. The clip is captioned, “Aaah! Classic play from the innocent playbook.”
In the background, the person recording was heard saying, “These are all paid protesters. You can get $20 per hour if you wear a t-shirt.” The recorder spoke to one onlooker, who said that she heard the rally was to promote the rapper’s new cryptocurrency.
The bystander revealed, “He told me it’s for a Diddy Coin. I’m not sure what that is. They just tried to pay me $20 to wear a ‘Free Puffy’ shirt. The lady kept convincing me to go wear a shirt.”
Although the bystander declined the offer, she confirmed that someone was paid $60 for standing for three hours. As the video went mainstream, some Redditors began theorizing that Combs might be buying support because he is guilty.
One user wrote, “If you’ve got to pay people to protest. Kinda screams guilty. Did Diddy do it? Diddy did do it.” Another netizen added, “If you’re a celebrity and need to pay for protesters, you have failed horribly.”
Other netizens slammed the Bad Boy Entertainment CEO for engaging poor people in his trial. A critic wrote, “Predators continue to prey on vulnerable people.” A second critic chimed in, “Omg. Some of these protesters look like unhoused people. Smh.”
While the trial on its own is controversial, the happenings outside of the courthouse are adding to the controversy. On the first day of the trial, a half-naked man caused a ruckus in front of the courthouse, and some internet users connected the incident with the rapper.
As we documented earlier, a reporter was covering the event when the semi-nude man began yelling racial insults. He was heard shouting, “This is how racist I am, white boy,” before insulting gays and Nazis.
Although the outburst’s cause was unknown, some netizens claimed it had something to do with the rapper. One person joked about the situation, writing, “Jay Z not taking the trial well, it seems.” Another netizen compared the hysterical man to Kanye West, writing, “Nice of Kanye to show up.”
Amidst several theories, there is no evidence to confirm that the music mogul orchestrated any activities outside the courthouse.
