Justin Bieber breaks silence on speculation he was a victim of Sean 'Diddy' Combs

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After rampant speculation he was among Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ alleged victims, a rep for Justin Bieber is addressing the rumours as the music mogul’s sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution trial continues in New York City.

As allegations of Combs’ alleged abuse started to come out, Bieber’s connection to the disgraced rapper became a talking point last year as some people on social media raised questions about the problematic behaviour the Canadian-born pop star may have been surrounded by when he was starting out.

“Although Justin is not among Sean Combs’ victims, there are individuals who were genuinely harmed by him,” Bieber’s rep said in the statement shared with various media outlets, with TMZ the first to report the news. “Shifting focus away from this reality detracts from the justice these victims rightfully deserve.”

In a resurfaced clip from a 2014 episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Khloe Kardashian spoke about going to one of Combs’ parties where “half the people there were butt naked” and running into Bieber.

After Combs’ properties were raided last year, a clip that was shared to Bieber’s YouTube page in 2009 took on new life as it made the rounds on social media. In the video, captioned “JUSTIN BIEBER’s 48 HRS with DIDDY!!,” the Peaches singer and the I’ll Be Missing You hitmaker spoke about their wild itinerary as they planned to spend 48 hours together.

“Where we hanging out and what we’re doing we can’t really disclose. But it’s definitely a 15-year-old’s dream,” Combs, now 55, said in the video. “For the next 48 hours, he’s with me. And we’re gonna go full. Buck full crazy.”

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During a joint appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2011, when Bieber was still a minor, Combs said the pair had “become friends in a strange way.”

But their banter took a turn when Combs tried to shut down probing questions about their friendship. “He knows better than to be talking about the things that he does with big brother Puff on national television,” Combs said. “Everything ain’t for everybody.”

Other videos that racked up views on social media included one showing the two meeting in 2021 and Combs patting Bieber, now 31, on the back and chest in what some believed was an attempt to see if he was wearing a wire.

Another clip that was viewed over 4 million times on X showed an inebriated Bieber drinking alongside Combs at a party.

Bieber has been open about his drug and alcohol use when he was a minor, saying in the 2020 documentary, Justin Bieber: Seasons, “My security would come into my room at night to check my pulse. People don’t know how serious it got. It was legit crazy scary.”

In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe to promote his Changes album the same year, the London, Ont.-born pop star tearfully talked about his experience becoming an overnight sensation when he was just a teenager as he vowed to “protect” Billie Eilish from the music industry.

Following Combs’ arrest, some of Bieber’s fans wondered if he would speak out about his time as a part of the Bad Boys Records founder‘s inner circle.

But the two-time Grammy winner is trying to keep his focus on his family — son, Jack Blues, and wife, Hailey Bieber.

“His happiness being a dad has outweighed his anxiety about Diddy,” a source told Us Weekly last fall. “It’s in his past, and that’s where he wants to leave it.”

Combs’ former girlfriend Cassie Ventura accused the three-time Grammy winner of raping her over the course of their abusive 10-year relationship. She sued him in 2023 and Combs settled the suit for $20 million — a number she revealed for the first time this week.

After she went public with her claims, more than a hundred other victims came forward with allegations of abuse at the hands of Combs during his “freak-off” sex parties.

One alleged victim claimed that he drugged and raped her when she was 13 years old as an unnamed “male celebrity” and “female celebrity” participated.

Combs was hit with a flurry of lawsuits that accused him of raping women, sexually assaulting men and molesting a 16-year-old boy.

As his trial got underway this week, prosecutors argued that Combs used his fame and vast wealth to coerce women into unwittingly joining his abusive sex parties.

When Ventura, now 38, took the stand, she gave onlookers a glimpse into her sordid life with Combs and the “psychological abuse” she suffered during their relationship as he forced her to have drug-fueled sex with male escorts.

“I was just so young, I didn’t even have the vocabulary for some of the things we talked about,” she told the courtroom, according Variety. “I was sexually inexperienced.”

Ventura said the encounters left her feeling “gross,” but maintained she couldn’t leave Combs because she loved him and her worries over his threats of blackmail.

“I feared for my career. I feared for my family. It’s just embarrassing. It’s horrible and disgusting. No one should do that to anyone,” she said.

But during cross-examination, Combs’ lawyers made Ventura read aloud lengthy texts between herself and her former boyfriend that tried to show she was a willing participant in his group sex parties.

“I’m always ready to freak off,” she wrote to Combs in one message.

Although his defence team admits he could be violent at times, Combs insists all the sex was consensual between himself and others and has pleaded not guilty.

mdaniell@postmedia.com