Justin Bieber 'in a hard place mentally' following Diddy arrest
'The allegations against him have been hard to process'
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Justin Bieber wants “nothing to do” with Sean “Diddy” Combs after the rap mogul was arrested and charged with sex trafficking and racketeering last month.
“Justin has been advised to stay as far away as possible from anything and everything related to Diddy,” a source tells Us Weekly.
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The Canadian pop star “wants to protect himself” and is focusing on his newborn son with wife Hailey Bieber and the positive aspects of his life.
“His happiness being a dad has outweighed his anxiety about Diddy,” a second source says. “It’s in his past, and that’s where he wants to leave it.”
But his past relationship with the Bad Boys Records founder has left Bieber, now 30, unsettled.
“Justin is in a hard place mentally right now,” a third insider tells the outlet. “He has such a history with Diddy and the allegations against him have been hard to process.”
Despite Bieber allegedly hoping to put distance between himself and Combs, who he befriended as a teenager, his connection to the disgraced rapper has become a talking point as some people on social media have raised questions about the problematic behaviour Justin may have been surrounded by when he was starting out.
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 earlier this 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 said in the video. “For the next 48 hours, he’s with me. And we’re gonna go full. Buck full crazy.”
Combs, 54, has been in federal custody since his arrest last month at a Manhattan hotel after police charged him with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied all the charges.
Bieber, who collaborated with Combs on last year’s Moments track from his The Love Album: Off The Grid, has been “thrown” by the allegations against the music superstar.
An insider speaking to the Daily Mail last month said, “Bieber is so disturbed by the Diddy news and is unwilling to process it or discuss it so he has shut off.”
According to the Mail’s insider, Bieber now regrets working with Combs last year.
“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,” the source said.
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But other “disturbing” videos of Bieber and Combs have circulated in recent weeks, including one in which the All About the Benjaminsrapper questioned the Baby crooner for not calling him.
“What’s up man, you good?” Combs asked in the video that went viral on X. “Selling out arenas and everything? Starting to act different, huh? You haven’t been calling me and hanging out the way we used to hang out.”
Bieber started stumbling over his words as he replied, “You never got my number … I’m going to tell you my number.”
“This is a creepy video,” one person wrote. “Justin seems nervous around him.”
During a joint appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2011, when Bieber was still a minor, Combs said the pair have “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 include one showing the two meeting in 2021 and Combs patting Bieber on the back and chest in what some believe was an attempt to see if he was wearing a wire.
“This is so uncomfortable to watch,” one person commented on the clip, while another added, “Sean Combs was denied bail for witness intimidation! He was trying to intimidate Justin here … What a scumbag!”
Another clip that has been viewed over 3.6 million times on X shows 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.
“I just want to protect her,” he said speaking of Eilish, who was 18 at the time. “I don’t want her to go through anything I went through. I don’t wish that upon anybody.”
Meanwhile, Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is expected to go on trial next spring.
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