The singer's team released a statement on the matter amid Diddy's trial.
Justin Bieber attends the Arsenal and Manchester United pre-season friendly soccer match at SoFi Stadium on July 27, 2024 in Inglewood, California.
https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/justin-bieber-diddy-pop-star-addresses-if-he-was-victim-1235973751/Justin Bieber‘s team has spoken out amid the ongoing federal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who stands accused of sex trafficking and racketeering and faces potential life in prison for his alleged crimes.
In a statement shared with PeopleFriday (May 16), the pop star’s spokesperson said, “Although Justin is not among Sean Combs’ victims, there are individuals who were genuinely harmed by him.”
The spokesperson added, “Shifting focus away from this reality detracts from the justice these victims rightfully deserve.”
Billboard has reached out to Bieber’s reps for comment.
The statement marks the first time the “Peaches” singer has directly discussed Combs since the Bad Boy Records founder was arrested in September, with federal prosecutors accusing him with running a large-scale criminal operation in which he “abused, threatened and coerced women” for decades, in part through drug-fueled sex parties known as “freak-offs,” according to the indictment.
Combs has denied all of the accusations, and in the defense’s opening statements at his trial in New York City Monday (May 12), his lawyer asserted: “Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case. We take full responsibility that there was domestic violence. Domestic violence is not sex trafficking.”
Friday marks the fifth day of the trial, which has so far focused heavily on the days-long testimony of Cassie Ventura, Combs’ ex-girlfriend. It was her now-settled civil lawsuit in November 2023 — in which she accused him of years of rape and physical abuse — that first raised allegations against the hip-hop titan, sparking a flood of additional suits from others who claimed he abused them, and setting into motion the criminal probe that led to his indictment.
Amid Combs’ fall from grace, some of Bieber’s fans have remembered that the two musicians crossed paths in the past. In a 2009 video with more than 11 million views on the “Baby” singer’s YouTube channel, a then 15-year-old Bieber spends time with the producer for 48 hours, and the pair discusses cars and hitting on girls.
“Where we hanging out and what we’re doing, we can’t really disclose,” Combs says in the video. “But it’s definitely a 15-year-old’s dream.”
In 2010, the two would take the stage with a group of other musicians at the BET-SOS Saving Ourselves Help for Haiti Benefit Concert. In 2011, they appeared together on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, with Combs saying at the time, “We’ve become friends in a strange way … [Justin] knows better than to be talking about the things that he does with Big Brother Puff on national television.”
Bieber also attended Combs’ Deleon Tequila launch party in Atlanta in 2014. In one picture from the event, the Canadian pop star sits next to Ventura; in another snap, Combs poses with his arm around Bieber.
This article first appeared on Billboard U.S.
Dan Mangan
Other notable artists releasing new work this week include Alex Henry Foster, Ensign Broderick, Tanika Charles, Chinese Medicine and The Commoners. Check out the full new release schedule here.
There's plenty to listen to in this New Music Friday before the long weekend.
Dan Mangan has delivered his seventh full-length, Natural Light. The Vancouver singer-songwriter calls it a return to folk music origins, and its political resistance and community-building. "Campfire songs for a world on fire." Here is a live performance video of one of its tracks.
As leader of adventurous Juno-nominated prog/modern rock outfit Your Favorite Enemies, Alex Henry Foster has earned an international following and chart spots on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. He now records under his own name, and his latest, A Nightfall Ritual, is now out on Hopeful Tragedy Records. It is a live album, comprising four songs from a 2024 concert in Germany, and they clock in at 48 minutes total, allowing Foster and band to really stretch musically. Word is that he has been recording new material in Tangier, Morocco.
Prolific and enigmatic retro-glam songsmith Ensign Broderick returns with two companion albums Come Down and Mirror Ring. . Expect a stripped down sound, as all the songs are built around just piano and voice. Of note: EB is the alter-ego of Jason (son of Sam) Sniderman, a former member of Blue Peter and NQ Arbuckle.
Other acts releasing new material include synth-pop songsmith Man Made Hill, with Delicious Logo , alt-popsters Absolute Treat (formerly Dilettante) serving up Shattered Love, post-punk outfit Chinese Medicine, with a sophomore EP, The Trans Agenda, acclaimed soul singer-songwriter Tanika Charles offering Reasons To Stay, Toronto roots-rockers The Commoners, with a live album and Vancouver artist EKKSTACY, with forever.
Those announcing upcoming album release dates include highly-regarded singer-songwriters Ada Lea, with when i paint my masterpiece coming on Aug. 8 andAbøn (Lauren Pedersen), with Wings of Adelaine on June 6. Mary Ancheta releases her debut LP, Rituals, on July 18.
Check out the full calendar of new and upcoming Canadian albums below.
9: Kate Maki, Impossible Knot
9: Hanorah, Closer Than Hell (Ensoul Records)
9: Kara-Lis Coverdale, From Where You Came (Envision Records)
9: Bestfriend, Bestfriend Has An Identity Crisis (Nettwerk)
9: Ryan Wayne, Functioning Dysfunctionals
9: Skydiggers, Dreams & Second Chances
9: Robert Thomas & The Sessionmen, The Way We Roll
9: Rube & Rake, Good Times After Bad (LHM Records)
9: Tsundial, S/T
9: Skydiggers, Dreams & Second Chances
9: Bibi Club, FEU DE GARDE (LES BRAISES)- Deluxe edition (Secret City)
9: Preoccupations, Ill at Ease (Born Losers)
12: Mike Trask, Beet
13: Man Made Hill, Delicious Logo (Telephone Explosion)
14: Absolute Treat, Shattered Love (Victory Pool)
15: Wardrobe, Common Touch
16: Ensign Broderick, Come Down and Mirror Ring
16: Alex Henry Foster, A Nightfall Ritual (Hopeful Tragedy)
16: Chinese Medicine, The Trans Agenda (Twin Fang)
16: Super Plage, GROSSE MAISON
16: The Commoners, Live In The UK
16: Larry Kurtz & The Lawbreakers, Take A Ride
16: Shawny – Go Go Stop -Music & Movement for Kids
16: Tanika Charles, Reasons To Stay
16: Dan Mangan, Natural Light ( Arts & Crafts)
16: EKKSTACY, forever
20: Gordon Tentrees & Jaxon Haldane, Double Take
23: David Celia, Organica (vinyl edition)
23: New Chance, A Rock Unsteady, (We Are Time)
23: Cassia Hardy, In Relation (Mint Records)
23: Ryland James, Heart of Me( 21 Entertainment Group)
23: L.O.E (Last of Eden), I Was Not Magnificent
23: Flara K., Seasons
23: Two Hours Traffic, I Never See You Anymore
23: Stephane Archambault, Point
25: Alexander Gallant, Rubber Monster Suit (Tibet Street Records)
26: The Dirty Nil, Free Rein To Passions (Dine Alone)
27: Opal Dar, Birds Hurting Birds Who Hurt Birds
30: Amy Millan, I Went To Find You (Last Gang Records)
30: Unessential Oils, The Purest of Oils (Secret City)
30: Mint Simon, Chimera
30: SamWoy, Even Sad Boys Like to Have Fun (Hidden Ship)
30 :Malia Rogers, Chameleon
30: Foxwarren, 2 (Arts & Crafts)
3: Jocelyn Pettit & Ellen Gira, Here To Stay
6: Born Ruffians, Beauty’s Pride (Wavy Haze Records)
6: Suzie Ungerleider, Among the Evergreens (MVKA)
6: Hannah Marcus, Ten Bones from a Virgin Graveyard ( Bar/None Records)
6: Ambre Ciel, still, there is the sea
6: Mother Mother, Nostalgia(Warner Music)
6: Monkey House, Crashbox (ALMA Records)
6: Nadah El Shazly, Laini Tani (Backward Music)
6: Curtis Nowosad, I Am Doing My Best ( La Reserve)
6: Abøn (Lauren Pedersen), Wings of Adelaine (Flatcar Records / Fontana North)
6: Various Artists, ANTHEMS: A Celebration of Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It In People (Arts & Crafts)
6: Ken Yates, Total Cinema
6: The Knocks and Dragonette, Revelation (Neon Gold Records / Futures / Virgin)
6: Dominique Fils-Aimé, Live At The Montreal International Jazz Festival
6: Steve Marriner, Hear My Heart (Cordova Bay Records)
6: Empanadas Ilegales, Sancocho Trifásico (We Are Time)
6: Ambre Ciel,still, there is the sea (Gondwana Records)
13:Common Holly, Anything Glass ( Paper Bag Records)
13: CHXMERAS,Second Sight
13: Sandra Sutter, Shadow Stories
13: Mike Elliott, Let You Go (Busted Flat Records)
13: JupiterReign, Jupiter’s Dreams
13: Steven Taetz, Fruit
13: Yawn, wish i could've
13: APACALDA,There's a Shadow in my Room and it isn't Mine
20: Sunshine Makers, The Sun Still Shines (Lovetown Records)
20: Celeigh Cardinal, Boundless Possibilities – Deluxe Edition
20: Meggie Lennon, Desire Days ( Mothland)
20: Drives the Common Man, Grief and Purpose (Red Music Rising)
20: U.S. Girls, Scratch It
25: The Souljazz Orchestra, Manifesto (vinyl)
27: Royale Lynn, Black Magic (Epitaph Records)
27: Penny & The Pits, Liquid Compactor (Forward Music)
11: Tami Neilson, Neon Cowgirl (Outside)
11: Hughes, S/T
11: Karma Glider, From the Haze of a Revved Up Youth (Mothland)
18: Ian James Bain, At Your Service (ArtHaus Music)
18: Mary Ancheta, Rituals
22: JP LeBlanc, All In My Blood–Je l’ai dans le sang ( Acadian Connection)
25: The Dirty Nil The Lash (Dine Alone Records)
1: Debby Friday, The Starrr Of The Queen Of Life (Royal Mountain)
8: Ada Lea—when i paint my masterpiece (Saddle Creek)
22: Chambers Deslauriers, Our Time To Ride (40 Below Records)
29: The Beaches, No Hard Feelings (AWAL)
12: Camilla Sparksss, ICU Run (On The Camper Records)