Stephen A. Smith on 'Very Scary' Diddy Indictment: 'Hip-Hop and R&B Is in Trouble'
A recently unsealed indictment against Diddy revealed charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.
Stephen A. Smith believes there’s a “bigger fish to fry” at the heart of Diddy’s racketeering and sex trafficking case.
Monday, the Bad Boy Records founder, 54, was arrested in New York. One day later, an unsealed indictment revealed he had been formally accused of the following: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. As of this writing, Diddy remains in custody. He has pleaded not guilty.
Smith later spoke at length about the case and what he sees as the potential ramifications, which he speculates will be industry-wide.
“In the court of public opinion, he’s already been found guilty,” the Stephen A. Smith Show host said around 10 minutes into the video below. “Can we just be real about that? In the court of public opinion, not law, in the court of public opinion ain’t a damn soul think he’s innocent. I’m not denigrating a brother. I met him at a Golden State Warriors game one time. I went to a party and it was supposed to be his party. I never saw nothing like that. But without mentioning any names, without incriminating anybody, you see the names. Do you see the people who have befriended him over the years, who have attended his parties, who are considered close to him who he’s been in business with? Have you seen it?”
Smith then called the case “scary,” later elaborating on his choice of words.
“I mean this has gotten very, very scary,” he said. “Hollywood’s in trouble, hip-hop and R&B is in trouble. Because the brother’s an elite success story, had a lot of friends, had a lot of people once upon time vouching for him in terms of his brilliance as an artist. A producer, rather. Brother knew how to make money and now here we are. When you’re in that position and you know so much, I got news for you. It’s gotten very, very scary.”
Smith continued, “If it were just him, it would be sad. It would be very unfortunate. But I use the word ‘scary’ because I get the impression, to put it kindly, that his life ain’t the only life that’s gon’ be affected, that they ain’t after him just to get him. You got Homeland Security involved, you got the feds involved. I got news for you. They ain’t coming just for him. They coming for a whole bunch of people.”
Elsewhere, Smith said Diddy is “in a world of trouble,” although he reiterated his stance that “there’s a bigger fish to fry” that remains to be revealed.
In a previous statement, Diddy’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, referred to the case as an attempt at what he considers an “unjust prosecution” of his client.
“To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges,” Agnifilo told Complex shortly after Diddy’s Monday arrest. “Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts.”
