Usher Says He Doesn’t Have Anything ‘Negative’ to Say About Diddy While Praising the Producer’s ‘Valuable Contributions’

NEED TO KNOW

• Usher opens up about why he still has respect for Sean “Diddy” Combs

• The music mogul began working with the R&B star decades ago, and the two have remained friends since then

• Combs is currently serving a 50-month prison sentence after he was convicted on two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution

Usher is explaining why he still has a great amount of respect for Sean “Diddy” Combs.

In a recent interview with Forbes’ The Enterprise Zone, the “Nice & Slow” singer, 47, spoke candidly about his decades-long relationship with the music mogul, 56, who is currently serving a 50-month prison sentence after being convicted on two prostitution-related charges.

During the conversation, Forbes senior writer Jabari Young did a bit of word association, asking Usher his one-word thoughts on influential people in his life.

When it came to Combs, Usher replied, “Legacy.”

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Usher attend the Pre-GRAMMY Gala on January 25, 2020 in Beverly Hills
Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty

Young referenced a past interview Usher did around 2015, when he previously mentioned that he “knew better” than to get distracted by certain things while on tour.

After Young said Usher managed to avoid “a lot of the negativity that we obviously know shows up in [Diddy’s] story today,” Usher clarified his stance on the present situation.

His “controversial” take was that “we can’t ignore the reality of the history.”

“In many ways, I think certain people are prosecuted and maybe not recognized for the greatness that they offer,” Usher said. “I don’t have anything negative to say about Sean Combs because my experience was not what the world has seen and how he’s been misrepresented.”

PEOPLE reached out to a rep for Usher for comment.

Usher & Sean “P. Diddy” Combs perform at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards
Credit: Kevin Kane/WireImage

Combs has worked with Usher since the singer was just a teen, and the two have remained close throughout their careers.

“I can’t, with any sense of humanity, not recognize the valuable contributions that this man made for us as Black entrepreneurs, for us as businessmen, for us as people who transition culture and ideas into something that’s tangible and becomes business,” Usher said. “So many people benefited from what he created. And I acknowledge that. And that’s why I see him as legacy.”

Referring to the mogul by his former moniker “Puff,” Usher also shared that he viewed Combs as “a mentor” who reminded him of a “really, really hard teacher” who he was able to learn from “in real time.”

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“I put respect on his name because I realized that what I learned as a businessman before I even understood what business was came as a result of seeing the incredible things that he was able to do and the way that he positioned himself as a businessman,” Usher added.

In September 2024, Combs was indicted on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. Despite being sued by dozens of people who have accused him of sexual misconduct, he has denied the allegations.

The Bad Boy executive was sentenced to 50 months in prison after being convicted on two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution, which he is currently serving at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey. His release date has since been moved up by more than a month, to April 25, 2028.

Read the original article on People