Usher has declared that he has “nothing negative to say” about his imprisoned former mentor Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
The Yeah! hitmaker doesn’t believe that the rapper’s legacy as a trailblazing Black businessman should be erased by the fact that he’s currently serving time in prison on prostitution-related charges.
Combs, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of people in civil lawsuits, went to trial last year on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was cleared of the first two claims and convicted of the latter.
The 47-year-old singer, who has worked with Combs since he was a teenager, has insisted that his experience with the hip-hop star doesn’t align with “what the world has seen”.
“In many ways, I think certain people are prosecuted and maybe not recognised for the greatness that they offer,” Usher said during an interview on Forbes’ The Enterprise Zone. “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.”
“I can’t, with any sense of humanity, not recognise 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,” he continued. “So many people benefited from what he created. And I acknowledge that. And that’s why I see him as legacy.”
Usher, who has remained close with Combs throughout his career, explained that the I’ll Be Missing You rapper was “a mentor” and a “really, really hard teacher” whom he was able to learn from “in real time”.
He added, “I put respect on his name because I realised 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.”
Combs, 56, has always denied the allegations against him.
In October 2025, he was sentenced to 50 months in prison after being convicted on two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.
He is currently behind bars at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey, and is expected to be released on 25 April 2028.
