Diddy, Dawn, & Toxic Work Cultures

Over the past year we’ve learned some disturbing things about music mogul, Sean “Diddy” Combs and how he has mistreated women. I could look at his case from several view points, but since I specialize in employee rights and building healthy work cultures, I’ll start there.

A few months ago, I wrote an article about Diddy’s settlement with Cassie, which covered how her case was formulated and why she sued his businesses and not him. She didn’t sue as his former abused lover. No, Cassie sued as a former abused employee. Well a few days before Sean Combs was arrested in New York on various charges, Dawn Richard, another employee sued him and his companies for mistreatment, hazardous work conditions, and the withholding of wages.

Before I go any further, let me give you my brief back story on Mr. Sean “Diddy” Combs. I’ve known of Mr. Combs since my college days at Southern University in the late 80’s/early 90’s. I had friends from the Detroit area whom I would visit during winter and summer breaks, and they had friends who went to Howard, where Sean was also a student during that time. Diddy was known for promoting and hosting parties, and it appears he was also known for putting his hands on a Howard female student that he was dating.

I am old enough to remember when Sean promoted a celebrity basketball charity event at City College in New York, where a stampede occurred and nine people died and 29 others were injured. That was also the winter when I didn’t traveled to Detroit, but the news of the devastating event traveled down South. My friends and I could not understand what exactly had happened, why people had to die, and we were glad that was one event that we missed. Ultimately, Sean didn’t serve any jail time and the disturbing outcome of that event slowly faded away.

Then one day I looked up and Diddy the small time promoter had become this larger than life record label executive. I called my friends from Detroit - “Is this the same Sean?” Instead of parties and charity events, he was now giving us the sounds of Craig Mack, Biggie Smalls, The Lox, Mase, 112, Lil Kim, Faith Evans, Black Rob, Shayne, etc, etc, etc…

Behind the scenes, what we didn’t know was that his artists/employees were going through hell with him, but none of them spoke up or out until almost some 30 years later. We first heard Mase complain about his earnings and royalties, then Aubrey from Danity Kane started to speak out about the abuse of female artists. People ignored them, said they were just whining and complaining - then Craig Mack and Black Rob both died broke, The Lox’s went on the radio and called Diddy out about their royalties, Kim Porter died mysteriously, Al B. Sure almost died, Cassie sues the hell of him and then there was Dawn Richard…

In the former member of Danity Kane and Dirty Money’s lawsuit, Dawn Richard confirmed much of what Cassie had stated in her’s, but she also added how she was denied food, work breaks, or even medical attention - on top of being held against her will, the witnessing of the abuse of other women, and the non-payment of wages for songs she recorded.

What we’ve learned about Combs as a boss in the hip-hop industry includes:

• He violated the rights of workers/artists (they are still employees)

• He denied them breaks, food, medical attention, and even their wages (Craig Mack and Black Rob both died broke)

• He cause some of them physical and emotional harm (He allegedly beat Cassie during a staffing meeting and dared anyone to help her)

• Diddy was verbally abusive towards the majority of his artists

• He has held people hostage and against their will (Dawn Richard was locked in a car for hours according to her lawsuit)

• He often threaten his artists with bodily harm

What rattles me the most are the people who are standing on the sidelines inquiring, “why didn’t they just leave or quit,” or commenting, “if it was me I wouldn’t have allowed him to treat me that way.” Unfortunately, if you’ve never been a victim of abuse, you don’t understand how the power dynamics work in these situations; the manipulation, mind control, and the destroying of self-esteem before the first punch lands or piece of furniture is thrown. Also, when someone is in the midst of trauma, they are often unaware that what they are enduring is wrong, because internally they have been conditioned to normalize the abusive behavior or to believe that they deserved it.

We’ve also learned through Diddy’s sordid affairs that have been made public by his former artists, including Dawn Richard - is that if a worker observes abusive behavior that is directed towards another employee, they too can develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, or depression.

Unfortunately, abusive behavior has been labeled as “normal” or artist development in the music industry and Hollywood, which has fueled the toxic behaviors of many others, including Dr. Dre and Russell Simmons. It’s time we start calling these behaviors what they really are - toxic, abusive, homophobic, and misogynistic, and begin to understand that the mistreatment of artists - especially women and those society deems to be different, has fueled hip-hop as we’ve known it, for years and that none of it is okay.

Dr. Carey Yazeed is a behavioral scientists, 3 x bestselling author, and creator of the workbook - Unbreak My Soul: How Black Women Can Begin To Heal From Workplace Trauma