Moses Michael Levi “Shyne” Barrow, Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Former Bad Boy rapper Moses “Shyne” Barrow is speaking out after Sean “Diddy” Combs’ recent arrest.
“When I was an 18-year-old kid, just wanting to do nothing other than make my mother proud and make Belize proud and … be recognized for my talent and take over the world. I was defending him and he turned around and called witnesses to testify against me. He pretty much sent me to prison,” Barrow alleged of Diddy during a recent press conference in Belize.
Barrow was convicted of first-degree assault for a New York City shooting in 1999 which left three people injured. Combs was also accused of the shooting, but said during his trial that he fired the gun in self-defense. He was acquitted of all charges. In 2001, Barrow was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released in 2009 and deported back to Belize.
Barrow, who now serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the Belize House of Representatives, said he “forgave” Diddy and has “moved on.”
“Let us not lose sight of what the cold hard facts are,” he continued. “This is not someone who I vacationed with and someone who I enjoyed this great, intimate relationship of brotherhood. This is someone who destroyed my life, and who I forgave, and who I moved on, and for the better interest of Belize because he was in the position at that time to give scholarships and to maybe invest. I would not deny attempting to bring the investment to Belize and bring the contributions to education.”
He added, “But do I take any joy or any satisfaction with what he is going through? Absolutely not.”
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Diddy made headlines in 2023 when he was accused of misconduct after ex-girlfriend Cassie (real name Casandra Ventura) named him in a sexual assault lawsuit, which was settled out of court within one day. Several others have since come forward with similar accusations against Diddy, who has denied each claim.
In March, Homeland Security conducted raids on two of the producer’s homes. Earlier this week on Monday, September 16, Diddy was arrested and denied bail twice. He was remanded to stay at the Metropolitan Detention Center until his trial.
A 14-page indictment was released the following day, alleging that Diddy “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him.”
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Following Diddy’s Monday arrest, his attorney Marc Agnifilo told Us Weekly, “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children and working to uplift the Black community.”
Agnifilo added, “He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. 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. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
In a Tuesday, September 17, letter to the judge, Combs’ lawyers called the conditions of the jail “horrific” and “not fit for pre-trial detention,” per People. The defense suggested Diddy live at home in Florida with a 24/7 security team, but Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr said that “there is no condition or combination of conditions to ensure he will not obstruct justice or tamper with witnesses.”
The judge ordered Diddy to remain in jail until his trial for sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy begins.