CELEBRITY
Justin Bieber breaks social media silence more than a month after ex-mentor Diddy’s sex trafficking arrest
Justin Bieber posted to Instagram for the first time since the arrest of his one-time mentor, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, with a combination of pictures of himself and bird-related images.
The Canadian pop star, 30, put up a pair of posts which chronicled his recent ongoings, as he was seen in multiple images tinkering with musical equipment.
The Love Yourself singer – who in August welcomed his first child with wife Hailey Bieber, 27 – sported shaggy locks as he donned a plush red jacket with matching socks, black checkered athletic shorts by Umbro and a blue knit cap.
The Grammy-winning singer also included images of himself sipping out of a cup, and a pink robin bird.
In a later post, Bieber was clad in a light blue knit cap, black top, yellow checkered Umbro shorts and black leather buckle shoes.
The Peaches artist rounded out the social media post with images of a full moon, and another with a hummingbird pecking around a bush.
Prior to Sunday’s post, the last time the vocalist had taken to his standard Instagram page was September 3, nearly two weeks before Diddy’s arrest by federal authorities in connection with allegations of sex trafficking.
Bieber on Saturday evening made a cameo at a Don Toliver concert, with Baldwin in attendance, TMZ reported.
In the case regarding Combs, the embattled music mogul was hit Monday with a new wave of lawsuits accusing him of raping women, sexually assaulting men and molesting a 16-year-old boy – the first time he´s been sued by a person alleging they were abused as a minor.
At least six lawsuits were filed against Combs in federal court in Manhattan, adding to a growing list of legal claims against the indicted hip-hop mogul, all of which he has denied.
The lawsuits were filed anonymously to protect the identities of the accusers, two by women identified as Jane Does and four by men identified as John Does.
Some of the Does, echoing others who’ve accused Combs in recent months, allege that he used his fame and the promise of potential stardom to entice victims to lavish parties or drug-fueled hangouts where he then assaulted them. Some allege that he beat or drugged them. Others say he threatened to kill them if they did not do as he pleased or if they spoke out against him.
The lawsuits describe alleged assaults dating to the mid-1990s, including at Combs’ celebrity-studded white parties in Long Island’s Hamptons, at a party in Brooklyn celebrating Combs’ then-collaborator Biggie Smalls, and even in the storeroom at Macy´s flagship department store in midtown Manhattan.
Combs, pictured in NYC in 2018, was hit Monday with a new wave of lawsuits accusing him of raping women, sexually assaulting men and molesting a 16-year-old boy
The plaintiffs in Monday’s lawsuits are part of what their lawyers say is a group of more than 100 alleged victims who are in the process of taking legal action following Combs’ arrest. The lawsuits are among more than a dozen in the last year that accuse Combs of sexual assault.
When the planned lawsuits were announced October 1, a lawyer for Combs said the rapper and producer ‘cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus.’
Combs has pleaded not guilty in his criminal case, which involves allegations he coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
Twice denied bail, the Bad Boy Records founder remains locked up a Brooklyn federal jail while awaiting trial in May. Two judges have concluded that Combs would be a danger to the community if he is released. On Friday, an appeals court judge denied Combs’ immediate release from jail while a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals weighs his bail request.
Before Monday’s raft of lawsuits, all of the accusers suing Combs had been adults at the time of their alleged abuse, although a Chicago record producer claimed in a February suit that he had ‘irrefutable evidence’ of Combs sexually abusing minors.
In a lawsuit Monday, a John Doe alleged that Combs fondled his genitals when he was 16 at one of the rapper´s white parties in 1998. The man, who now lives in North Carolina, alleges that Combs told him he had ‘the look’ of a star and then abruptly ordered the then-teen to drop his pants.
According to the man’s lawsuit, Combs explained to him that it was a rite of passage to becoming a music star, at one point asking him: ‘Don’t you want to break into the business?’ The man said he complied out of fear, anxiety and power imbalance he felt with Combs, only realizing later that what he says happened was sexual assault.
Other lawsuits filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan include allegations of rape, forced oral sex and drugging to incapacitate victims.