Diddy Threatened Violence Against Former ‘Vibe’ Editor Danyel Smith

Danyel Smith , the former editor for Vibe Magazine revealed that Diddy threatened her with harm over a dispute about the cover.
Last Friday (July 12), Diddy was hit with another explosive accusation of violent behavior from a woman. In an article written for the New York Times by journalist Danyel Smith, who was the former editor-in-chief at Vibe Magazine, she revealed that Diddy threatened her life in a dispute over a cover photo that he took. “ Combs and I worked together a lot,” Smith wrote. “Competed, in our way. So often I thought I came out on top. I was mistaken. I had reason to fear for my life. What happened was insidious. It broke my brain. I forgot the worst of it for 27 years.”

Smith wrote that it all began with Diddy, aka Sean Combs, being asked to be on the cover of the magazine for its December 1997/January 1998 issue wearing white feathered wings. While the photo shoot in September went well, everything turned soon after.

“Combs wanted to see the Vibe covers before they went to press,” Smith continued. “It wasn’t our policy to show covers before publication, so after I told him no, we heard that he planned to come to our office and force us to show him.”

This was during the same period after the murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., with a lot of heat placed on Diddy amid speculation that he was involved with Shakur’s murder. Diddy would show up to her offices demanding to see the proofs, which prompted her to escape while handing them off to managing editor Jesse Washington. Undeterred, Combs called Smith the next day demanding to see the pictures, with Smith politely refusing.

“It was then that Combs told me, as I’ve retold hundreds of times over the years, that he would see me ‘dead in the trunk of a car,’” she wrote. “Not missing a beat, I told him he needed to take that threat back. ‘Take it back,’ I said, sounding as if I were 10.” “‘Take what back?’ Then, with a vile laugh, ‘[Expletive] you,’” Smith continued. “‘Take it back now,’ I said. ‘Or I’m calling my lawyer, and you’re going to jail.’ He said: ’I know where you are right now. Right on Lexington [Avenue].”

Combs would later fax over an apology after she called her lawyer. Diddy has not responded to press inquiries about the article.

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Photo: Getty