Overview

The Diddy Tapes are rumored sex tapes recorded by American rapper and businessman Sean “P. Diddy” Combs that surfaced in mid-September 2024 following his sexual assault, abuse and trafficking lawsuits in an alleged memoir by Diddy’s later partner Kim Porter after he was arrested. Porter’s memoir claims the rapper recorded his “marathon” sex sessions with teenage girls and male sex workers, writing in her diary that she had reportedly made copies of the tapes to protect herself as part of her plan to leave Diddy. Diddy’s alleged tapes quickly spawned theories regarding the identity of a famous male teen pop and A-list actor that the rapper had intercourse with. Memes and jokes also surfaced on social media at the time, as many clips resurfaced of celebrities mentioning Diddy’s ‘Freak Off’ parties.

Background

On September 19th, 2024, Daily Mail^[1] exclusively revealed the release of a 60-page book, titled “Kim’s Lost Words,” which claims to be a collection of the diaries of Kim Porter, Sean P. Diddy’s former assistant and partner who died of pneumonia in 2018. The new book accuses Combs of assaulting his late girlfriend, taping himself having sex with a male teenage popstar, as well as having sex parties with an Oscar-winner actor and his wife.

According to the Daily Mail article, Porter recounts in her memoir discovering and making copies of tapes Diddy made of himself allegedly having sex with “young boys” he was managing, including an alleged tape involving an 18-year-old popstar who went on to be a household name.

Online Reactions

The Diddy Tapes rumor quickly spawned various theories in late September 2024 about the credibility of the memoir, as well as who the celebrities mentioned in it might be.

For instance, on September 20th, 2024, YouTuber,^[2] conservative political activist and pundit Candace Owens posted a video titled “WHAT Did Diddy Do To Justin Bieber,” commenting on the new allegations revealed in Kim Porter’s memoir. The video (seen below) amassed more than 820,000 views and 46,000 likes in two days.

Also on September 20th, X^[3] user @MattWallace888 thanked the rapper for “recording secret tapes of the most evil people on earth.” The tweet (seen below) received roughly 331,000 likes and 29,000 reposts in two days.

On September 21st, 2024, X^[4] user @ShadowofEzra claimed that Kim Kardashian’s lawyer contacted them with a cease-and-desist order after they posted a video in which “someone suggested she [Kim Kardashian] might be under FBI investigation for blackmail, drugging men, and possibly being involved in the infamous Diddy tapes.” The post (seen below) received over 10 million views and 79,000 likes in roughly a day.