Over the weekend, one of the major stories to seemingly break about P. Diddy and his now-infamous “freak offs” had to do with the fact the rapper reportedly made people sign NDAs. The news seemed like a new wrinkle in the saga, particularly given some people who attended these parties have already spoken out – at least about things like women stepping on weight scales and what they saw during Diddy's parties – but actually we’ve known Sean "Diddy" Combs was a big proponent of NDAs for months. A lawyer even sounded an alarm bell about why they are “terrifying" previously.
Earlier in 2024, the NDAs were first reported in tandem with some of the other news related to P. Diddy’s arrest and subsequent incarceration while he awaits trial. The Miami Herald spoke to a lawyer named Gavin Tudor Elliot earlier this year about the NDAs and he warned they may have led to a ‘culture of silence and intimidation’ among people who interacted with the rapper. Furthermore, he explained to the Miami Herald (which also has a copy of the NDA) why the particular NDAs in question are so “terrifying.”
This agreement may be the broadest non-disclosure agreement that I have ever seen. The lack of clear definition as to who can and cannot be spoken about is terrifying.
Furthermore, Elliot went on to note the document covers a broad spectrum of "intimidation," finally stating, "any reasonable person reading this would think they would just need to shut up." That lawsuit was filed all the way back in February, and in the time since we've seen some of Diddy's a-lister friends like Kevin Hart distance themselves from the situation.
So, How Do We Know About P. Diddy’s NDAs?
Back in February of 2024, Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed a lawsuit against the rapper, who also happens to be his former employer. Jones said he did producing and videographer work for Diddy in 2022 and 2023. During the course of this work, he was asked to sign an NDA, which came up in the documents for his $30 million suit, which also alleged Diddy had groped him inappropriately; the suit also notes he was allegedly drugged and raped during one of the aforementioned “freak offs.”
Diddy has since blasted Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones’ $30 million lawsuit against him through his lawyer Shawn Holley, who said (via Page Six):
His reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines.
Regardless, this is not the only lawsuit Combs is facing. Plus, the fact the lawsuit exists led to the release of the NDA, which at the time referred to an alleged shooting that occurred at a studio back in 2022. A friend of Diddy's son Justin Combs was allegedly the victim.
The NDAs are coming up again because TMZ landed a copy of a separate NDA from an actual party that Diddy hosted, which does add a new wrinkle to what we knew about the rapper's processes for keeping information under wraps. The new NDA cites social media and other outlets where people who sign are unable to speak about what they saw behind the scenes. The NDA also precludes people who sign from writing books or taking interviews about what they saw.
The most interesting tidbit? The NDA is relevant for up to 70 years, or the life of Diddy himself plus a period of 20 years after his death.
