‘He Was Doing Everything He Wanted to Do’: Jennifer Lopez Asked If She Was ‘Afraid of’ Diddy In Resurfaced Interview as Fans Point to HIs ‘Problematic’ Behavior
Sean “Diddy” Combs is on trial in a Manhattan federal courtroom and the court of public opinion. The disgraced music mogul is facing the possibility of a life sentence in prison after being indicted on racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges.
Lawyers for the former A-list celebrity have declared his innocence since his arrest at a New York hotel in September 2024. The scrutiny surrounding his alleged exploitation of his employees is now putting his personal life under a microscope.
Because of that, Jennifer Lopez has been linked to the disgraced hip-hop maverick again. She and the Bad Boy Records founder dated from 1999 to 2001 in a highly public relationship. Their romantic bond fizzled out shortly after he was found not guilty for his alleged involvement in a 1999 nightclub shooting.
A clip of Lopez discussing the relationship with Diane Sawyer in a 2002 episode of “Primetime Live” has resurfaced.
Sawyer described Diddy as “the man who courted controversy, if not, right-out danger.” She said, “He always seemed to be the one in control. We wondered, looking at the girl on the red carpet, who was she? Was she afraid?”
The “Enough” actress told Sawyer, “No. I don’t think she was afraid. I just think that I, at that time, was — cared very deeply for Sean, and you know we just didn’t have the same kind of ideals about life and family and stuff like that.”
Furthermore, she explained that “it just wasn’t a good relationship for me. It didn’t so much have to do with him as it had to do with me at the time. I had to learn to care about myself a little bit more and put up certain boundaries of what I would accept and wouldn’t accept because, really, he was just being himself.”
Still, Lopez admitted, “When I was unhappy in some way, then I was the one who had to do something. Not him. He was doing everything he wanted to do.”
An Instagram user’s reaction to the clip read, “She ran for her life from him once she realized who he really is.”
Diddy has entered the chat
Jennifer Lopez with Ben Affleck and Diddy is posting a TBT. I missed messy summers. So, I am enjoying this
pic.twitter.com/IqzxveVzSp
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TV Fanatic
Elsewhere online, someone else suggested, “JLo was ruthlessly career-oriented when she was younger…Diddy was problematic…She knew that his behavior and reputation were harmful to her end game and she ended the relationship.”
A third person believed Lopez was influenced to end the relationship. That individual speculated, “I think her mother had a fit. Her Mom couldn’t stand him.”
The entertainer’s mother, Guadalupe Rodríguez, candidly expressed her disdain for Diddy in 2015 when Wendy Williams asked the Ocar nominee if a reconciliation was possible. Both mother and daughter shut down that notion.