Diddy’s Mom Sued For Allegedly Seizing Bad Boy Label From Co-Founder


Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ mother, Janice Smalls, has been sued by a former right-hand man of the embattled rapper, Kirk Burrowes.

Burrowes claims Diddy seized control of his stake in Bad Boy Record label, leaving him homeless.

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been in jail after being arrested in September following charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

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Diddy’s Mom Sued For Allegedly Seizing Label From His Right-Hand Man

Diddy and his mom Janice Combs at BET Awards 2022
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Diddy’s mom, Janice Smalls, has been dragged into a new lawsuit involving her son and his former right-hand man, Burrowes.

According to the Daily Mail, Burrowes filed a lawsuit in which he alleged that the “Finna Get Loose” rapper used a baseball bat to force him into signing over his shares of the company and then gave his mom.

The alleged altercation happened in 1996 when Diddy entered his office with Bad Boy Entertainment attorney Kenneth Meiselas. Burrowes claims he was then forced to give up his 25 percent stake in the company.

The ousted music executive who served as the company’s Chief operating officer and general manager says he’s homeless and has had to endure “prolonged periods of living in shelters across New York City” due to the “immense” financial hardship as a result.

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He’s now suing Smalls, the label’s majority stakeholder and who he alleges “engaged in a decades-long scheme of intimidation, violence, fraudulent misrepresentation, and financial concealment.”

“By words and actions, Sean Combs and Kenneth Meiselas frightened and intimidated and assaulted plaintiff (Burrowes) and forced him to turn over his share certificate for 25 shares of Bad Boy Entertainment to Sean Combs,” court documents read.

“Plaintiff, fearing for his life, with tears streaming down his face, clearly unable to resist under the circumstances, involuntarily signed the documents,” Burrowes claimed.

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The Rapper’s Mother ‘Pretended She Was Unaware’ Of Her Son’s Actions

Diddy and his mom Janice Combs at VH1's 3rd Annual 'Dear Mama: A Love Letter to Moms'
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Elsewhere in the lawsuit, Burrowes claims that Smalls wasn’t in the office the day of the alleged assault, which seemed quite odd to him.

He noted that he later contacted her “seeking guidance,” but she “pretended she was unaware” of what Diddy and Meiselas had allegedly done.

Although she wasn’t physically present, he claims that Diddy and Meiselas “were acting under [her] direction to orchestrate the fraudulent involuntary transfer.”

The lawsuit claims that the “Defendants not only defrauded [Burrowes] of his rightful stake in BBE but also systematically sabotaged his career.”

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Kirk Burrowes Was Allegedly ‘Blacklisted’ From The Music Industry

Sean "Diddy" Combs at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards
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“They blacklisted him from the music industry, blocked business opportunities, and destroyed his professional reputation, ensuring he would remain financially destitute and unable to reclaim what was rightfully his,” the document read.

According to the news outlet, Burrowes claims he has been owed millions of dollars in lost profit as he invested $100,000 when Bad Boy Entertainment first launched.

He’s seeking damages for financial losses, reinstatement of his 25 percent ownership stake, his 15 percent annual share including interest, and a forensic audit of Bad Boy Entertainment’s earnings and profits from its inception to the present.

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Diddy Attributed Bad Boy Records’ Success To Kirk Burrowes

Diddy arrives at the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 4, 2018 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles
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Burrowes’ claims come amid Diddy’s mounting lawsuits as he awaits trial for sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

The “Bad Boy For Life” rapper is currently held at the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and has been denied bail several times.

In his lawsuit, Burrowes pointed out that he shares a close tie with Diddy as he’s the godfather of the rapper’s first child, Justin Combs, and that he attended his christening at a church in Harlem, “underscoring the deep bond and reliance between the families.”

He claimed that when Diddy was fired in 1992 by Uptown Records founder Andre Harrell, he helped him rise above the depressive state during which the rapper was allegedly plagued by suicidal thoughts.

Diddy has previously attributed the success of the company to Burrowes, telling Billboard in 1997, “Kirk is the one responsible for Bad Boy’s success and making it the professional, young, black-run company that it has become.”

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Diddy Allegedly Abused His Mother

Diddy and his mom Janice Combs at the 2023 Video Music Awards
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Also in court documents, Burrowes claimed he warmed up to Smalls at some point and became her trusted confidant, adding that she opened up to him and sought his protection when Diddy allegedly abused her.

Burrowes says he allegedly witnessed Diddy’s “volatile and abusive behavior,” including an incident where he physically assaulted Smalls. Burrowes added that he watched Diddy “aggressively overpowering” his mom and calling her “derogatory slurs.”

“She then, in my eyes, was a mother doing her best, and she wanted to calm him down,” he said of Smalls. “I was caught off guard by the mother title and the sweet mother persona that she gave, and the strength of her trying to help a son who’s in a very difficult situation.”

“And at that time, I was 1,000% into helping Sean and making sure that he’d get over this. Today, I have a different view of it,” he added.


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