Radio host Charlamagne Tha God has alleged that Sean “Diddy” Combs was behind Wendy Williams getting fired from the radio station WQHT (also known as Hot 97) in 1998.
“Wendy’s whole thing was Diddy was gay,” the comedian, 45, whose real name is Lenard Larry McKelvey, said on Andrew Schulz’s “Flagrant” podcast on Wednesday, May 29. “That’s why Wendy got fired from Hot 97. Wendy got fired from Hot 97 by Diddy ’cause that’s when Bad Boy was smoking hot. She got fired for putting that out there.”
In April 1997, Williams, 59, was suspended from the New York radio station after she promoted an allegedly doctored image of Combs, 54, naked from the waist down and being intimate with another man. She was later fired in 1998 after a series of other controversial incidents, including when she suggested online that colleague Angie Martinez‘s boyfriend Q-Tip was gay and called Bad Boy Records girl group Total “broke hoes.”
Charlemagne is not the only person to suggest that Combs had power over the radio community in the late ‘90s and claim that he had a hand in getting Williams fired. Gene Deal, the “Bad Boy For Life” rapper’s former security guard, spoke out about the firing in 2022.
“The power [Diddy] had with the radio stations in New York, motherf–kers didn’t breathe hard if [Diddy] didn’t want them to,” he said on “The Art of Dialogue” podcast. Deal then went on to describe Williams’ situation, although he didn’t name her specifically.
“[Diddy] got one of the hottest DJs off Hot 97 because she wanted to put up a picture of him getting his pants pulled down,” he said. “[Diddy] told Hot 97 if they didn’t get rid of her before he got back in New York, that they was not going to get any music from any of his friends, any of the record labels executives that was cool with him. Everyone was going to boycott their station.”
Combs has been making headlines recently as several people have come forward with lawsuits filed against the rapper. It began in November 2023 when his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura sued him, alleging that he both sexually assaulted and sex trafficked her throughout their 10-year relationship.
Charlamagne tha God
Combs maintained that he was innocent of the allegations, but he settled the lawsuit within a day. However, Cassie’s lawsuit has since led six other people to file sexual assault lawsuits against Combs: Joi Dickerson-Neal, Liz Gardner, Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, Crystal McKinney, April Lampros and an unnamed woman.
Combs denied the allegations made against him after the unnamed woman’s lawsuit in December 2023.
“Enough is enough. For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy,” he stated on social media. “Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
Combs also publicly apologized to Ventura, 37, after resurfaced hotel surveillance footage from 2016 emerged on May 17 and showed the rapper apparently physically assaulting his ex.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life. But sometimes you gotta do that,” he said in a video on May 19, noting that he “f–ked up” and “hit rock bottom” when the incident occurred, but there were “no excuses” for his behavior.
“I take full responsibility for my actions in that video,” Combs continued. “I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
He added that he “sought professional help” and went to “therapy” and “rehab” after the incident. “I had to ask God for his mercy and grace,” he concluded. “I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”
After Combs shared his video, Ventura’s lawyer, Meredith Firetog, shared a statement claiming that it was “more about himself than the many people he has hurt.”
“When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday,” the statement added. “That he was only compelled to ‘apologize’ once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation, and no one will be swayed by his disingenuous words.”
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