Sean "Diddy" Combs has been accused of threatening to kill former Vibe Magazine editor Danyel Smith after she refused to flout a company policy for him in late 1997.
At the time, the rapper was billed to star on the magazine's cover for the December/January editions and demanded he approve the photos first before Vibe magazine published them, to which Smith objected.
Danyel Smith then alleged that Diddy told her she'd be found "dead in the trunk of a car" before her company got mysteriously raided.
Diddy Had A Dispute With Former Vibe Editor Danyel Smith Over A Magazine Cover
In a personal essay published in The New York Times magazine on Friday, the former editor-in-chief alleged that the "Bad Boy For Life" threatened her life when they had a fallout in the 90s.
Smith explained that after they had a photo shoot session inspired by the 1978 film cover "Heaven Can Wait," starring Warren Beatty, Diddy called afterward to see the covers before publication, which goes against company policy.
She noted that she told him about the magazine's policy and claimed, "We heard that he planned to come to our office and force us to show him what we'd chosen - and to make us choose something else if he didn't like what he saw."
The Rapper Allegedly Told The Editor He Would See Her 'Dead In The Trunk Of A Car'
The former editor recalled that a year before the incident, he'd been found guilty of "threatening a New York Post photographer with a gun" and also allegedly "beat" a woman at his Bad Boy office; hence, a plan was hatched to keep her safe if Diddy wanted to come to Vibe magazines New York office and follow through on his threats.
The "Act Bad" singer allegedly went to her office but didn't meet her as she sneaked out of the building. The next day, he called and asked to speak to her.
"He was still on message: He wanted to see the covers. I was still on message: It's not what we do," Smith shared, going on to allege that Diddy told her "he would see me 'dead in the trunk of a car.' Not missing a beat, I told him he needed to take that threat back."
Diddy Allegedly 'Faxed Over An Apology'
The threats seemingly didn't stop as Smith wrote in her essay that Diddy replied, "Take what back?" before cursing with a "vile laugh."
She added that she immediately contacted her lawyers, and he "faxed over an apology" within two hours.
However, she was left shocked when she went into the Vibe Magazine office one morning and discovered that a "couple of servers" had been stolen and that it was rumored to have been "an inside job."
"That someone on Vibe's publishing side had let in movers from Bad Boy. It was almost time to send pages to the printer, and the whole issue was saved on those servers," she wrote. "All the editorial changes. All the pages, with the advertising adjacencies that had been paid for by clients. Gone."
Luckily for her, the magazine's art director had saved the pages of the edition on a separate disk.
The Rapper Has Been Accused Of Sexual Assault By Multiple People
Smith's claims come amid Diddy's sexual assault lawsuits and sex trafficking accusations. Recently, former adult film star Adria English sued the music mogul for $50 billion over sex trafficking claims.
English reportedly met Diddy in 2004 when her boyfriend was auditioning for a Sean John modeling gig. She claimed that she started serving drinks at Diddy parties and would be asked to flirt with guests after being made to drink alcohol laced with drugs.
She alleged that Diddy asked her to have sex with Jacob Arabov, also known as "Jacob the Jeweler," and she did have "forced sexual intercourse" with him and was paid an extra $1,000.
"Plaintiff was coerced by Defendant Combs into consuming copious amounts of, allegedly laced, alcohol prior to being coerced and forced into having sexual intercourse with Defendant Jacob," the court document read, per Daily Mail.
She claimed that she has suffered anxiety and depression as a result and had struggled with alcohol and drug addiction "to cope with the emotional trauma of being assaulted and trafficked."
Diddy's Lawyer Denies The New Accusations
According to the news outlet, Diddy's lawyer, Jonathan Davis, has denied English's accusations, stating that the "I'll Be Missing You" rapper never assaulted anyone, even in the face of several sexual assault lawsuits that have sprung up in recent times.
"No matter how many lawsuits are filed it won't change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone," Davis told the news outlet. "We live in a world where anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason and without any proof."
He added, "Fortunately, a fair and impartial judicial process exists to find the truth, and Mr. Combs is confident he will prevail against these and other baseless claims in court."
