On Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, a grand jury indicted the rapper and music magnate Sean "Diddy" Combs on charges of sex trafficking. The following day, the full indictment against Combs was publicly unsealed, and revealed the full extent of his alleged, decades-long criminal enterprise.
In the wake of the indictment, users on social media began looking for evidence that any prominent figures had connections to Combs, similarly to how the internet reacted when charges of sex trafficking led to the arrest of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Later the same day, postsbegan appearing alleging that U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris had posted to X (then Twitter) in April 2020, thanking Combs for hosting a town hall about the COVID-19 pandemic. These posts were echoed in an article by the conservative tabloid the New York Post.
The post was real. It was tweeted by Harris' X account on April 10, 2020, about one month into the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the New York Post, Combs had "hosted a town hall on racial inequality for her campaign," but this was not true, since the town hall was not hosted on behalf of Harris' campaign.
"About REVOLT - Shaping Hip Hop & Youth Culture Globally." REVOLT, https://www.revolt.tv/about. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.
Campbell, Elizabeth Wolfe, Elizabeth Wagmeister, Josh. "Sean 'Diddy' Combs Was Arrested after a Year of Intensifying Allegations. How We Got Here." CNN, 18 Sept. 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/18/entertainment/sean-diddy-combs-legal-allegations-timeline/index.html.
Cruz, Melissa. "Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Career at the Intersection of Music, Politics and Business." USA TODAY, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/09/20/diddy-trump-harris-obama/75281217007/. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.
Diddy Hosts Town Hall on "The State of Black America & Coronavirus." https://www.complex.com/life/a/cmplxjoshua-espinoza/diddy-hosts-state-of-black-america-coronavirus-townhall. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.
Dorisca, Samantha. "Following Diddy's Exit, Revolt Employees Now Become The Company's Largest Shareholder Group." AfroTech, https://afrotech.com/revolt-employees-now-become-its-largest-shareholder-group. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.
Schwartz, Kevin Breuninger, Brian. "Kamala Harris Drops out of Presidential Race after Plummeting from Top Tier of Democratic Candidates." CNBC, 3 Dec. 2019, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/03/kamala-harris-drops-out-of-2020-presidential-race.html.
"Sean 'Diddy' Combs Placed on Suicide Watch While Awaiting Trial but Mental State Unclear, Sources Say (Exclusive)." Peoplemag, https://people.com/sean-diddy-combs-placed-on-suicide-watch-while-awaiting-trial-mental-state-unclear-source-8715686. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.
"'They Were Best Friends': MAGA Shares Old Kamala Harris Tweet Thanking Diddy, amid Sex Trafficking Charges." The Times of India, 18 Sept. 2024. The Economic Times - The Times of India, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/they-were-best-friends-maga-shares-old-kamala-harris-tweet-thanking-diddy-amid-sex-trafficking-charges/articleshow/113443497.cms.
