Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs has sent a cease-and-desist letter over an explosive documentary about his protégé, Shyne.
A source close to the disgraced music mogul told Page Six that the letter was not issued to stop the film, ‘The Honorable Shyne,’ from being released.
Rather, it was done to ‘ensure’ that the documentary was factually correct regarding an infamous 1999 Manhattan nightclub shooting involving Shyne and Diddy.
Shyne, now known as Moses Barrow, is currently a politician in his native Belize, where he serves as Leader of the Opposition in the country’s House of Representatives
He was sentenced to 10 years behind bars for the shooting, in which three people were injured.
Witnesses claimed that Diddy was among those who fired his weapon in the club, but he was ultimately cleared on weapons and bribery charges.
In the film – which premiered on Hulu on November 18 – the former Bad Boy rapper said that he was the ‘fall guy’ for Diddy and that his ways are now ‘coming to light.’
‘Because when I said it [at the time], everyone was partying and having a great time with Diddy while I was left to rot in prison,’ he said in the documentary.
After being cleared on charges related to the nightclub shooting decades ago, Diddy, 54, was indicted for sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution in New York City in September.
The three-time Grammy winner has maintained his innocence as he pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Although Diddy was acquitted in the nightclub shooting, Shyne was found guilty of five charges including assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a pistol.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and served almost nine years of his sentence before his release in October 2009.
Following his release, Shyne was deported to his native Belize.
He previously told the New York Post: ‘I grew up [being told] to not get my friends in trouble. And that’s what it really boiled down to, integrity about character.’
During an interview promoting the new documentary, Shyne said that at the time he thought he was protecting Combs, who he now believes ‘got witnesses to testify against me, to say that basically I was this uncontrollable person that was acting in a depraved manner, which was the furthest from the truth.’
Shyne added that at the time he did not want to ‘break the code of honor, which is that you don’t get people in trouble.’
Diddy’s legal team strongly disagreed with Shyne’s comments, telling Page Six: ‘Mr. Combs categorically denies Mr. Barrow’s allegations, including any suggestion that he orchestrated Mr. Barrow to “take the fall” or “sacrificed” him by directing witnesses to testify against him. These claims are unequivocally false.
‘Mr. Combs was acquitted of all charges related to the [1999 incident] and has consistently maintained his innocence.
‘Mr. Combs appreciates the path Mr. Barrow has pursued and wishes him continued success. It is unfortunate that Mr. Barrow has chosen to revisit these allegations,’ his reps added.
The new documentary also shed light on a bizarre event that occurred the morning Diddy was acquitted in the high-profile gun trial.
His former bodyguard, Gene Deal, revealed that the rapper sacrificed a bird in Central Park that day.
According to Deal, on the way to court to learn his fate in 2001, Diddy ordered his driver to pull over in the park to carry out a ritual for good luck.
Deal said a man was waiting for the rapper in the park, and when Diddy approached him, he dropped to his knees as the man swirled smoke around him – what Deal believed to be sage.
As the man touched Diddy with a bible, he then produced a white bird from a cage, and Diddy threw it in the air before it dropped to the ground dead, Deal said.
After the ritual was over, Deal said Diddy walked away and got back in his car. Hours later, he was acquitted and spared 15 years in prison.
After arriving in Belize, Shyne traveled to Israel the following year, where he decided to practice Orthodox Judaism.
He then moved back to Belize in 2013, and in 2020 was elected to the Belize House of Representatives.
By 2021, he became the Opposition Leader, and could become Prime Minister in next year’s elections.
