'Culture of silence': Lawyer calls Diddy's NDA terrifying, purposefully intimidating

MIAMI — A nondisclosure agreement crafted on behalf of Sean “Diddy” Combs is the newest clue illuminating a sordid world of alleged sex trafficking, abuse and illegal drug use surrounding the music mogul. It raised alarm bells for a lawyer who analyzed the document for the Miami Herald.

NDAs are standard for artists and celebrities with major popularity and influence, attorney Gavin Tudor Elliot said. Normally, they’re viewed as tools to protect an artist’s private life, but the scope and breadth of Diddy’s NDA, Elliot added, is far beyond the norm.

“This agreement may be the broadest non-disclosure agreement that I have ever seen,” said Elliot, who has done extensive corporate contract work, including NDAs, for more than 20 years. “The lack of clear definition as to who can and cannot be spoken about is terrifying.”

For Elliot, the agreement may have been drafted to create a “culture of silence” rather than to offer a simple barrier between Diddy and the public.

Why did Diddy hand out NDAs?

In a lawsuit filed last month, music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones accused Diddy of being the leader of a criminal enterprise that could qualify as a “widespread and dangerous criminal sex trafficking organization.” A copy of the NDA was included in an updated complaint filed Wednesday.

The NDA was presented to people who were at a Hollywood recording studio when a shooting occurred on Sept. 12, 2022, Jones alleged. Some signed it; he did not.

In the 98-page filing, Jones states the friend of Diddy’s son Justin Combs was shot during a heated conversation with Diddy and Justin.

According to Jones, there was a “massive coverup” after the shooting. Diddy’s crew, he alleges, doctored the narrative that the man was shot outside the studio during a robbery. Police have yet to release any reports related to the shooting.

Jones, however, states that Diddy and his son took the unnamed man into a nearby restroom shortly before gunshots rang out. When the door finally open, the man was on the floor in the fetal position, bleeding from his torso.

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