Former Vibe editor-in-chief Danyel Smith grappled with her history with Sean “Diddy” Combs amid his legal issues in a New York Times Magazine essay. Smith recalled Diddy threatening her over a 1997 magazine cover.
“My assistant received a call on my line,” Smith wrote. “’It’s Puffy,’ she said. I got my mind right and picked up. He was still on message: He wanted to see the covers. I was still on message: It’s not what we do. It was then that Combs told me, as I’ve retold hundreds of times over the years, that 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. ‘Take it back,’ I said, sounding as if I were 10. ‘Take what back?’ Then, with a vile laugh, ‘F### you.’
She continued, “’Take it back now,’ I said. ‘Or I’m calling my lawyer, and you’re going to jail.’ He said: ‘I know where you are right now. Right on Lexington.’ I called my personal lawyer. I do not know what he said to Combs. Within two hours, Combs faxed over an apology. One of my male bosses was furious that I had not involved him. Combs had called him to complain that I sicced my lawyer on him, as if I somehow wasn’t playing fair.”
Smith detailed how she walked into work one day after the threats and discovered the magazine’s servers had been stolen. The Diddy cover issue was saved on the servers. Rumors spread claiming the theft was an “inside job.” Someone from Vibe supposedly let Bad Boy Records movers in the building. Reps for Diddy declined to comment.
Diddy is the subject of a federal investigation and faces multiple lawsuits. The disgraced mogul has been accused of sexual assault and sex trafficking.
The Bad Boy Records founder’s downfall began when his ex-girlfriend Cassie sued him for rape and years of abuse in November 2023. They settled out of court, but Cassie inspired more women to come forward and file lawsuits against Diddy. Homeland Security raided his homes as part of a federal investigation in March.