Family Matters alum Jaleel White is looking back on his past encounters with Sean “Diddy” Combs.
“I never got invited to any parties,” White, 47, stated during the Wednesday, October 30, episode of “The Viall Files” podcast. “I constantly say, ‘Rejection is God’s protection.’ I got left off the White Party list; I never really went out of my way to get myself invited to any of those things anyway. That’s the way it is.”
According to White, he divulges further details regarding his interaction with Diddy, now 54, in his upcoming Growing Up Urkel memoir.
“I address the historical context of these individuals,” White told podcast host Nick Viall, referring to Diddy, R. Kelly and Bill Cosby, the latter two who were convicted on respective sexual assault charges. “I don’t want people to think that I’m discussing these people without respect to people who have been their victims or convictions that have taken place.”
He added, “They’re also individuals that a lot of people crossed paths with. Puffy threw a lot of parties; there were a lot of people attending these parties regularly. And now everyone’s going quiet. I think there’s a way to share what it is that you’ve experienced honestly and not just for clickbait and also anything that may have taken place after you left or behind closed doors that you weren’t invited in.”
Diddy was arrested last month on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. A 14-page indictment cited Diddy’s previous parties as evidence, claiming that the rapper allegedly “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him” for decades. Diddy was also accused of using the acts to fulfill “his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct.”
Diddy pleaded not guilty to the charges before a judge denied him bail on three separate attempts. He was remanded to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn until his trial.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo told Us Weekly in a statement. “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children and working to uplift the Black community.”
Agnifilo added, “He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. To his credit, Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Diddy’s trial is scheduled to begin in early 2025, which White acknowledged on Wednesday.
“Diddy still has to stand trial, so I gotta be careful with my words,” the former child actor added.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
