​​ Protégé Shyne Barrow Says Diddy 'Destroyed My Life'—What To Know About Their Contentious Past

Topline

Shyne Barrow, a former Bad Boy rapper and protégé of Sean "Diddy" Combs, spoke out about the arrest of his former mentor more than two decades after he said the mogul "destroyed" his life following a 1999 shooting that saw both Combs and his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez arrested at a Manhattan night club.

Key Facts

Barrow, who was deported back to Belize after spending eight years in prison, spoke from his home country to say Combs was not someone “who I vacationed with and someone who I enjoyed this great, intimate relationship of brotherhood. This is someone who destroyed my life.”

Barrow, Lopez, Combs, and bodyguard Anthony “Wolf” Jones were at Club New York in 1999 when a disagreement led to shots being fired and three people injured.

Combs, Lopez and Jones left the club and led police on a chase that ended in their arrest and led to police finding a stolen gun inside the car.

The charges against Lopez were quickly dropped, but Combs, Jones and Barrow, who was 21 at the time, faced charges related to gun possession that ended in acquittals for Jones and Combs but saw Barrow convicted of five crimes and sentenced to 10 years in jail, of which he served almost nine before his deportation.

In his Belize press conference, spurred by Combs’ recent arrest on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, Barrow said his former mentor “turned around and called witnesses to testify against me. He pretty much sent me to prison.”

Barrow, who now serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the Belize House of Representatives, said he forgave Combs because he was "in the position at that time to give scholarships and maybe to invest" in the future of his home country.

Surprising Fact

No one was ever charged and found guilty of the shooting itself. One of the three people shot during the altercation, Natania Reuben, has said it was Combs who shot her and earlier this year said she would be willing to have a piece of a bullet still embedded in her face removed if it could be used as evidence against him.

Key Background

Barrow’s comments came after Combs was arrested Tuesday following an indictment on three counts: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, and cause or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution. An attorney for Combs, Marc Agnifilo, has denied the claims. Investigators were first seen searching Combs’ residences in March, and multiple news outlets reported at the time that the searches were in relation to a federal sex trafficking investigation. The day after his arrest, the indictment against him was unsealed and outlined claims Combs "abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill sexual desires" and created a criminal enterprise to engage in “sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.” The indictment says Combs manipulated women into participating in so-called "Freak Offs" with male sex workers, and drugged women to keep them “obedient and compliant.” Law enforcement officials said they recovered more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, along with other “various Freak Off supplies” in their searches earlier this year, and also found firearms and ammunition including “three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers.” Combs has pleaded not guilty and appealed to a judge to be released on bail because of “horrific” conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, where he’s being held, but the appeal was denied and Combs will remain in federal custody.

Tangent

The federal case against Combs has unfolded as civil cases for abuse and sexual misconduct also pile up against the rapper. His ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in November filed a $30 million lawsuit in which she said she was beaten, raped and trafficked over the course of their relationship. The suit was settled the next day and Combs denied wrongdoing, but issued an apology months later when CNN published a video showing the abuse. The case kicked off a series of suits from other victims of alleged abuse. The suits accuse Combs of drugging and raping women in the 1990s and of participating in the gang rape of a 17-year-old in 2003. In February, music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed a bombshell lawsuit seeking $30 million and accusing combs of sexually harassing him, drugging attendees at his house parties and running a sex-trafficking venture, all of which Combs has denied.

Further Reading