Usher defends Diddy, says he has been 'misrepresented' despite prostitution-related conviction: 'I see him as legacy'
Usher defends Diddy, says he has been 'misrepresented' despite prostitution-related conviction: 'I see him as legacy'
Kathleen PerriconeWed, March 25, 2026 at 8:42 PM UTC
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Diddy and Usher at a 2020 pre-Grammys eventCredit: Kevin Mazur/Getty
Usher has a confession: “I don’t have anything negative to say about Sean Combs.”
The singer made the shocking statement in a new interview with Forbes, about his own legacy as an artist, businessman, and father. Going back to the beginning, before his debut album, teenage Usher was sent by his record label to New York to live with record executive Sean Combs (now known as Diddy) in the spring of 1994.
At the mere mention of the disgraced music mogul’s name, Usher lights up: “Legacy,” he gushes to Forbes senior writer Jabari Young.
Asked how he was able to stay focused on his career and avoid “negativity” as a young man surrounded by temptation in the Big Apple, Usher seemingly credits Diddy — who is currently serving 50 months in federal prison after being convicted of two counts of transporting individuals for prostitution in October 2025.
“I mean, this might be a bit controversial, but in the same way I think many people choose to look past the reality of what our country is, the standards that we now stand on, we can’t ignore the reality of the history,” begins Usher, 47.
“But in many ways, I think certain people are prosecuted and maybe not recognized for the greatness, you know, that they offer,” he continued. “I don’t have anything negative to say about Sean Combs because my experience was not what the world has seen and how he’s been, you know, misrepresented.”
Usher didn’t acknowledge Diddy’s conviction or the video showing him assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hotel in 2016 (nor was he pressed by Young).
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However, he continued, “I’m not saying that every man is perfect. I’m not saying that all of us don’t have flaws, but I can’t with any sense of humanity not recognize the valuable contributions that this man made for us as Black entrepreneurs, for us as businessmen, for us as people who transition, you know, culture and ideas into something that’s tangible and becomes business. So many people benefited from what he created, and I acknowledge that, and that’s why I see him as legacy.”
All the same, Usher hints that his time learning from Diddy had its challenges, but ultimately, made him the entertainer and businessman he is today.
“Puff was a mentor above, but he was like a you know, you have that really, really hard teacher, but you’re watching something in real time,” he explained. “I think that the idea of the level of discipline that came with that time in business, especially in an era that was trying to prove itself culturally in hip-hop.”
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Usher went on to name Diddy as a “forefather” of the genre, not just for his musical success but for finding ways to “monetize culture.”
“That’s who I see that man as,” he said of Diddy. “And that’s what I choose to remember. I put respect on his name because I realized that, you know, what I learned as a businessman before I even understood what business was came as a result of seeing the incredible things that he was able to do and the way that he positioned himself as a businessman. There are trials and tribulations that come with the pressures of success and power.”
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
