Janice Smalls-Combs – the mother of Sean “Diddy” Combs – has been sued by Bad Boy co-founding partner Kirk Burrowes.
In a lawsuit filed today (February 27) in a Manhattan court, Burrowes claimed he was forced to sign over his 25 per cent ownership stake in the record label during a violent confrontation back in 1996 which allegedly saw the disgraced hip-hop mogul threaten Burrowes with a baseball bat (per Daily Mail). Allegedly, Diddy would go on to transfer the shares over to his mother Janice Small-Combes.
The suit states that the alleged harassment took place in Burrowes’ office in New York City and that Diddy was allegedly accompanied by Bad Boy Entertainment lawyer Kenneth Meiselas. It claims that Diddy stormed in with a baseball bat and forced Burrowes to sign over his shares. “By words and actions, Sean Combs and Kenneth Meiselas frightened and intimidated and assaulted plaintiff (Burrowes) and forced him to turn over his share certificate for 25 shares of Bad Boy Entertainment to Sean Combs,” the suit read.
It claims that Burrowes had “tears streaming down his face” and was “clearly unable to resist under the circumstances.” Burrowes also claimed that though Smalls-Combs wasn’t present, he was involved in orchestrating the scheme from behind-the-scenes.
He alleged that when he reached out to Smalls-Combs after the incident to “seek guidance” she had “pretended she was unaware” of what her son and Meiselas did. The lawsuit further claims that the “Defendants not only defrauded [Burrowes] of his rightful stake in BBE but also systematically sabotaged his career.”
The suit added: “They blacklisted him from the music industry, blocked business opportunities, and destroyed his professional reputation, ensuring he would remain financially destitute and unable to reclaim what was rightfully his.”
Burrowes has claimed that the situation has left him homeless, resorting to “prolonged periods of living in shelters across New York City” as well as immense financial hardship. He also claims that he is owed millions in lost profits after allegedly invested $100,000 of his own money when Bad Boy Entertainment first launched.
Burrowes has asked for compensatory damages for his financial losses as well as reinstatement of his 25 per cent ownership stake and an independent audit of Bad Boy Entertainment’s earnings and profits from its inception to the present.
Diddy was arrested and charged with crimes including sexual trafficking and racketeering last September and is currently in a federal jail awaiting trial, and has consistently denied all allegations raised against him.
In recent news, Anthony Ricco – one of Diddy’s attorneys – recently quit the disgraced rap mogul’s criminal sex trafficking case, writing: “Under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel for Sean Combs, consistent with the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice.”