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There was a time when an aspiring artist, agent or executive looking to break into the entertainment industry would have loved to get a job with Sean “Diddy” Combs. In fact, both MTV and VH-1 made reality shows about this very idea. However, no matter how much you think you’re learning, there’s always a cost to working with powerful people.

In recent months, we’ve learned that existing in Diddy’s orbit has allegedly come at a tragically high cost for some individuals. The rapper/producer has been the subject of a number of sexual assault lawsuits, which led to a federal sex trafficking investigation and the recent raid of his homes by the Department of Homeland Security.

As previously reported by The Root, among those lawsuits was one filed by music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones. Jones alleges that in September 2022 to November 2023, while living and working with Combs on “The Love Album: Off the Grid,” Diddy “sexually harassed and assaulted him while he lived with him in Florida, New York and Los Angeles.”

According to RadarOnline, evidence in the lawsuit includes the “iron-clad non-disclosure agreement” that those in Combs’ inner circle must sign. NDAs are pretty commonplace among powerful public figures and celebrities. However, Diddy’s seems particularly secretive, spanning several decades, as well as extending to a signee’s heirs.

In addition to language concerning “heirs, executors, administrators, representatives…designees, successors and assigns,” the document “prohibits workers from talking about him, his family, or business associates and remains in effect ‘for the life of [Diddy] plus 20 years or seventy years, whichever is longer.’”

I understand Diddy’s need to keep his business and family life private, but red flags appear anytime someone wants you to sign something that prevents you or your heirs from talking for 70 years.

There’s something in this wording that feels like it goes beyond protecting artistic ideas and business endeavors. Like a lot of powerful people, Combs didn’t become a billionaire by being a perfect angel. But it feels like the more we hear about his alleged behavior behind the public persona, the more we realize we never knew who Diddy really is.