The indictment of rap mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has opened a can of worms. While on one hand, it has put American pop culture under renewed scrutiny, it has also reignited the debate on timely justice when those involved are the rich and the powerful.
P Diddy as the hip-hop singer is universally known, has been charged with sex trafficking among other accusations. He has been denied bail and if convicted faces a sentence of up to life in prison.
The rap singer is alleged to have held ‘Freak Offs,’ in which victims — including minors — were drugged and coerced into sexual acts that Combs reportedly filmed. It is said that he used the videos to blackmail his targets.
Once a cookie crumbles, dark secrets — irrespective of cultures and backgrounds — are disclosed like a collapsing pack of cards. But are all revelations including those involving A-listers always a surprise? Admittedly there is a lot of fake content and misinformation on the net, but rumours that swirl for years are truths no one wants to speak loudly.
Any talk of child trafficking and paedophilia is disturbing. These are issues that authorities globally play catch up with. Tackling serious accusations against a high-profile celebrity comes with challenges as they can use every machinery at their disposal to keep a system in play. Nor is reaching the trial stage flawless.
Importantly, there are extremely stringent contracts of silence that the entourages of celebrities swear by. They see no evil and report none.
Intersection of #MeToo
Take the case of the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the list of his acquaintances was finally revealed through unsealed court documents. Epstein’s large network involving minor victims was at every stage hidden more than it was revealed.
Similarly, the case of singer R Kelly who was found guilty of sexually abusing women and children for two decades. He has also been accused of grooming children and many of the claims in all these cases are at the intersection of #MeToo.
One of the biggest challenges in high-profile cases is to break the nexus of the powerful and expose others who are guilty by association. As in the Epstein case, the list of acquaintances is usually protected till it no longer is. In the P. Diddy case, there is talk that big industry names will tumble like dirty laundry although, with social media misinformation on overdrive, it is advisable to wait for court proceedings.
However, among the serious allegations in the lawsuits against P. Diddy are that of grooming and sex trafficking. Multiple women have reportedly accused him of rape in the 90s when they were minors. A famous claimant has admitted in court that the singer-producer tried to ‘groom’ him. Grooming is a dangerous industry; experts say officials deny the extent of the problem with multiple agencies complicit in its mushrooming network.
The modus operandi of grooming gangs is universal. Older men zero in and befriend children and slowly win their trust. Once done, they lure them into sexual abuse.
At times they ply their victims with alcohol and drugs to blunt their senses. While a majority of the victims are minors, grooming adults is not unusual. Prosecutors in the trial of the disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein say he too had a pattern of ‘grooming’ his victims, offering them lucrative career opportunities before sexually assaulting them.
Culture of silence
Celebrities can have their bad moments or be chronically rude, but accusations of child trafficking and sexual abuse are as serious as it gets. There is intimidation, exploitation, blackmail and violence and it is against another, innocent and less powerful party.
Why do people who have achieved everything get their hands dirty? Is it the lure of personal control or misplaced arrogance that no one can touch them? Or to push boundaries because they can. What perhaps also weighs in is the othering and enabling that differentiates how a star is treated for wrongful acts versus a commoner.
How do we view celebrities when they fall from grace? Is it easy to separate the brand from a perpetrator simply because he is rich and a known figure? Lakers star Kobe Bryant was accused of sexual assault before his tragic death in a helicopter crash.
It has not impacted his legacy in the public imagination. Perhaps the biggest deterrent will be when societies stop being complicit in the misdemeanours of icons because they were once put on a pedestal. The thriving culture of silence can only be silenced then.
