Diddy's childhood friends chronicle his youth in a new documentary

The new documentary Diddy: The making of a bad boy features interviews with people who knew Sean “Diddy” combs as a young man, and some of them offered theories about how he became the man he is now.

Tim Pattersonwho grew up with Diddy, 55, in Mount Vernon, New York, drew a clear line between the man born Sean Combs and the one who became known as Puffy, Brother Love and other names.

“I don't know Sean, I don't know Diddy, I don't know Papa Love. I don't know those people, I don't know them, I swear I don't know them, I've never met those people,” Patterson said in the film, which premieres at the Peacock on Tuesday, January 14 . “I have to tell people what they don't know about his childhood.

Ron Lawrencewho was the rapper's classmate at Howard University, said Diddy always knew he wanted to be in the music business, even at a young age. (He dropped out of college after his sophomore year.)

“He would tell you, 'I'm going to be the biggest record producer in the world,'” Lawrence recalled. “He already knew what he wanted at Howard University.”

However, Diddy's legacy has now been tarnished by his arrest in September 2024 on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied the charges against him and has pleaded guilty to all charges.

“This documentary recycles and perpetuates the same lies and conspiracy theories that have been peddled against Mr. Combs for months,” a spokesman for the mogul said. Us Weekly before the movie's release. “It's disappointing to see NBC and Peacock drag themselves in the same mud as unethical tabloid journalists. By providing a platform for proven liars and opportunists to make false criminal charges, the documentary is irresponsible journalism of the worst kind.

Diddy: The making of a bad boy premiere on Peacock Tuesday, January 14. Read on for the biggest revelations about Diddy's youth from Diddy: The making of a bad boy.

His father died young

When Diddy was a little kid, his father Melvin Combswas shot while sitting in his car in New York. “Sean had to find out about his father from the other guys that showed up at the time,” Patterson recalled, adding that he didn't know how Melvin died.

According to Diddy's former bodyguard Gene transactionhowever, Melvin's death was not a random act of violence. “His father sold (drugs) to an undercover cop, a New York City cop, and he gave the cop information,” Diehl claimed in the documentary. “His father was killed because he drove them out.”

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Gucci watches and private school

Patterson claimed that Diddy's mother, Janice Combsinherited money after her husband's death, which allowed her and her children to move to a nice neighborhood in Mount Vernon. “I look at him like, 'Oh my God, this guy is different,'” Patterson said, reflecting on a photo of himself and Diddy as kids. “He's in a hat. You can see that he has jewelry, he has rings, he has bracelets. This is a 4-year-old in a 30-year-old's wardrobe.

Rich Parkeranother friend, recalled that Diddy was always dressed to the nines, even as a child. “He was part of a dance and fashion crew called the 7 Up Crew,” he explained. “Those people would go around New York, fight people in dance, in fashion. He was also one of the first kids I knew who had, like, a Gucci watch.

Lee Davis (aka DJ EZ Lee) said he met Diddy in Little League, but knew he went to private school. “He had the best of everything,” Patterson explained. “This kid is rich, he was considered a rich kid.”

“Always bullied”

According to Patterson, Diddy's wealth made him the target of elementary school bullies. “Sean was a different kid,” he claimed. “Sean was that kid that people could smell, not tough. Sean was always bullied.”

Deal claimed that Diddy had a hard time fitting in at first and was bothered by guys from his Same Gang crew who didn't like that the young Combs wasn't from Harlem. After this incident, however, Diehl noted, “Puff was in the same gang.”

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His mom's parties

As an adult, Diddy gained a reputation for throw wild, lavish partiesand Patterson believes he inherited this trait from Janice. “Because Sean didn't have a dad, he just had a mom. There was always stuff going on at Sean's house, our house,” Patterson claimed. “On the weekend, you party in the houseand we did it a lot. He was around all kinds of alcohol, he was around refrigerator smoke. He was around drug addicts, lesbians, homosexuals, pimps and pushers. It was just who was in our house.

Patterson went on to say that it wasn't hard to find people to plug into the house. “It wouldn't make sense to go into one of the bedrooms by mistake at night and you'd have a couple naked in there,” he claimed. “We knew that. That's how we were fed. Did it desensitize us? I'm sure it was. Did we realize that? No. It was only Saturday night.

Davis, for his part, said he never attended the parties Janice threw, but he had heard stories about them. “She had, like, a little group of chicks that would come around and she'd make sure everyone was comfortable,” he recalled.

Producers noted that Janice did not respond to their request for comment.

Working to get a job

Before his career began, Diddy did everything he could to get on the staff of Uptown Records, which he founded in 1986. Andre Harrell. “Sean would show up in the strangest places – at Heavy Don the doorstep, he'd show up Uptown, he'd show up at parties,” Patterson said. “Anything to attract the attention of the bigwigs.”

Parker claimed he heard a young Diddy once lay outside Harrell's car to get his attention. Eventually, these efforts paid off, as by 1990 he was an intern.