MUGSHOTS: SEAN PUFFY COMBS: RAPPER UNDER FIRE (TV)
Summary
One in this series of biographies that chronicle a
subject's criminal record and/or legal woes. This
episode focuses on multimillionaire rap mogul and
performer Sean Combs, also known as "Puffy," "Puff
Daddy," and "P. Diddy." Several of Combs' confidantes,
critics, and peers open by commenting on his most recent
arrest, for firing a gun in a crowded New York City
nightclub. Hip Hop disc jockey Goldfinger insists that
Combs was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"He has bad luck," Goldfinger shrugs. Before the
filmmakers offer a complete account of the crime, they
give some biographical information on the rapper. After
his father Melvin was murdered in New York, Combs
moved with his mother to the comfortable suburb of
Mount Vernon. He did well in school and attended Howard
University for two years before dropping out to pursue a
lucrative job as a party promoter and an internship at
hot rap label Uptown Records. While working at Uptown,
he met a rapper named Heavy D, and the two men
organized charity events in the New York City area. One
of these events, a celebrity basketball game in 1991,
ended in tragedy when the crowd became unruly and nine
fans were trampled to death. The police focused much of
their investigation on Combs as they cited poor planning
on the part of the event's organizers as the cause of
the accident. Overnight, explains New York Post gossip
columnist Richard Johnson, Combs became a notorious
figure in the rap world. "His brushes with the law
legitimized him in the beginning," music journalist
Steven Ivory suggests. At this point in his career,
Combs began to focus on producing records. He made
several smash hits with protŽgŽ Christopher Wallace,
a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G. and Biggie Smalls. Combs
and Wallace became the most successful rappers on the
East Coast. They began to feud with their West Coast
counterparts, mogul Suge Knight and his protŽgŽ, Tupac
Shakur. After Shakur was killed in a still unsolved
shooting in Las Vegas many people suspected Combs had
played some role in the killing. He was never charged,
however. Shortly thereafter, Wallace was killed in a
similar ambush attack. Combs decided to take a
different approach to life: he bought a $2,500,000
dollar estate in the Hamptons and hosted parties with
such celebrities as Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, and
Tommy Hilfiger. Legal troubles still followed him,
however; Combs was soon arrested for roughing up a
record executive named Steve Stout. Combs settled the
case out of court, then found himself in the middle of
the nightclub shooting scandal. Combs admitted to being
in the club with his girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, and his
new protŽgŽ, Shyne, but he denied any involvement in the
shooting. As the program ends, Combs is facing the most
serious criminal charges of his career. Commercials
deleted.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by The
New York Community Trust - Haas Foundation Fund.
Details
- NETWORK: Court TV
- DATE: January 22, 2001 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:45:57
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:65413
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Biography; Rap (Music); Singers
- SERIES RUN: Court TV - TV series, 2000-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Anthony Horn … Executive Producer
- John Parsons Peditto … Executive Producer
- Burt Kearns … Producer
- Alison Holloway … Co-Producer
- Monica Pineda … Associate Producer
- Bill Hudson … Music by
- Tony Rodgers … Narrator
- Melvin Combs
- Combs, Sean (See also: Puffy, Puff Daddy, P.Diddy)
- Goldfinger
- Heavy D
- Tommy Hilfiger
- Steven Ivory
- Richard Johnson
- Suge Knight
- Jennifer Lopez
- Carlito Rodriguez
- Tupac Shakur
- Shyne
- Martha Stewart
- Steve Stout
- Donald Trump
- Wallace, Christopher (See Also: Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls)