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A former Bad Boy Records rapper has alleged that its founder, Sean "Diddy" Combs, may have bought his A-list artist friends' discretion by returning the rights to their music in exchange for NDAs. This came after a Texas attorney, Tony Buzbee, representing over 120 new accusers, claimed several high-profile celebrities were associated with Diddy's alleged crimes.
Former rapper Mark Curry joined The Daily Mail's Marjorie Hernandez for her weekly podcast, The Trial of Diddy, this week, where he talked about Diddy's alleged dealings with his celebrity friends. The rapper's Bad Boy Records, which started in 1993, had artists like Curry and Cam'ron signed to it.
The record label held the rights to all the artist's music. This pattern continued till two months before Diddy's first abuse lawsuit by his former partner Cassie Ventura in November 2023. That September, Combs reportedly released the publishing rights to the artists.
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However, Curry alleged the move had deeper connotations. He claimed the rapper was trying to cover his tracks by making the artists sign NDAs after anticipating legal troubles.
"He gave all of the artists back their publishing rights in exchange for an NDA not to talk about him. Because I think he had some kind of idea that this was coming down the pipeline. Tried to cover up his tracks real quick - it didn't work," Curry claimed.
Mark Curry claimed he didn't sign Diddy's NDA
In the podcast, Mark Curry said he left the Bad Boy label in 2005, claiming he was creatively and financially drained under the label. Despite promises, Curry said his debut album never came to be. He further alleged that he never made any money from the singles he released with the label.
Curry left the rap game and settled in Georgia as a carpenter. In 2009, Curry released a book titled Dancing with the Devil: How Puff Burned the Bad Boys of Hip-Hop, detailing his alleged tumultuous relationship with the rapper and his record label. Curry said he and Diddy last talked in September 2023.
When asked by the host if he ever signed the NDA in exchange for his publishing rights, Curry said he was avoiding any contract surrounding Combs.
"(Diddy) can't tell me not to do anything. Because we had a contract when we first got into business and it said that you was going to help me further my career. That didn't work. So now any other contract that you have for me, I'm avoiding it too," he said.
"So since we're going to be disrespectful, we're going to be disrespectful all the way around the table. It just ain't going to be you telling me and me listening. So I'll be like, cool. That ain't gonna stop me from doing nothing."
Curry said he got rid of the publishing rights when he received them, adding he didn't want it as it felt like a hand-me-down. He equated receiving his publishing rights to someone receiving a Nissan Sentra in 2024 when cars like Tesla dominated the industry.
Tony Buzbee claimed several A-list celebrities linked to Diddy had privately settled
Mark Curry's allegations came days after attorney Tony Buzbee claimed several high-profile celebrities involved in Diddy's alleged crimes had privately settled with the alleged victims. Buzbee also alleged that he started sending demand letters to various celebrities to settle the cases out of court without a public lawsuit.
“In every single case, especially cases like this… because it’s in the best interests of the victim, we attempt to resolve these matters without the filing of a public lawsuit and we’ve done that already with a handful of individuals, many of which you’ve heard of before,” he added.
The lawyer said Combs' alleged victims' list kept growing as more and more people called the hotline to accuse the rapper of abuse and assault. Among the alleged 120 accusers, 25 were underage at the time of the alleged assault, with one as young as nine years old.
Buzbee said he was carefully vetting all the alleged victims to establish timelines and ensure they were telling the truth. He said his team received over 1000 calls from people claiming to be Combs' victims.
Diddy continues to deny all allegations. He is expected in court on October 9 for his next hearing.
