Suge Knight has officially had enough of Diddy.
After staying mostly quiet while shocking abuse allegations stacked up in federal court, the former Death Row Records boss is no longer defending the man once considered his biggest rival. Speaking from behind bars, Knight now says Diddy belongs exactly where he is, in prison.
“I never said he should walk away a free man,” Knight said in a phone call from Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. “He does deserve prison. No man should ever disrespect a woman like that.” He’s referring to the now-viral surveillance footage from March 2016, showing Sean “Diddy” Combs brutally assaulting Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway, an incident that left the music world shaken.
Cassie, pregnant with her third child as she testified in court, described how Combs beat her, kicked her while she lay curled up on the floor, and dragged her by her sweatshirt after a wild night. Just days later, he messaged her saying, “I’m so horny for you!!!”, a move she described as “strange” considering what he had just done to her.
For Suge Knight, watching the footage and hearing Cassie’s account changed everything. “I had never seen a woman get dragged and beaten like that,” he said. “When he came around that corner, Puff did beat the dog sh*t out of her.” That moment, Knight said, made it clear: “You don’t make excuses for stuff like that.”
He also didn’t ignore the more graphic accusations Cassie shared in court, stories involving male escorts, sexual manipulation, and alleged blackmail. “People still make excuses for Puff because he had money and shiny suits,” Knight said. “But he threatened people, paid people off. Nobody judged him for it. That’s the problem.”
While Diddy initially denied all claims when Cassie filed her civil suit in 2023, things shifted after CNN aired that explosive hotel video. Diddy then posted a video on Instagram saying the attack was “inexcusable,” adding that he was “disgusted” by what he did. But his legal team argued the footage was “substantially altered”, a ”claim CNN pushed back on.
Suge Knight wasn’t buying it. “The only way Diddy can start to fix anything is to get on the stand and tell the truth,” Knight said. “Look these people in the eye and own it. Because no one man should be bigger than the community or the culture.”
Knight and Combs were once the figureheads of rap’s most dangerous rivalry. Their East Coast vs. West Coast war led to the deaths of Biggie and Tupac. Now, decades later, Knight said the industry that once glamorized power and intimidation is finally seeing its consequences. “It’s not a surprise to me,” he said.
He even recalled a 2008 incident at Mel’s Diner in Hollywood, which resurfaced in court when Combs’ former assistant David James testified about spotting Knight and his entourage there. James claimed Diddy reacted by arming himself with three handguns and nearly going back to confront Knight. “If that was the tension, then that’s what it was,” Knight admitted. “But no one got hurt. That’s what matters.”
Now serving nearly three decades for a fatal hit-and-run, Knight sounds like a man who’s seen it all, and finally wants to see accountability. “I’m not the devil, but I’m no angel either,” he said. “But I know this much, no woman should go through what Cassie did.”
He says he’d even talk to Diddy face-to-face if given the chance. “Put me in a cell with him,” Knight joked. “I’d throw him on his back and say, ‘Look, I don’t hate you. But you need to tell the truth. Man up.” He believes Diddy’s silence only deepens the pain for his victims and keeps the industry in denial.
Whether Combs takes the stand remains uncertain. His lawyer said in the Downfall of Diddy documentary that it’s likely. “I don’t know that I could keep him off,” defense attorney Agnifilo admitted.
Knight, meanwhile, isn’t expecting a fairytale ending. “If Puffy walks free, he’s going to throw another White Party,” Knight said. “And everyone will just act like it didn’t happen. They’ll say, ‘We’re coming to the freak-offs; just don’t bring cameras.’”
Then, almost like he’s talking to the culture itself, Knight adds, “Let the sh*t smell like it is. Stop watering it down. It stinks.”
Still, he’s conflicted. “I don’t feel bad for what he did to Cassie, hell no. But I do feel bad for what was done to him. “I know the true stories,” Knight said, without explaining further.
But the final decision lies with the twelve jurors now deliberating Diddy’s future, eight men and four women. The world is watching. And from a prison cell, Suge Knight has joined the voices calling for justice.
Jamie Wells has a knack for getting the inside scoop on Hollywood’s biggest stars and up-and-coming talent. With a sharp eye for industry trends and an ear for viral moments, Jamie covers everything from red-carpet events to behind-the-scenes drama in movies, TV, and celebrity culture.
