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A man who used to work for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has claimed that the disgraced rapper and producer once sacrificed a bird in order to influence the outcome of a court case. The claim comes from Combs’ ex-bodyguard ex-bodyguard Gene Deal, who says that Combs sacrificed a bird in Central Park prior to the verdict being read in his 1999 New York nightclub shooting trial.
Diddy, who was with Jennifer Lopez at the time of the incident as the pair were dating at the time, was arrested on December 27, 1999 over the shooting of Natania Reuben and two others outside the Times Square Club in Manhattan.
Lopez and Diddy were detained and spent 14 hours in a jail cell after authorities found a gun in the car they fled the scene of the shooting in. While Lopez was eventually released without any legal implications, Diddy was charged with four weapons-related charges, including weapons possession and attempted bribery. Combs, who faced 15 years if convicted, was ultimately found not guilty.
In the recently released Hulu documentary The Honorable Shyne, Deal claims that Combs met with an unnamed man in Central Park on the morning of the verdict and sacrificed a bird.
“When [Combs] got close to the guy, he just dropped down to his knees. Next thing I see, is this smoke just going back and forth around [Combs]. I guess it was sage or something like that.”
Deal says the pair then prayed as they took out a white bird from a cage.
“[Combs] took this white bird and threw it up in the air. The bird just fell to the ground, boom, like it was a brick. I was like, ‘Oh, s—!’ … The bird died, man … the bird didn’t even move. [Combs] just walked away from him real quick.”
Combs was arrested in a New York City hotel on September 16 by Homeland Security officers on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution.