Viral social media posts quickly tried to link rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs to major politicians shortly after the musician was arrested Sept. 16 and charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking in New York.
First, we debunked a viral image that claimed to show a photo of Combs and Vice President Kamala Harris. Now, a viral video claims to show Combs in a one-on-one interview with former President Donald Trump.
“Can you believe this never (seen) before video of #Trump and #Diddy,” the caption of a Sept. 19 TikTok video said. The video also includes the cover image of “Orange Is The New Black,” a popular Netflix series about life in a women’s prison.
TikTok identified the claim in the video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with TikTok.)
One commenter wondered if the video was artificially generated. Although video clips are real and not computer-generated, they are misleading because they are from two different interviews — conducted seven years apart.
This video does not depict a real conversation between Trump and Combs. It combines two different interviews of Trump and Combs with journalist Charlie Rose and aired on PBS. The scenes with Trump are edited from a November 1992 interview with Rose; those with Combs are edited from an August 1999 interview with Rose. Words and phrases from different parts of each interview are also stitched together to create coherent sentences.
This viral video originated from a YouTuber named “Jonas Hollerup Helle”. The video was posted Aug. 27, a few weeks before Combs was arrested. Its description read: “Conversations that never took place between people who never met. Created using existing interviews.”
We rate the claim that this video shows Trump and Combs in conversation Pants on Fire!
Truth-o-meter Ruling
IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT
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The video shows the real words of former President Donald Trump and rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
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But they are from two different interviews. Trump’s interview was in 1992 with journalist Charlie Rose and Combs’ interview is from 1999, also with Rose.
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The video originated from a YouTube channel whose description is: "Conversations that never took place between people who never met."
Statement
Context
a videoSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
TikTok post, archived link, Sept. 19, 2024
Charlie Rose, A conversation about the rise of hip hop with Sean "Puffy" Combs, Aug. 19, 1999
Charlie Rose, Donald Trump, Nov. 6, 1992
The Associated Press, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs jailed by judge after sex trafficking indictment, Sept. 19, 2024
PolitiFact, No, this photo doesn’t show Kamala Harris posing with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Sept. 19, 2024
YouTube, The Talk: Donald Trump & Puff Daddy, Aug. 27, 2024
Translations
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