Usher reveals what he saw while staying at Diddy’s home, aged 13, in resurfaced interview

A clip of R&B crooner Usher talking about living with music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs when he was 13 years old has resurfaced on social media, after Homeland Security raided the rapper’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

Diddy, 54, is widely credited with the discovery and cultivation of artists such as Usher, who rose to fame in the mid-Nineties before achieving wider success in the Noughties with hit singles such as “Yeah!” and “Confessions part II”.

Diddy and Usher met after the R&B singer signed a record deal with LA Reid, who reportedly sent him to live with Diddy, real name Sean Combs, in New York for a year.

Usher, who headlined the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show in February and also recently released his latest album, Coming Home, has claimed in previous interviews that Reid sent him to Diddy’s home in Scarsdale, New York, dubbing the experience “Flavour Camp”.

In a 2004 interview with Rolling Stone, Usher recalled how Diddy introduced him to “a totally different set of s*** — s3x, specifically”.

“S3x is so hot in the industry, man,” he continued, claiming: “There was always girls around. You’d open a door and see somebody doing it, or several people in a room having an orgy. You never knew what was going to happen.“

Years later, when Usher was promoting his 2016 film Hands of Stone, in which he starred opposite Robert De Niro and Edgar Ramirez, he appeared on the Howard Stern show where he was also questioned about his experiences at Diddy’s home.

Usher recalled his experiences staying at Diddy’s home in New York when he was 13 (Getty/SiriusXM)
Describing it as “pretty wild”, Usher said he witnessed “curious things” and emphasised that this was the Nineties: “Do you understand what that’s like?”

“I went there to see the lifestyle,” he continued. “And I saw it. But I don’t know if I could indulge and understand what I was even looking at. It was pretty wild. It was crazy.

“There were very curious things taking place and I didn’t necessarily understand it.”

“You’re a dad now. Would you ever send your kid to a Puffy camp?” Stern asked him.

“Hell no,” Usher replied.

The Independent has contacted Usher and Diddy for comment.

Usher and Diddy at the Grammy Awards pre-party honouring LA Reid, 2013 (Getty Images for NARAS)
The clip of Usher’s interview with Stern is currently doing the rounds on social media, as Homeland Security reportedly raided the mogul’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami on Monday 25 March.

The raids are said to be in connection with “a federal s3x trafficking investigation”, Fox 11 reports, after the 54-year-old was met with a string of s3xual assault allegations in recent months.

Diddy has vehemently denied all of the allegations against him.

In a statement, Homeland Security said: “Earlier [on Monday], Homeland Security Investigations New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners.

“We will provide further information as it becomes available.”

Law enforcement agents stand at the entrance to a property belonging to rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs (Rebecca Blackwell/AP/PA) (AP)
Among the more famous figures reacting to the raids was 50 Cent, who appeared to mock Diddy in a post on Instagram after the news broke.

“S**t just got real,” 50 Cent wrote, sharing with an image of the raid on Diddy’s Los Angeles home from Fox 11’s live news segment, where his sons King and Justin Combs were reportedly pictured in handcuffs.

“The Fed’s in all the cribs, damn they got the kids in cuffs,” 50 Cent added.