内容摘要：The council plans to create a new "digital catalogue" which will make the collection available to audiences

The council plans to create a new "digital catalogue" which will make the collection available to audiences

Combs's lawyers say he "looks forward to proving his innocence", adding that McKinney's claims are "without merit".Many ex-staff say they still find it hard to reconcile the allegations with the man they knew. "These accusations are a surprise to me, as I am sure it is to many of our circle," says Jeffery Walker, a close friend of Combs who was part of Bad Boy's original production team. "I've been to White Parties and of course studio sessions, and none of what he is accused of went down in my sight."

Evans was also sceptical about some of the claims until he saw the footage of Casandra Ventura, Combs's ex-partner of 10 years and a former Bad Boy artist, being brutally beaten by the rapper in a hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.Ventura was the first person to sue Combs back in November 2023, alleging that he had trapped her in a cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking during their relationship. Combs settled the lawsuit the next day for an undisclosed amount."It's not the first time I've seen that temper," recalls Evans, thinking back to the death threat he says he witnessed back in 1997. "It's hard to see. The guy in the video with Cassie is almost identical to the guy who threatened the employee. So, you wonder, has anything changed?"

Over the years, Sean Combs has repeatedly reinvented himself - from Puff Daddy, to P Diddy and in recent years, "Love"."If I'm acting crazy, like 'ahhh!' that's Diddy. If I'm dancing real smooth with a girl, that's Puff Daddy. And if I'm looking like I'm nervous or scared or shy, that's Sean," he said in an interview in 2015.

With more details likely to emerge when he goes on trial in May, many of those who were close to the rapper are questioning whether they knew the real Sean Combs at all.

"One could think that he's just a disgusting human being, but that's not my memory of Puff," says Jimmy Maynes, who grew up with Combs in Mount Vernon, New York."He said that he wanted to be one of the biggest artists in the world and it didn't matter if I believed him or not," remembers Jimmy Maynes, a former Uptown colleague.

Maynes remembers Combs having a short fuse in the office, sometimes banging "his hands up against the desk" like a "bratty kid" and yelling if he did not get his way.Combs was eventually fired from Uptown and at the age of 23 started Bad Boy Records.

"He's the hardest working man that I've ever met and always wanted people to match his energy," says Daniel Evans, a senior executive who managed Bad Boy's recording budgets and artists' contracts between 1994 and 1997.Combs described himself as the "Great Gatsby" and swiftly became known for hosting coveted celebrity bashes at New York nightclubs, on the beaches of Cancun, Mexico, and later infamous "White Parties" - named after the all-white dress code - in the Hamptons.