EGN NEWS DESK
Howard University introduced on Friday that it might revoke an honorary diploma that was awarded to the hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs in 2014. The resolution comes within the wake of Mr. Combs’s admission that he bodily abused a former girlfriend, along with a slew of different allegations of abuse which have surfaced in current months.
At the conclusion of a gathering of the Howard University board of trustees, the physique voted unanimously “to just accept the return by Mr. Sean Combs of the honorary diploma,” in response to a press release launched by the college. Howard additionally stated that it might revoke all honors and privileges related to the diploma.
Mr. Combs, 54, often known as “Puff” and “Diddy,” attended the college from 1987 to 1989 however left earlier than graduating. In 2016, he pledged $1 million to determine the Sean Combs Scholarship Fund, which went to college students in want of monetary assist.
Video footage surfaced final month of Mr. Combs hanging, kicking and dragging his former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, recognized professionally as Cassie, in 2016.
“Mr. Combs’s habits as captured in a just lately launched video is so basically incompatible with Howard University’s core values and beliefs that he’s deemed now not worthy to carry the establishment’s highest honor,” the assertion stated.
Howard University didn’t instantly reply to extra requests for remark.
In November 2023, Ms. Ventura filed a lawsuit accusing Mr. Combs of rape and bodily abuse; they reached a settlement the subsequent day. Then, in May, CNN printed surveillance footage it had acquired from a Los Angeles resort that confirmed Mr. Combs attacking Ms. Ventura close to the constructing’s elevators.
Mr. Combs subsequently posted an apology video on Instagram with the caption “I’m really sorry.”
“I hit all-time low — however I make no excuses,” he stated within the apology video. “My habits on that video is inexcusable. I take full accountability for my actions in that video.”
Howard University was based in 1867 to coach freed slaves, and at the moment is a famend traditionally Black college. Notable alumni embrace politicians, actors and writers, similar to Vice President Kamala Harris and the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator Toni Morrison. Last 12 months, the college awarded honorary levels to Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina and Keith Christopher Rowley, the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago.
The lack of the honorary diploma comes amid ongoing authorized troubles for Mr. Combs, who’s the founding father of Bad Boy Records. In March, federal brokers raided Mr. Combs’s houses in Los Angeles and the Miami space, which officers stated was associated partly to a human trafficking investigation. No costs have been filed in relation to that case.
The raids adopted lawsuits during which 4 girls, together with Ms. Ventura, accused Mr. Combs of rape and sexual assault and a person accused him of undesirable sexual contact. Lawyers for Mr. Combs have begun to file motions to dismiss the sexual assault fits.
This month, as his authorized troubles mounted, Mr. Combs offered his majority stake in his media firm, Revolt. He had beforehand offered his half of a liquor model, DeLeón, for roughly $200 million after its guardian firm stated Mr. Combs’s repute had been tarnished. And a New York constitution college community Mr. Combs had labored to increase lower ties with him.
In addition to stripping Mr. Combs of the honorary diploma, Howard stated that it might return his $1 million contribution and disband the scholarship program in his identify.
