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Gene Deal, a former bodyguard for Sean “Diddy” Combs, claims in an interview that Combs offered a person a Grammy in exchange for sex.
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The claim has not been independently verified.
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Combs has denied wrongdoing in sexual misconduct allegations against him, and no response to Deal’s remarks has been reported.
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Combs is serving a 50-month sentence on two prostitution-related convictions, and his appeal is pending.
November 13, (THEWILL) – Former Bad Boy bodyguard Gene Deal has claimed that Sean “Diddy” Combs once offered a person a Grammy award in exchange for sex.
Deal made the allegation in an interview with The Art of Dialogue, the platform where he has often spoken about his years working for Combs.
He questioned how anyone could make such a promise, given that Grammy winners are decided through the Recording Academy’s voting process.
He asked “what kind of power do you have when you can promise somebody a Grammy?”
The claim is Deal’s own comment and has not been independently verified.
At the time of writing, no response from Combs or his representatives had been reported.
The comments are linked to a lawsuit from producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who worked with Combs on his 2023 album, The Love Album: Off the Grid.
Jones alleges that Combs promised him a Grammy for producer of the year if he took part in a sexual act with another producer.
Deal’s comment does follow as a response to the question: Lil Rod, he alleges that Diddy promised him a Grammy if he participated in homosexual activity?
“I read that man, you know what I’m saying. And what kind of power do you have where you can promise somebody a Grammy? A Grammy award. Who are you doing something with? Or who do you know that you can promise?
Did Beyoncé get a Grammy for her album…if she never got a Grammy for Album of the Year and Diddy can promise a producer if he is in a homosexual act, that he can give him a Grammy. What kind of power ? Who he doing it with ? What he know ? That he can get that done. That’s some kind of spooky sh*t bro. No disrespect. That’s real spooky. If he can promise somebody,” Deal said.
Watch the video snippet:
https://x.com/instablog9ja/status/2121215682151133627?a=W2TVxnWziHHr9TWoDJ8&s=19
Combs denied Jones’s claims and has called the lawsuit a money grab.
Deal worked as a bodyguard for Combs in the 1990s and wrote a 2022 book about the experience.
He has given a string of interviews about Combs since the rapper’s arrest in September 2024.
His accounts have not been tested in court.
Combs’ own legal position is clear.
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A jury convicted him in 2025 on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
He was sentenced in October 2025 to 50 months in federal prison.
He is now held at FCI Allenwood Low in Pennsylvania after being moved from Fort Dix in New Jersey.
His appeal was argued in April, with no ruling reported yet, and his projected release date is in early 2028.
Combs has also denied the sexual misconduct allegations against him, including those in civil suits.
Where the Jones lawsuit stands
Jones sued Combs in February 2024 for $30 million. In March 2025, a judge threw out five of his nine claims, and the rest were allowed to continue.
In August 2026, Combs countersued, accusing Jones of selling his personal footage to Netflix for a docuseries and making defamatory statements in it.
In October, a judge let Combs’ lawyers withdraw from the case over unpaid fees and communication problems.
Gertrude Oby is a writer and journalist passionate about the creative industries. Works span fashion, film, media, art, and culture.