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Diddy recently told Vibe magazine that Nightline Host Martin Bashir's question about him giving his son a Maybach for his birthday was racist:
"There were times in the interview when I had to give him an ultimatum," Diddy told Vibe. "The questions weren't being handled the right way. In hindsight, when I saw him, I shouldn't had done the interview because I know the style of interview that he does . . .. The whole thing about giving a Maybach to my son, that's really like a racist question."
"You don't ask White people what they buy their kids," he continued. "And they buy 'em Porsches and convertible Bentleys, and it ain't no question. It's really a racist question and put things back in perspective with money and the way that people still look at you. And I'm not saying that consciously he's a racist. But he probably don't even realize that he would not ask Steve Jobs that. He would be like Steve Jobs has that money and that's the gift his kid is supposed to get."
I think Diddy was right about one thing: Most journalists would never question a wealthy white person like Steve Jobs or Warren Buffet about a car they may have bought their children.
I think, though, he is missing a critical difference between himself and men like Steve Jobs. Men like Jobs and Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have not made a fortune promoting luxury lifestyles and defining themselves by them.
A tenet of hip-hop is ostentation and glamour and luxury. Diddy's image, probably more than any other entertainer, is built on throwing wealth in the faces of others who look on with a mixture of awe, envy and delight. He brags at every opportunity about his wealth, so why shouldn't it be fair game in an interview? The image of boundless wealth, big mansions and fancy cars is how hip-hop has defined itself, and whether he wants to admit or not, Diddy is one of the main architects.
I bet a reporter wouldn't ask Bob Johnson or Kenneth Chenault about a car they bought for their children.
I believe the question was less about race and more about the fact that he is not taken seriously.
You can't be a media whore and then get mad if someone asks you a question you don't like. If you don't want to be questioned about what you give to your children, don't do it on TV. You can't have it both ways, Diddy. I can't remember the last time Bill Gates bragged to the world about how much money he had.
I also think that the question is more relevant to Diddy than to America's wealthiest business leaders, because of the impact that his lifestyle has on young people.
Many young people want to be like Diddy, because he's rich. Not because he worked hard and built a mega-empire from nothing. Unfortunately, the message of hard work and the story behind Diddy's rise to power is lost on a generation who believe they are entitled to big Sweet Sixteen parties and Maybachs without lifting a finger.
We have collectively failed as a community in this regard. Diddy, along with the rest of us, are culpable in raising a generation who just want to be "rich." They don't want to work hard, they don't want to excel in school. They just want be a baller. And if they can't be rich, at least they can look rich, even if it means begging, borrowing and stealing to accomplish it. Somewhere along the line, we forgot to teach our young people the most important four letter word of all: WORK.
And a small part of that is Diddy's fault. If he spent as much time talking about the hard work it took the get to where he is as he does rattling off the brand names in his closet, perhaps he could be taken more seriously as a business leader and not just some rich hip-hop buffoon. Isn't he the one who said, "It's all about the Benjamins?"
BTW, Steve Jobs probably wouldn't buy his son some stupid sh*t like that anyway.
Watch Diddy's full interview with Bashir here:
Comments: (176)
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By: spookywhite on 9/03/2010 3:38PM
Diddy is a buffoon. His ignorance is celebrated and appreciated by the blind urban masses. The BIG DIFFERENCE between Diddy and moguls like Jobs/Gates/etc. is that they don't need to brag about their wealth. They are secure within themselves. Diddy never had a father-his search for male identity is fractured and hollow. Diddy is n**** rich or "nouveau rich"-it's disgusting that most of Black America is hit hard by the recession; unemployment/high incarceration rates/community violence and he buys his son a maybach!!!! A son that will probably never know the value of hard work and sacrifice and who will grow into a mentally/emotionally/spiritually weak black man who has been led to believe that money and material possessions define your being/manhood. Another thing, LET US REMEMBER-BIGGIE DIED FOR PUFFY's SINS and is the PRIMARY REASON FOR HIS WEALTH. Let us also not forget, it was Puffy in a 1995 Vanity Fair interview who chided Andre Harrell and Russell Simmons for acting white and wanting to be hanging out in the Hamptons. Diddy is an idiot...a role model, I don't think so.
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By: Bruce Mitchell on 1/19/2011 4:18PM
spookywhite. you made Diddys point better than he ever could. (probably the only thing) While you are playing the role of holier than thou, don't single out Puff, You should spend more time with the entire Republican party, nations like France that sucked Haiti dry and most of the national economic policies along with the deliberate creation of the environment that results in the present social-economic situation. Your words, "it's disgusting that most of Black America is hit hard by the recession; unemployment/high incarceration rates/community violence", Puffy's responsible? Please, give yourself a break if you won't grant it to those of us who really think.
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By: Karnak on 1/02/2011 12:18AM
It is hard to believe that Gates, Buffet or Jobs, just like Chenault or Johnson would buy their kids a very expensive car for their 16th bday. Diddy, unfortunately just like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan or Robert Downey Junior and many more is just another immature grown up who will never mature, nothing to do with race or anything else, just personality.
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By: Bruce Mitchell on 1/19/2011 4:19PM
Your comment "Diddy, unfortunately just like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan or Robert Downey Junior" is ridiculous. Neither of the above achieved their success due to their own intelligence. All had unearned privilege and very little of the intelligence and business savvy of Diddy. All of your examples pimped off of their parents success or a free pass. Diddy didn't have any of those advantages. Give it up, you're just jealous of the skills and innate talents of the "Brother" from NY.
Buffet is unique in his world, he is singularly known for his austerity. Gates too, is unique in his world. Either you choose to ignore or you don't really know about any other people of tremendous wealth otherwise you wouldn't make that statement.
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By: bam on 1/19/2011 1:23PM
To the author and her minions: your lack of simple analysis is overshadowed by your pathetic attempts at a macro social analisys. Despite all of your determinations and condemations nothing more needs to be addressed other than the fact that you have NEVER heard a white interviewer ask a white person, of any class status (and that's what your really talking about now isn't it?)...liar (if you deny it), about their personal family finances wheather publized or not.
Ms Donaldson, if you want to expand your analysis of Combs I suggest you juxtapose the culture of the suburban NYC area to that of the DC Metro area as it pertains to upper income socio-economics and you probably will gain a more in-depth understanding into the mind of Diddy. I dare say you will also gain insight to the key to his success. Contrary to stereotypes that only serve to provide the economic sustenance to many who have continued to as well as those who have joined the ranks of those who exploit the generalization of Black people to said blacks disadvantage, we are not all alike despite the outward result(re:Hip Hop references). Everybody, no matter who, deserves the respect of individual consideration, if anybody does. To even insinuate that a black person has to treat their children like they are some working class, downtrodden pullup by the bootstrap (especially when said children didn't grow up in that environment) is racist in the least, no matter who says it. Since "It is often assumed that young urban men and women are unable to analyze", I, for one, am giving Sean Coombs the benefit of no doubt in wanting to replicate the ruling class of this country and not just the nouveau riche whites". They indeed buy their offspring extravagance. The truth will be in the next generation of his like as it was with other ethics who have progressed through these steps before us.
Ultimately, it seems that envy and fear is the fuel of that supposition.
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By: patrick on 2/20/2011 1:08PM
I think Diddy is right!! Who the hell is anybody to question me or black folks in general about how we spend our money??? Its true ,nobody ask white celebs about how they spend their money or why,so why no double standard??
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