The explosive allegations against Jay-Z lit a fire under hip-hop culture that hadn’t been felt since… Well, Diddy faced his initial onslaught of lawsuits and accusations a year ago. For those unaware, a Jane Doe accused both men of sexually assaulting her at a VMAs after party in 2000 when she was 13 years old. But DL Hughley doesn’t seem to be as shocked as everyone else is, although it might not be for the reasons you expect. The comedian recently stopped by VladTV with DJ Vlad for an interview, and naturally, they eventually addressed the topic with some strong reflections.
“But, to be honest,” DL Hughley’s remarks on the Jay-Z and Diddy allegations began. “Nobody believed that this wouldn’t touch a lot of very famous people, right? This whole milieu we find ourselves in, [that it] wouldn’t touch a lot of famous people. And all I can say when I saw it is, I didn’t go to none of those parties. No. It never appealed to me. I’m not saying that everybody who did go was wrong. But I’m glad I ain’t got a lawyer asking me to get my story together.”
DL Hughley Speaks On Jay-Z & Diddy Allegations
Elsewhere, DL Hughley compared Diddy’s currently tanking reputation to Jay-Z’s, who has received a lot more industry support defending his reputation. While Hughley still wouldn’t put it past anyone, he also made a comment about how these moves – plus previous takedowns of R. Kelly and Bill Cosby – have taken down the 1990s decade in popular culture. In addition, he also commended Hov’s response to the allegations and posited that everyone deserves the presumption of innocence in these cases until proven otherwise.
Overall, it seems like DL Hughley wants to see everything play out in court before making a strong judgement call, as Diddy made the same denial of wrongdoing that Jay-Z did. Of course, the Sean Combs situation quickly proved to be much more different thanks to that video of him assaulting Cassie that leaked earlier this year. With a whole lot to anticipate in 2025 and surely more legal developments on the way, we can expect hip-hop and pop culture at large to continue discussing this heavily.
About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022.
Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case.
Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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