Fact Check: About That Alleged Photo of Sean 'Diddy' Combs Posing with Barack Obama
Claim:
A photograph shared in May 2024 authentically shows Sean "Diddy" Combs posing next to Barack Obama.
Rating:
On May 19, 2024, a photograph went viral on social media, allegedly showing rapper Sean Combs, also known as Diddy, posing next to former U.S. President Barack Obama. "Obama needs to repent, too. He brought the demonic minstrel show to the Oval Office. It's not just Diddy," one viral post captioned the photo.
The photograph gained particular attention in late March 2024, when federal agents executed search warrants and raided Combs' homes in Los Angeles and Miami as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation. "The media doesn't want you to see this, so you know what to do," one X post claimed. Google reverse-image search results showed that it was spread on multiple social media platforms, such as Instagram, 9GAG, TikTok, Facebook, and X. "Here is President Obama throwing his support behind a ped*ph*le," another X post read.
However, contrary to what social media users suggested, the photo itself did not indicate any involvement in or connection to the specific controversies facing Combs on Obama's part. Social media users also underscored that the rapper has been photographed with various other prominent figures, including former President Donald Trump.
In short, despite the widespread circulation of the photograph, we have not found any reliable sources confirming or denying its authenticity. However, the existence of previous photos of Combs and Obama together, as well as the rapper's support for Obama's presidency, suggests that the latest image could be authentic. Because of that, we have rated this claim as "Research in Progress."
We have reached out to the the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama and the Obama Foundation for a comment, and we will update this article if/when we receive a response or new information about the photograph comes to light.
Combs did share a photo with Obama in September 2017, in which the two were dressed in outfits resembling those seen in the recently viral image. The photograph is available on Combs' Facebook page with a caption reading, "This week was a great week. Shout out to the king Barack Obama!!! #BlackExcellence."
https://www.facebook.com/Diddy/photos/a.408569254696/10155796248204697/?type=3
Barack Obama Presidential Library, a federal agency administered by the National Archives and Records Administration, told us via email that they "don't have any information on this photo because President Obama was a private citizen then."
We should add in 2004 Combs interviewed Obama, who was running for Senate, to encourage young people to vote.
"I think we are probably responsible for Obama being in office, yes. If nobody else is gonna say it, then I'm gonna say it. The confidence, the swagger we instilled in our communities made that possible," Combs said in an 2009 interview with Playboy Magazine. "If God said I could pick one person to be my father, I'd want to be Sean Combs Obama. That's how dope he is. I hope he reads this interview and adopts me," he jokingly added.
Sources:
Contact Us | Barack Obama Presidential Library. https://www.obamalibrary.gov/about-us/contact-us. Accessed 21 May 2024.
Foundation, Obama. "Press & Media." Obama Foundation, https://www.obama.org/about/press/. Accessed 21 May 2024.
Lorber, Janie. "Saturday Word: The Final Bill." The Caucus, 1261233024, https://archive.nytimes.com/thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/saturday-word-the-final-bill/.
Richard Johnson. Barack Obama and Diddy Interview (2004). 2017. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeWLiCTEF4U.
Sean Combs Playboy Interview - January 2010 Celebrity Interview - Sean Combs Playboy Magazine. http://web.archive.org/web/20091219124334/www.playboy.com/articles/sean-combs-playboy-interview/index.html?page=2. Accessed 21 May 2024.
