Wendy Williams Has A Long History Of Calling Out Diddy

Wendy Williams never held back when it came to publicly calling out Sean "Diddy" Combs — and his 2024 arrest only validated her long-standing warnings about the disgraced rapper. Williams was known for being brutally honest about Diddy with their feud beginning all the way back in the 1990s, when Williams — then a radio personality on HOT 97 — called his sexuality into question, reportedly leaving the Grammy winner outraged. Diddy allegedly used his considerable influence to have Williams fired from the station, which was all but confirmed in 2023 by the rapper's former bodyguard, Gene Deal. The pair were frequently at daggers drawn for over two decades thereafter.

In 2005, Williams asserted that R&B group Total, from Diddy's iconic label Bad Boy Records, confronted her outside HOT 97. The outspoken media personality claimed that her then-boyfriend and "knight in shining armor" Kevin Hunter thankfully stepped in to stop the situation from turning violent (via YouTube). Williams' reproval did not stop there, however. She often openly scrutinized Diddy's relationships on her hit talk show, particularly his romance with future accuser Cassandra "Cassie" Ventura, reasoning, "She probably doesn't know how to apply for a mortgage," per Newsweek.

In 2015, she continued to comment on the "I'll Be Missing You" hitmaker's personal life on "The Wendy Williams Show," arguing in 2015, "I think he's leading this playboy lifestyle where he's got these women in his life [...] where he's got them hypnotized," (via Us Weekly). She returned to the conspiracy surrounding Diddy's sexuality in a 2023 VladTV interview, implying that he used his power in the industry to silence her. Even in her book, "The Wendy Williams Experience," the talk show host didn't backtrack, instead reflecting, "The hell he put me through, I will never forget. But I don't hate him."

With Sean "Diddy" Combs facing a plethora of very serious criminal charges — including sex trafficking and racketeering, to which he notably pleaded not guilty — Wendy Williams' unvarnished past criticisms of him found a renewed focus. Though Williams stepped back from the public eye due to ongoing health issues, she came forward to discuss the situation regardless. In October 2024, the legendary talk show host informed the Daily Mail simply: "It is about time." Williams was particularly appalled to learn of a shocking video obtained by CNN that showed Diddy physically assaulting his former partner in a hotel lobby. 

"To see this video of Cassie getting pummeled... it was just horrific," she confessed. "But now you have to think, how many more times? How many more people? How many more women?" As the TV personality pointed out, tons of people also finally acknowledged that she was right about the disgraced rapper, telling her, "Wendy, you called it." Many took to social media to concur, with one user writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, "We owe that woman!" There's no joy in saying "I told you so" in tragic situations like this, but Williams has been steadfast in standing by her own words, even when the truth is uncomfortable.