Imprisoned former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight, who for decades shared an acrimonious relationship with Sean “Diddy” Combs, urged his longtime archrival to take the stand in his ongoing trial.
Speaking to CNN’s Laura Coates in a brief phone interview from prison, where he’s serving a 28-year-sentence for a deadly hit-and-run in 2015, Knight said he believed Combs should “humanize” himself.
“I feel if he do tell his truth, he really would walk,” Knight said. “If Puffy goes up there and says, ‘Hey … I did all the drugs, I wasn’t in control of my life at the time, or myself’ – he can humanize his old self and the jury might give him a shot.”
“But if they keep him sitting down, it’s like he’s scared to face the music,” Knight added. “He should just have his faith in God, put up his pants and go up there and tell his truth.”
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to life in prison.
It’s not clear whether Combs will testify at his trial. Taking the stand can be seen as a risky move for defendants because it can open them up to a bruising cross-examination, experts say.
Benjamin Chew, the co-lead counsel for actor Johnny Depp in his defamation trial, told CNN earlier this week that the standard wisdom is for defendants not to testify – but added it may benefit Combs to defend himself and express remorse over the allegations that have been brought up during the prosecution’s case.
Knight, the co-founder of Death Row Records, was best known in the 1990s for helping promote West Coast rap in a field that had long been dominated by East Coast artists. It was during this time that his rivalry with Combs ratcheted up – with their respective labels fighting for dominance, and the two groups trading public insults and diss tracks.
The feud reached its peak when Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, known by his rap alias the Notorious B.I.G., were shot and killed within months of each other. Knight was driving the car in which Shakur was killed in Las Vegas in 1996.
Knight has resurfaced in headlines in recent weeks during Combs’ trial, as several former staffers employed by Combs mentioned the men’s rivalry.
One of Combs’ former personal assistants, Capricorn Clark, said Combs once brought her to Central Park at night and brought up her former employment with Death Row Records.
“He told me that he didn’t know that I had anything to do with Suge Knight, and if anything happened, he would have to kill me,” Clark said.
David James, another former assistant, recalled an instance when he and Combs’ security guard ran into Knight at a diner. When Combs heard about it, he ordered James to drive them back to the diner, bringing three handguns with him – but Knight had left by the time they arrived, James testified.
Knight was sentenced to prison in 2018 after pleading no contest to manslaughter in the death of a man he was accused of hitting with his truck on the set of the movie “Straight Outta Compton.”
