Earlier this week, a user on X shared a photo and claimed that the photo shows a young U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris at a party with rapper and hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, who was been arrested on Tuesday on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. Diddy was denied bail on Wednesday.
The photo, was first circulated on X and soon went viral, with many left shocked to learn that Harris was a party animal once and Combs was the one whom she partied with. On the other hand, several social media users have been trying you find out about the authenticity of the wile claim about Harris and Combs.
Wild Claim about Harris and Combs
The photo circulated on X and Facebook, featured Kamala Harris standing with a man and a woman, posing for photographers at an event. Several users on X claimed that the man in the image was Sean "Diddy" Combs standing next to Harris.
However, there is no truth in the claim. The photo had been digitally altered to insert Combs' face, so it has been identified as a fake.
In reality, the man next to Kamala Harris was Montel Williams, an actor and TV host. Combs' face was superimposed onto Williams' in the edited image.
Harris and Williams were at a red-carpet event in 2001 with Williams' daughter, Ashley Williams. The event footage was featured on the TV program "Inside Edition" on YouTube in November 2020.
A similar Getty Images photo from that day, captioned as the eighth annual Race to Erase Multiple Sclerosis benefit, took place at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, California.
Video Appears But False Claims
Social media users also claimed that footage from the event showed Harris and Combs together. There have been several rumors circulating about Harris ahead of the US presidential election.
Fact checking website Snopes has previously investigated rumors about Harris and Williams, confirming the same photos of them at the 2001 event.
In 2020, Williams commented on his past relationship with Harris, saying, " Kamala Harris and I briefly dated about 20 years ago when we were both single. So what? I have great respect for Sen. Harris. I have to wonder if the same stories about her dating history would have been written if she were a male candidate?"
Combs was arrested earlier this week on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and interstate transportation for prostitution.
His properties were raided in March 2024 as part of an ongoing investigation. He also faced multiple lawsuits related to sexual assault allegations. As of now, the rapper and mogul remains in jail awaiting trial.
