'Diddy's gentleman act hid something much darker'

Writer's encounters with shamed sex-obsessed rapper

- By Tom Bryant

DISGRACED music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs once conned me into thinking he was a true gentleman.

I interviewed the hip-hop star, 55, in 2007 — 18 years before he was convicted this week in New York of prostitution-related offences, but cleared of sex trafficking and racketeering.

The instruction I received from his staff was to the point. “Diddy, 2pm. Soho Hotel. Meet by the lift.”

It wasn’t exactly the full sit-down interview I hoped for after Diddy flew in for the Wembley tribute concert for the late Diana, Princess of Wales.