Ex-gangster who was an associate of Diddy reveals he is filing a lawsuit against the disgraced mogul's mother

Sean 'Diddy' Combs used his mother's name to allegedly form a criminal enterprise to hide money and other business deals, according to a former friend who worked with the disgraced Bad Boy mogul. 

Deon 'D1' Best appeared on DailyMail.com's podcast, 'The Trial of Diddy', where he claims Combs used his mother Janice's name to hide artists' publishing rights, including deals Best said he brokered in the late 1990s. 

Best claims his company, Finish Line Entertainment, signed artists to Diddy who worked on various albums for Bad Boy, including Christopher 'Notorious B.I.G' Wallace's 1999 'Born Again', which reached platinum status and sold over one million copies.

Best, 56, said the way Combs allegedly organized his business deals not only took publishing rights from him and the artists who worked on the songs, but bilked them out of future earnings. 

'All of my publishing rights went to Janice Combs,' Best told DailyMail.com exclusively. 'I'm here to talk about a different section of his allegations... and what I feel to believe involves his mother, Janice Combs. The [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act] is about holding people accountable for systematic actions.'

He added: 'You know, these actions have caused financial hardship, emotional hardship, but not only myself, but other artists in the business through what I feel was fraudulent and coercive activity. And I think that Janice Combs falls under those guidelines.'

Best told DailyMail.com he plans to sue Janice Combs and her company because the Bad Boy deals were signed to her name. 

Meanwhile, Diddy remains at a Brooklyn jail and is facing multiple federal charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering charges. 

His attorneys have declined to comment on Best's allegations. DailyMail.com also reached out to Janice Combs' attorneys for comment.

Best also alleged Combs did the same thing with songs his company created on other albums, including rapper Black Rob's 2000 album 'Life Story' and Combs 'Forever', which also hit platinum status after it was released in 1999.

While historically it was not uncommon for record label owners or record labels to take a percentage of an artist’s publishing as part of their signing deal, artists have since pushed back because of the potential future earnings their songs could garner.

Other artists who worked with Combs, including Mark Curry, have alleged Diddy was able to circumvent certain deals because he allegedly used Janice Combs to seal the deals.

In a viral 2020 rant, rapper Mason 'Ma$e' Betha claimed Diddy also took his publishing rights away.

'How dare this n***a talking about he want receipts,' Ma$e said of Combs in the clip. 'Let’s start with your mother, n***a. Your mother got the receipts, n***a. Everything is in your mother’s name. That’s the one who’s got the receipts, n***a.'

Best, who has left gang life and has turned to religion and now coaches youth sports, said he became friends with Combs and Notorious B.I.G. after they met at parties in L.A. that were frequented by Hollywood A-Listers.

Best said the Bad Boy producer would call him up for protection and 'check in' to see if it was safe for him to be in certain areas of LA. 

It was also at this point that Death Row's Suge Knight, who hails from Compton, had allegedly threatened Combs, Best claims.

'So you know, by this being my hometown, I knew how to maneuver through the community, through the streets,' Best said. 'Let's just say everybody was aware that Suge Knight and Puffy had a situation. 

'Suge is a big guy. I'm not a big guy, but I had the type of relationship with Suge that I could say, "You know, Suge, ease up." And, you know, he would respect the situation.'

As Combs and his artists came to LA to work on music or to party, he became close to Wallace, who was more calm than the 'arrogant' Combs, Best said.

He claims he was with Wallace the night he was killed during a drive-by shooting on March 9, 1997 just outside the Petersen Automotive Museum where Vibe magazine’s Soul Train Awards after party was held.

Best said he had warned Wallace that week to keep close to him while he was in LA. On that particular night, Best said Wallace and him were briefly separated as they were leaving the party. 

The next thing he heard were the fatal shots that would ultimately kill Wallace. 

'I never understood how he wasn't with me when we exit through the door,' Best said. 'I think about it more today. I felt like somebody literally lured him away from me, pulled him away and like said, "Let's go this way."

He continued, 'I tried to explain that to him, "You know, man, you can't just be moving around by yourself."'

Best said he believes Biggie, who was Bad Boy's most lucrative artists, was looking to leave the label and Combs right before his death. 

Best said he was not surprised the former mogul is facing a possible life sentence if he is convicted on all charges.

He added watching the now viral video of Combs attacking his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in 2016 at a hotel in Los Angeles angered him.

'That video of Cassie broke my heart,' Best said. 'I have two daughters, a mother, sisters. It's like, "Wow, you can kick on Cassie but you don't want to stand up to Suge?"'