Eric Adams’ past praise for Sean “Diddy” Combs is resurfacing online, following the New York City mayor’s indictment.
The exact charges against Adams have not yet been revealed by federal authorities but come after nearly a year of investigations into corruption.
Adams, however, has been at the center of probes into whether he improperly conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal, foreign donations.
The New York Times reported that the federal investigation was looking into whether Adams pressured the Fire Department to approve a new Turkish consulate despite safety concerns in exchange for illegal donations. Investigators are also looking into free flights and upgrades the mayor allegedly received from Turkish airlines.
The probe isn’t just limited to Turkey. Interactions with Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea, and Uzbekistan were also included within the scope of the inquiry, according to the Times.
Adams denounced the indictment in a statement.
“I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target — and a target I became,” he said. “If I am charged, I am innocent, and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”
While Adams has not been arrested, news of the sealed indictment fueled jokes that he’d end up as a cellmate to Diddy, who, as many on the internet pointed out, Adams was a big fan of.
Last September, Adams bestowed Diddy a key to the city. Diddy returned it upon Adams’ request in June, after a video of him physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie in 2016 began circulating.
“NYC mayor Eric Adams last year: ‘The bad boy of entertainment (Diddy) is getting a key from the bad boy of politics,’” one X user commented. “now both of them are facing federal criminal charges.”
Diddy is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as he awaits trial on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. One of his current cellmates is disgraced crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried.
“Eric Adams and Diddy bout to share the same jail cell, NYC going full Gotham tonight,” quipped one X user.
“Put Diddy, SBF and Eric Adams in the same cell and make A16z invest in whatever company they come up with,” joked someone else.
“Diddy is sharing a cell already with SBF,” swiped one right-wing influencer. “Wonder if there’s room for one more.”
“P Diddy and Eric Adams hittin the yard like,” joked someone else of a photoshopped image of the pair holding a bottle of baby oil instead of the city’s key—an unsubtle reference to authorities seizing 1,000 bottles of baby oil from the rapper’s home that were allegedly used in the singer’s “Freak Offs.”
Others used the news to promote baseless speculation that Adams was tied to Diddy’s sex trafficking charges—tying into a longstanding, QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theory that has gained traction in the wake of Diddy’s arrest that celebrities and politicians are secretly engaged in a massive sex trafficking operating.
Usher, P!nk, and Michelle Obama are all names that conspiracists have tried to tie to Diddy without evidence.
“Mayor Eric Adams just got indicted. I wonder if Diddy is returning the favor,” speculated one prominent conspiracy theorist on X.
“These people are all connected,” replied someone else. “Everything is coming to light!”
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