Howard University Revokes The Honorary Degree Awarded To Rap Entrepreneur Sean Combs

(NewsSpace.com) – Sean “Diddy” Combs has been under a lot of fire lately. The music mogul was once sitting on top of the industry with decades of success behind him. However, over the past few years, and more notably, in the past few months, many women have come forward with allegations of abuse against him. Combs is facing multiple lawsuits and footage recently emerged of him assaulting an ex-girlfriend in a hotel back in 2016. Now, a college is wiping its hands clean of him and his name.

Howard University Holds Vote

On Friday, June 7, Howard University announced that its Board of Trustees held a vote. The members voted unanimously to revoke an honorary degree the college awarded to Combs back in 2014. In its statement, the Board said his “behavior […] is so fundamentally incompatible with Howard University’s core values and beliefs that he is deemed no longer worthy to hold the institution’s highest honor.”

Combs isn’t just losing his degree, either. The university has decided to disband the scholarship program it has in his name. It also is terminating a gift agreement it came to with the rap mogul in 2016 and returning his $1 million donation to the school. Additionally, it is cutting ties with the Sean Combs Foundation. The university signed off, saying it “has no further comment on [the] matter.”

The Many Lawsuits Against Combs

Right now, Combs is facing more than half a dozen lawsuits. Most of them center on sexual abuse allegations, though Rodney Jones Jr., a record producer, is suing him for illegal racketeering for the distribution of drugs, distribution and displaying of illegal firearms that aren’t registered, and soliciting sex workers and minors.

Combs has already settled one of the lawsuits against him, filed by his ex-girlfriend Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura. She filed the suit against the music mogul on November 16, 2023, and the pair settled it the next day. In the filing, she accused him of “assert[ing] complete control” over her life and forcing her to engage in sexual acts with multiple people.

The other six lawsuits involve similar allegations of rape and coercion, and claims of being drugged and taken advantage of. There’s also a lawsuit against Combs’ son, Christian Combs, who is also being sued for battery, sexual assault, and infliction of emotional distress. Grace O’Marcaigh claims that while on a yacht, Christian assaulted her and prevented her from leaving the premises. She’s also suing Sean Combs for perpetrating an “environment of debauchery.”

These cases, with the exception of Ventura’s, are ongoing.

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