(NewsNation) — “Hollywood Unlocked” CEO and founder Jason Lee says he was surprised to see Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sons photographed in handcuffs, calling the rapper’s children “really good kids.”
Lee appeared Thursday on NewsNation’s “CUOMO” alongside Rahman Dukes, who helped launch Revolt TV with Combs in 2013. The pair offered a closer look at the how the music industry and culture could be influencing information about the ongoing federal investigation that led agents to search Combs’ properties.
“Sometimes, we cannibalize our own more than anybody else,” Lee said.
Photos and videos of the search appeared to show the music mogul’s sons in handcuffs. Unnamed law enforcement sources reportedly disclosed to ABC News that the practice is “customary in such circumstances.”
“Those are really good kids,” Lee said. “So to see them in handcuffs and to see them put on display as criminals or to be put into the conversation that they somehow are ushering underage kids into the compound for their dad to have their way with them — those aren’t the kids that I know.”
Lee also warned of industry infighting that could be influencing how the situation is playing out in the public.
Curtis James Jackson III, known by fans as 50 Cent, recently took to social media, repeating claims that Diddy was paying one of Jackson’s ex-girlfriends for sex work. Those claims came from a lawsuit that music producer Rodney Jones filed against Combs. The woman has since responded and called those allegations “100% false.”
Lee addressed Jackson’s comments Thursday, calling the rapper “a master troll on the internet.”
Lee has previous ties to Revolt TV, the cable station that Combs founded, but clarified that he doesn’t work for the rapper and although he respects him, the two aren’t friends “by any measure.”
If there’s truth to the allegations, then Combs “should be held accountable like everybody else,” Lee said.
“But to lose everything and to be hung in a court of public opinion only makes it easier for other people who look like me to have that experience, too, and I’m not here for that,” he added.
Although he’s heard rumors about Combs, Lee only recalled one “weird” run-in with the rapper.
“I was taking a picture at his house and he came up and said something like, ‘Yo, don’t ever try to come for me because it’ll be a problem,’ but that’s (because) I think he had too much (to drink) … we took a picture and moved on,” Lee said.
Dukes, who is now senior vice president of Revolt TV, described Combs as “cool,” “fun” and someone people within the music culture “look up to,” going so far as to call him a “musical hero.”
“Obviously, the man has a private life that goes on, as well,” Dukes said. “In regard to 50, this is rap. It’s hip-hop … it’s a competitive sport.”