Punch responds to fans noting J. Cole recently said his take on the 2013 altercation with Diddy left out some details.
The discussion started on Tuesday (March 31) on X (formerly Twitter) when a user suggested that Punch might be proven wrong if J. Cole weighed in on the 2013 altercation with Diddy.
Another user pointed out that Cole had actually acknowledged Punch got much of the story right, though some details were left out.
In response, the TDE president defended Cole's perspective, saying, “Nah. I know what he meant. He definitely have his perspective or pov on that night.”
J. Cole addressed the 2013 MTV VMAs afterparty incident on a recent episode of Cam’ron’s Talk With Flee podcast.
Cole confirmed that a scuffle with Diddy occurred but chose not to go into full detail. He explained that he and his manager Ibrahim 'E' Hamad had recorded a bonus podcast episode covering that night, but decided not to release it.
“It felt like damn near kicking a man when he's down,” Cole said about Diddy. “It would have gave the news more ammo and the world more ammo to just destroy this dude."
Cole explained that while the event happened, the surrounding narratives were often incorrect and that Punch's version was missing some details.
“You got a lot of right, but you wasn't really right there,” he said. “I know the full, front-to-back [story]. ... That's a memorable night for me. I'm recalling that shit verbatim.”
Punch had previously spoken about the incident in 2024 on the R&B Money Podcast, describing the situation at the club without naming names. He described how tensions started over Kendrick Lamar's verse on Big Sean's "Control” where he called himself “the King of New York, King of the Coast.”
Multiple sources told Complex at the time that Diddy was “visibly intoxicated” and allegedly tried to confront Kendrick over the “King of New York” claim. Cole reportedly intervened when Diddy attempted to pour a drink on Kendrick. An argument ensued and the altercation escalated.
