Moses "Shyne" Barrow opened up in an interview with Cam'ron on Talk With Flee about his involvement in the 1999 New York City nightclub shooting, in which he was convicted of first-degree assault, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The former Bad Boy Records artist recalled his mentor Sean "Diddy" Combs, who was considered a suspect in the case, having an altercation with a crew from Brooklyn that he knew, especially Matthew "Scar" Allen, who allegedly got into an argument with Combs before the dispute turned violent.
Witnesses testified that Allen screamed at Diddy, "I'm going to kill you!" before the shooting occurred, as reported by ABC News.
"They were not people to underestimate. They were not people to take for granted," Barrow told Cam. "So when they started saying, they gonna pop your top, and I saw someone reaching for a weapon, I acted in self-defense."
"But they wasn't my problem. It was Puff's problem," he continued. "He was the one that was arguing with them, and I was just being a good friend because I saw a danger."
According to a 2001 ABC News article, Ian Niles, attorney for Barrow, admitted his client had a firearm inside the nightclub, claiming Shyne fired his weapon twice into the air after the first shot was fired by someone in Allen's entourage.
"This was an incident precipitated by 'Scar,'" Niles said, maintaining that Barrow's actions were in self-defense.
Barrow explained to Cam that his split-second decision was difference between life and death, and his younger self would solely choose the former over the latter.
"And I always, at that point, preferred to be tried by 12 than carried by six," he said, in reference to being detained by police versus being transported by pallbearers.
In the Hulu documentary The Honorable Shyne, Barrow claimed he was "absolutely set up to be the fall guy" in the nightclub shooting. A rep for Combs, who was facing up to 15 years in prison, called his former protégé's "fall guy" claim "unequivocally false."
"Mr. Combs categorically denies Mr. Barrow’s allegations, including any suggestion that he orchestrated Mr. Barrow to 'take the fall' or 'sacrificed' him by directing witnesses to testify against him," the rep said. "These claims are unequivocally false."
"Mr. Combs was acquitted of all charges related to the 1999 Club New York incident and has consistently maintained his innocence," the statement continued. "He cannot accept or condone any characterization of his actions as 'demonic' or 'malicious.'"
In an interview with Stephen A. Smith last year, Barrow said he has since forgiven Combs, but maintained that the disgraced mogul "destroyed" his life.
