Suge Knight is certain that Sean “Diddy” Combs would have used the guns he had on him when the Bad Boys Records founder tried to confront him in 2008.
Suge tells TMZ founder Harvey Levin that if Combs brought three guns with him after finding out he was in Mel’s Diner, the disgraced hip-hop mogul planned on opening fire.
“If he’d confronted me, and he had a gun, you best believe he was gonna have to use it or something’s gonna happen,” he said.
“If he had three guns, he knew something was gonna happen,” Knight added.
Suge suspected Combs’ alleged drug and alcohol use played a part in his decision-making. “When you’re dealing with drugs and alcohol and even fear, some people feel if they scared enough, they feel they gotta do something,” Knight said. “They can’t do it with their hands, so they gotta make sure they bring guns.”
Knight’s remarks stem from the testimony from Combs’ former assistant David James earlier this week. James recalled driving to Mel’s Diner in Los Angeles with Diddy’s security guard Damion “D-Roc” Butler in the early morning hours to order takeout food for Combs and his crew, and seeing Suge sitting in a car in the parking lot.
Butler struck up a brief conversation with Knight before heading inside Mel’s Diner.
James testified that four black SUVs showed up while he and Butler were inside, and someone handed a gun to Knight.
Levin asked Suge if he had a firearm at the time, but the Death Row Records co-founder deflected the question.
“We got to fucking go,” Butler allegedly told James, according to Variety. The two were able to safely return to Combs’ Hollywood Hills home.
Upon hearing about Knight’s whereabouts, Diddy told James to get behind the wheel of a different vehicle, a black Escalade, and return to the diner.
James said he noticed Combs sitting in the backseat with three firearms on his lap. The former assistant believed the three guns were meant to be used by himself, Diddy, and Butler. “It was the first time I realized my life was in danger,” he said.
When they arrived at Mel’s Diner, Knight was gone. Combs told James to drive around the block, but Suge could not be found.
When asked why he would willingly get involved in a possible shooting, James responded, “I didn’t think I had the option to say something.”
James resigned a few days after the incident.
The conversation between Suge and Levin starts at the 5:11 mark in the video up top.