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Diddy and Lori Harvey

Source: WENN / WENN

Diddy has entertained us for decades until today. He’s an icon. An example of Black excellence and achievement. But for all of his professional accomplishments, his track record with women, like so many men in the industry, has been problematic.

In a particularly telling interview with The Breakfast Club, Diddy shared that 75% of the time, he’s a great boyfriend. But the other 25% he’s a mess. He made this statement while he was with his girlfriend of ten years, Cassie. I thought it was interesting that his son Christian was sitting there next to him. It didn’t seem like setting a good example. Then again, growing up with Diddy as your father, I’m sure it’s something he witnessed firsthand.

After all, Christian is Kim Porter’s son. And for the depth of the connection and the number of children Diddy and Kim shared, he wasn’t the best to or for her. There was the relationship with J. Lo, the babies he had in the midst of their relationship and more than we’ll probably ever know.

His past hasn’t been squeaky clean. At this point, it’s part of his brand. For the most part, as a community we’ve excused all of this because Diddy is entertaining. He’s contributed a lot—and at the end of the day, the women he was dating and having children with, were adults, capable of making their own decisions, able to decide whether to stay or go.

But the older I get, the more I understand that just because a woman is over the age of 18. It doesn’t mean she’s not being manipulated.

Which is the reason why I’m paying particularly close attention to Diddy’s repeated appearances with 22-year-old Lori Harvey.

I know Harvey is 22 years old. She’s grown. She can decide to date and be with a 49-year-old man. But we have to admit that there is something disturbing about it all.

Last month, when rumors surfaced that Diddy and Harvey were engaged, I was sure that it was just the internet being messy. And when Harvey came forward to deny the rumors, via an Instagram story, “I’m not engaged. Stop believing everything y’all read on a blog,” I was ready to let it go.

But now that the two have been spotted out and about again, I’m wondering why she didn’t say that she wasn’t dating Diddy.

That’s honestly what we wanted to hear sis. We all know Diddy ain’t trying to get married. The question is, are y’all dating? And more importantly, why?

There are a couple of issues here. As far as we know, Lori Harvey and Diddy’s son, Justin, dated at one point in time. Which makes since. He’s twice her age. He has children older than her. There’s no concrete evidence about them dating—but the thought of dating one of your children’s peers is creepy and let’s be honest, predatory.

There’s a reason men of a certain age pursue younger women. Of course, they have young bodies and young faces but with that suppleness comes young minds. Some of the best of us were gamed by men in our own age bracket. Imagine, how much more manipulative a man nearing his fifties could be?

There’s no evidence that Diddy would attempt to harm Lori. But we can’t deny that the very fact that they’re even hanging out is weird. What, at 50-years-old does Diddy have in common with a woman in her early twenties? In this industry, he’s lived twice as many lives as her. I’m sure she’s mature but with the sheltered lifestyle she was afforded, I doubt she has the maturity of a 50-year-old. And while Diddy is still youthful, I doubt he’s that immature.

I saw the picture of Diddy and Lori strolling about this morning, rolled my eyes and kept scrolling. But it kept showing up. And when I finally stopped to look at the picture, I noticed their outfits.

Matching.

And that’s when I decided to write about this. Matching outfits harkens back to the moment R. Kelly and Aaliyah showed up on BET together wearing the same outfit, calling each other best friends. And we know how that story ended.

Again, Harvey is legally grown. Legally, these two can do what they want. But morally, this is foul. And personally, I’m keeping my eye on Diddy because something in the milk ain’t clean.

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