The Flies That Feed on Scandal
As We Swarm Around Beyonce, Diddy’s Allegations Disappear into the Noise.
Like many of you, I have waited all year round for this time of year, however fleeting. As such, this month saw my pledge to properly absorb my surroundings before the clocks turned and it would be too dark for me to do so over the course of the next few months. Halfway through one of my walks, was a familiar yet unsettling sight where I live. Before seeing it though, it’s scent sent the signal to me that death had since occurred. Still, it seemed that I was just about the last one to notice it, because the ripe air of decaying flesh had drawn in a whole manner of flies and their children, thriving in the presence of the foul and grotesque, far too preoccupied with their indulgence over the remains to even notice what lay before them. I could hardly blame them though. I mean we know by now that insects aren’t exactly conscious in that they’re almost programmed to behave this way, not unlike us, I suppose, with our susceptibility and willingness to cluster around the havoc disregarding reality as she stares us in the face.
Perhaps it’s an unavoidable part of living to be so easily drawn to the spectacle born out of the grotesque and unbelievable, as we too when consumed by sensationalism, are oblivious to the facts presented to us. As revelation after revelation emerges about Diddy Combs, and the torture inflicted on others at his hands, it’s no wonder we still find ourselves drawn to the sweetness of the stories surrounding him, no matter how weak their credibility.
Of course, we were presented with real truths this past week or so. We all heard about the one thousand bottles of baby oil found in his home, and more importantly, the IV’s found alongside them: as key tools for the perpetuation of violence and abuse occurring under his roof. We had more information about the methods used to drug and rape his many victims, as well as news surrounding the victimhood of those we’d suspected for years like Justin Bieber, who had suffered over-sexualisation at the hands of men and women since the beginning of his career as a young teenager.
Enter figures like Jaguar Wright, revealing hidden truths, and subsequently gaining popularity, as people began to feast on stories they’d once dismissed. Specifically, she named a number of celebrities supposedly tied to Diddy’s sex trafficking ring, including Jay-Z and Beyonce, a couple who have survived their fair share of accusations over the years in light of the elusive and ‘untouchable’ image so carefully curated.
How to dethrone a king and queen, I wonder?
How do we make them so mortal as to be so easily killed and consumed in a way that seems so mundane for everything else living? We could proclaim they’re part of the Illuminati, as so many did circa. 2012 (ish). Reverse the song and convince yourself and others of the devilish lyrics surrounding world domination and child sacrifice as you play it back. Or… we could look at those they’re so closely affiliated with, in this case, Mr. Combs himself, where we ask questions surrounding what it was exactly they were there for if Combs is the tyrant we’ve come to recognise him as. Around the time when these ‘freak offs’ (acts of gang rape), took place, were they so close to him to be seen photographed with him countless times, but far enough away from him not to have known about their occurrences?
Not likely, it’s far more probable that they were involved in some way. As someone who has spoken about removing celebrities, any celebrity, from their pedal stools countless times on here, it’s important to hold everybody to the same standard, irrespective of your love for their music or whatever other character traits you’d parasocially assigned to them; those traits of kindness and benevolence that might not exist from outside of our minds, much less exist deep enough to excuse them from the rot present within this industry. Chances are, neither of them is completely innocent, and to think otherwise would be going against probability, that and the fact that if we’ve learned anything, it’s not to be surprised at the corruption in the air.
And yet, I can’t help but feel that in our analysis of those surrounding Diddy, and their potential involvement in facilitating his crimes, we’re straying away from the target, where just now you’ll notice I’ve discussed Jay-z and Beyonce for around 300 words now, whilst the accused on trial escapes largely unreported on. Why is it that Beyonce appeared more times on my ‘For You’ than Diddy Combs himself I wondered in the writing of today’s piece, having sat on TikTok for an amount of time amounting to procrastinating.
I’ve seen lyric breakdowns, dissections of various interviews over the years, analysations of her old friendship with Aaliyah, who to this day is unable to rest in the quiet of death, given the number of conspiracy theories surrounding her passing. Whenever a new celebrity doing rap/r&b gets exposed for what was in reality long-overlooked behaviour, we look to Aaliyah and tie their behaviour to her somehow, like she is ground 0 for all bad crimes committed in black Hollywood, and the recent arbitrary ties made between her and Beyonce as of late are just the latest in a long line of conspiracies. It’s interesting, albeit entirely unsurprising, that after reading what was a LENGTHY indictment, Beyonce has become the face associated with it now.
Initially, her marriage to Jay-Z appears to explain the connection made between and Diddy. Jay-Z and Diddy had been friends before he, and Beyonce stepped out together officially, not to mention there have been longstanding rumors regarding the legality of Jay-Z's actions over the years.
But somehow, this doesn’t quite explain why Beyonce has been dubbed by some the ‘puppeteer’ of this entire operation. I’m serious, I saw a tik tok earlier illustrating her hands controlling Diddy and the others, as if a then 16-17 year old Beyonce, fresh on the scene at the time, was able to orchestrate an operation she had barely become apart of at the time.
J.Cole’s 2013 hit ‘She Knows’ has been picked apart every which way as people try and figure out who it is that lies at the heart of what are indisputably significant lyrics:
Turn up," hoes say, "Turn up"
Only bad thing 'bout a star is they burn up
Niggas say, "Turn up," hoes say, "Turn up"
Only bad thing 'bout a star is they burn up
Rest in peace to Aaliyah
Rest in peace to Left Eye (Left Eye)
Michael Jackson, I'll see ya
Just as soon as I die (I die)
Got me up so high, tryin' get a piece of that apple pie, uh
And somehow this is the best analysis they could come up with:
"SHE KNOWS"
Shen= Sean(Diddy)
Knows= Beyonce last name(Knowles)
now this song make sense
J. COLE highlights "just as soon as I die" because he knew P. Diddy will hunt him for saying his secrets
^ read one comment under a TikTok video edit of Beyonce’s role in all of the deaths mentioned.
“She must know something!” They’ll say with absolute conviction, and you know what, I’m sure she does. But all I’m wondering is why I’m not seeing any edits of Jay-Z, a man who has a history with much younger women or Diddy, the man legally on trial for running the entire operation. I wonder about this habit we have as a society in shifting the focus away from the main perpetrator of violent sexual crimes. It’s weird to me how the media and public attention often strays from the primary perpetrator to other figures, such as Beyoncé, instead of holding Diddy accountable for his actions.
We know that media narratives often focus on creating sensational stories, those that will alert our senses to fresh meat. Linking other celebrities or figures to a case through speculation or conspiracy theories generates more public intrigue of course, but on the other side of this is a distraction from the actual crime and a shift towards broader, and sometimes unrelated discussions.
For the sake of our own sanity, we oftentimes take a psychological distance from accountability. It's often easier for society to digest narratives that spread the responsibility across multiple people rather than facing the unsettling truth of one person's horrific actions, because this way the issue seems less direct or immediate. But ultimately we make it difficult to consistently hold the main perpetrator fully accountable for their actions.
Underneath videos of Beyonce’s theorised involvement in all of these crimes, you’ll find edits of Kanye, where people so quickly welcome him back into their good graces. “Telling the truth is crazy in a world full of lies” said user ‘lukasig’, under a video stating how Kanye, a man frequently subjecting his current wife to sexual humiliation and public shaming ‘Tried to warn us’ about the exploitation of women, girls, men and boys as it occurred around him. In the planning for this piece I wasn’t going to centre her female identity until this point, because although accusations of Beyonce as mastermind reek of misogynoir, I’m wary of the narrative that says ‘you’re only doing this to Beyonce because she’s a black woman’, because that assumes it’s entirely out of her character to do something like this, despite her affiliation with both diddy and Jay-Z suggesting otherwise, and then there is her wealth, which arguably separates her from the average realm of what’s ‘normal’ and mitigates the impact of other aspects of her identity to an extent.
That being said, we know that societal biases, including gender roles, can shape how cases of sexual violence are perceived. In some cases, (including this one), we’ve seen the focus shift from the perpetrator to factors about the victim or others involved, as traditional norms work to implicitly protect certain people, particularly powerful men when they’re involved.
The revelations surrounding Diddy’s case highlight more than just the crimes of one individual; they expose a broader societal tendency to deflect focus from the main perpetrator. As the media and public turn their attention toward Beyoncé, in a swarm fueled by sensationalism, the core issue — holding Diddy accountable for his actions — becomes diluted. Our shift not only undermines justice but also perpetuates harmful narratives, where Black are disproportionately scrutinized. Against our most instinctive impulses, we must resist the urge to spread accountability across a web of unfounded connections and instead focus on ensuring that Diddy faces the consequences of his actions. I’m not going to act like I’m above the human inclination fascination, but in reality this can (at times) blur the lines.
In truth, I wish this case hadn’t made it’s way all the way to TikTok, because justice should not be a spectacle. When the temptation occurs to sniff out and devour those likely to be involved in these crimes, justice for the victims requires us to at the very least demand the investigation of those we deem related. Remaining committed to holding the right individuals accountable, no matter their status or fame demands that we observe the facts after making ten-minute long analysis videos on Beyonce’s involvement in the death of Aaliyah or left eye, in a ‘whodunnit’ strain of commentary, like the evidence exposing Diddy isn’t… right there…
And of course we’re far too preoccupied with our indulgence in sensationalism to notice what lays before us.
You could hardly blame us though.
Asisa