Shyne has blamed Diddy for ruining his life while reacting to the news of the federal charges against his former label boss.
The ex-Bad Boy rapper turned politician was asked about the sex trafficking and racketeering case against Puffy during a press conference in his native Belize on Wednesday (September 18).
Shyne (real name Moses Barrow) answered by airing out his long-standing isses with Diddy, stemming from the 1999 New York City nightclub shooting that saw the Bad Boy boss walk free and Shyne spend almost a decade in prison.
“When I was an 18-year-old kid just wanting to do nothing other than make my mother proud and make Belize proud and do what all of us want to do — be recognized for our talent and take over the world — I was defending him [Diddy] and he turned around and called witnesses to testify against me,” he said.
“He pretty much sent me to prison […] Yes, I forgave, I moved on. But let us not pretend as if I was in Miami for Thanksgiving and Christmas […] This is not someone who I vacationed with and [with] whom I enjoyed this great, intimate relationship of brotherhood. This is someone who destroyed my life and who I forgave.”
Shyne, who is the leader of the opposition in Belize, explained that he forgave Diddy for the betterment of his home country given the financial support the rap mogul could offer.
“He was in a position at that time to give scholarships and to maybe invest. I would not deny attempting to bring the investment to Belize and to bring the contributions to education,” he continued.
Despite holding Diddy accountable for ruining his life, Shyne said he doesn’t “take any joy or any satisfaction with what he is going through,” adding: “I am different than maybe other people. No one needs to fail for me to succeed.”
The 1999 shooting involving Diddy and Shyne previously made headlines in February when the victim, Natalia Reuben, claimed that the Bad Boy founder paid off the nightclub where it happened.
“I am the woman he shot in the face in that December 27, 1999 Club New York shooting,” she said in a video posted on social media. “I have told everyone ad nauseam since then, even the surgeon who did the surgery to take the bullet, I got shot in my face with a 9mm hollow-point bullet called a cop killer.
“I literally told everyone and never changed what I said. I got [shot] in the face. I watched him fire the gun. I’ve said it all this time. Even the surgeon who did my surgery testified in the criminal trial that while they were putting me under [anesthesia].”
She continued: “I was screaming, ‘Puffy [shot] me in the face.’… Everybody knew he did it, but he paid off the club bouncer and all these other people to hide the video. That’s his M.O.”
Reuben, who received nearly $2 million in a settlement at the time from Diddy, also accused the record executive of attempting to flatten her car as a means of intimidation.
