EXCLUSIVE: Jennifer Lopez Dragged Into Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Horrific Trial As Video of Her Answering Whether She Was 'Afraid' of Rapper Resurfaces
Jennifer Lopez has been dragged into the story of Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial.
June 17 2025, Published 11:30 a.m. ET
She once insisted she wasn’t afraid of Sean 'Diddy' Combs.
But a resurfaced interview with Jennifer Lopez has dragged her claim and name into the rapper's shocking trial, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Resurfaced Chat
The singer opened up about Combs 22 years ago.
Speaking to Diane Sawyer in 2002, the now 55-year-old singer and actor reflected on her time with the music mogul by saying: "It just wasn't a good relationship for me. I had to learn to care about myself a little bit more and put up certain boundaries."
Lopez, who dated Combs, 55, from 1999 to 2001, has found herself the latest A-lister to be pulled into his trial orbit as he faces multiple lawsuits alleging sexual assault, violence and coercion.
While Lopez is not involved in the legal proceedings, a resurfaced Primetime interview from over two decades ago has gone viral in the wake of mounting claims against Combs — including disturbing footage and admissions in recent court filings.
In the 2002 interview, Sawyer, 79, then asked the singer if her younger self was afraid, to which J-Lo responded: "Um, no, I don’t think she was afraid, I just think that I, at that time was uh, cared very deeply for Sean, and you know we just… didn't have the same kind of ideals about life and family and stuff like that.
"It just wasn't a good relationship for me. It didn't have so much to do with him as it had to do with me at the time."
Watch Lopez's comments to Sawyer above.
Lopez continued: "I had to learn to care about myself a little bit more and put up certain boundaries of what I would accept and wouldn't accept because really he was just being himself.
"He wasn't doing anything wrong, and he felt like he loved me very much and I know he did and I felt like the same way.
"So if I was unhappy in some way, then I was the one who had to do something. Not him. He was doing everything he wanted to do."
A former industry executive familiar with the couple’s dynamic when they were seeing each other said: "It was always clear that Jennifer was walking a tightrope.
"She was emerging as a global superstar, and Sean was already established and very controlling. That kind of relationship can shape a person’s public voice, especially back then."
Power Couple
The pair grabbed headlines when they dated.
The pair’s relationship made headlines in 1999 when both were arrested following a nightclub shooting in Manhattan.
Lopez was eventually cleared of all charges, while Combs stood trial for weapons offenses and was acquitted in 2001.
The incident marked a turning point, both personally and professionally, for Lopez, who ended the relationship soon after.
Now, Combs is the subject of several lawsuits – including a civil suit brought by his former partner Cassandra Ventura, 38, who accused him of years of physical and emotional abuse.
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Combs faces life in prison if convicted on all the federal charges he's facing – including sex-trafficking and racketeering.
In a recent federal filing, Combs admitted to "domestic violence" in that relationship, though he denies allegations of sex trafficking and racketeering.
The growing list of accusations has prompted renewed public analysis of his past, including relationships with women like Lopez.
A source close to Lopez said she was "disturbed" her words to Sawyer were being reinterpreted out of context but acknowledged "time and hindsight allow for deeper understanding."
Critics have also questioned Sawyer’s language in the interview, which painted Combs as a powerful man while describing Lopez as a "girl on the red carpet" — a contrast some say reflected the gendered framing typical of early-2000s media.
