Profiting from Disinformation: The Sean “Diddy” Combs Case
About 900 videos distributed across twenty-six channels that, together, have generated 70 million views. These are the data collected by YouTube and relaunched by the Guardian regarding the case of rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, also known by the names Puff Daddy or P. Diddy, whose trial is shrouded in mass disinformation.
The goal is to monetize misinformation by leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create high-impact, low-cost videos.
The channels follow a similar script, pairing the videos with an image created with a generative AI and associating the news with the name of a well-known person who, depending on the declinations, either participated in the trial or revealed other shocking facts about the rapper who has received a total of 78 complaints of sexual abuse, filed by 86 people .
The video's contrived previews often feature the celebrity in question on the witness stand next to an image of Diddy, and are regularly accompanied by graphic titles that invoke abuse and cruelty.
The charm of slop
The English term slop, literally slop, has recently been associated with low-quality digital content created by AI and clearly aimed at disinformation. Many of the YouTube channels on the 55-year-old Diddy have already resorted to slop in the past and, to these, others are added that have been created specifically, also by converting older ones.
The videos often superimpose real news on fake news , thus walking on the line of legality, only occasionally crossing it, leaving the AI to mystify the reality of the facts.
The Guardian spoke to Wanner Aarts , an entrepreneur who runs several YouTube channels featuring AI-generated content. According to Aarts, the quickest way to earn $50,000 without dealing drugs is to open a Diddy channel.
YouTube channels and fake news
Over the years, many outlets have used celebrity names to spread false information. Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Eddie Murphy have all been there.
But rarely have things gone to the current levels : the Fame Fuel channel has published around twenty videos suggesting a false connection between the rapper on trial and the United States Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The same goes for the Peeper channel, which has been active since 2010 and which in recent months has focused so much on Diddy that Google has been forced to demonetize it , that is, to exclude it from the possibility of earning money from partnership programs and advertising.
The Vietnamese channel Secret Story, which dispensed health advice, also converted to disinformation about Diddy, as did other channels dedicated to embroidery or telling the exploits of other types of characters.
The Pak Gov Update channel, initially focused on the socio-political life of Pakistan, began publishing videos about Diddy, tendentiously involving other prominent personalities and hinting at false truths, such as in the case of rapper and producer Jay-Z who was said to be in despair over Diddy's arrest.
The Sean “Diddy” Combs Trial
Arrested at the end of September 2024, he appeared in court for the first time in May 2025. Charges include abuse, sex trafficking and violence. Sentencing is expected in the next few hours and could result in sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison.
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