I’ll confess, I’m a bit obsessed with the indictment of Sean Combs (aka Diddy, P Diddy, Puff Daddy). I scour social media every couple of hours to monitor developments. I am secretly hoping for the downfall of both Hollywood and the American music industry as we know it. Combs symbolises its complete degeneracy, its toxicity, impunity and its audacious enabling of rape culture built on the humiliation of women as well as men. Did I follow his music? Not really. Did I follow the careers of the people currently in the spotlight, like Ashton Kutcher, Usher or Justin Bieber? No. I am not invested in the case from the perspective of someone emotionally attached to any of the musicians or actors. But would I like to see Jay Z and Beyonce’s lives screened to establish their role or knowledge of Combs’ criminal activities? Yes.

Ever since Woody Allen fell from public grace after allegations of sexual misconduct intensified, I’ve been hearing people debating what to do with the art of dodgy men. Can their art be separated from their questionable ethics and their abuse of power? In many instances, and certainly at the moment, in terms of Combs’ indictment, one sees clearly how the ‘art’ itself was built on unethical foundations. I learned through the TikTok vine, for instance, that Rihanna was barely 14 years old when she was flown into the States and made to audition at 3 am without parental consent. I don’t know if this is true or not, but it feels believable, and that is what is disconcerting. I watched footage of Lady Gaga giving an interview where she doesn’t name her abuser but said that when she was very young, just starting out, she was asked, at a professional meeting, to take off her clothes. When she refused, the people in question, who she doesn’t name, threatened to burn all her music. She is rumoured to have pressured her lawyers into dropping Combs as a client some years ago.