01 April 2024 , 16:02
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Sean 'P Diddy' Combs co-founded Capital Preparatory Harlem in 2016, the same year he was named the richest man in hip-hop, but the school has faced mounting criticism.
Capital Preparatory Harlem is advertised as a college-prep academy which has high-end facilities and it has had the backing of a number of high profile figures over the years, including Diddy and The View host Sunny Hostin. However, parents have now branded the school a "disaster".
Fourteen people - including parents, students, and former employees - have come forward to speak out against Capital Preparatory Harlem, alleging high teacher turnover and "frequent violence". P Diddy is no longer connected with the school, but that hasn't stopped parents hitting out at the rapper, saying they tried reaching out to him to help fix the school, but never heard back.
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Sean 'P Diddy' Combs founded the school (WireImage)With a high teacher turnover, it has been claimed that students could go for months without being taught. Instead, they would be found sitting in the canteen for hours at a team.
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Speaking to The Cut, whistle-blowers also claimed the leadership at the school as "unstable". Indeed, Capital Preparatory Harlem has had seven principals or interim principals in seven years.
Despite receiving money from some big backers, with Diddy even pledging $1million (£793,000) in 2018, teachers say they were short of things including chairs and computers. Fights are also alleged to take place regularly at the school.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic meant things went from bad to worse at Capital Preparatory Harlem. Shirley Payne, whose son Darnell had joined the school as a ninth-grader the previous fall, claimed students would log on for their lessons but teachers wouldn't show up.
According to State Education Department data, nearly 80 percent of Capital Prep's teachers left after trying to navigate the pandemic. When students returned to in-person learning in 2021, things still weren't fixed. It's been claimed there were not enough chairs for all of the students and some classes would be so overcrowded that students had to work in hallways.
He's believed to have had little input (WireImage)In a video taken in October 2022, parents were filmed outside of the school to confront Steve Perry, a charter school founder who backed the school. "You dress well, the school is nice, but you’re not setting an example. You’re not holding up to your word," one parent said. They added: "Diddy has so much money, and we get the butt end of this."
Students also held protests. One former student recalled almost 100 pupils participating in a protest during her senior year as they hit back at the lack of teachers and poor communication.
Some parents had been attracted to Capital Preparatory Harlem because of its association with P Diddy. Shakemia Harris, who enrolled her then-11-year-old daughter Madison at Capital Prep in 2017, told The Cut: "I thought if Diddy is funding and attaching his name to something, it would be run very tightly, that he was going to give our kids what he didn’t have at that age."
Diddy is said to have donated old studio equipment to the school, however, one parent alleged he actually had very little to do with the institution. They said: "He was supposed to be an inspiration to those children, coming from what you might consider the hood — and he was not."
Capital Preparatory Harlem severed ties with Diddy after he was accused of abuse, rape, and sex trafficking (WireImage)Parents claim that they tried to reach out to the rapper for help by messaging him on social media. An email address was also given to parents which they were told went directly to Combs' team, but they claim to have never received a response.
Capital Prep Schools disputed the claims, telling The Cut: "We accept and are saddened that some scholars and colleagues were not pleased with their experience. However, we affirmatively state that many of the allegations included in your fact-checking list are fabrications."
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Capital Preparatory Harlem also parted ways with P Diddy last summer, just five months after he was celebrated for his work in education. The organisation severed ties with the rapper after his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura filed a lawsuit accusing him of abuse, rape, and sex trafficking.
Combs settled with her a day later. A second lawsuit, filed by Joi Dickerson-Neal, claimed that he drugged and sexually assaulted her when she was a college student in 1991. She also alleged the rapper recorded the attack and distributed the footage without her consent. Diddy has denied the claims and the lawsuit is still ongoing.
Days after the second lawsuit, another alleged victim came forward. In a lawsuit filed by a third woman, Liza Gadner, Diddy is accused of rape and choking his alleged victim so hard she passed out. The lawsuit is still ongoing.
P Diddy maintains his innocence (Getty Images)A fourth woman came forward in December. The unnamed woman claimed she was "sex trafficked" and "gang raped" by Diddy when she was 17 years old. Diddy has denied the claims but the lawsuit is still ongoing.
At the start of December, Diddy took to social media to proclaim his innocence. Writing on Instagram, he said: "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy."
He continued: "Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth."
One of Diddy's former employees Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones filed a lawsuit in February, accusing Diddy of making unwanted sexual contact and forcing him to hire prostitutes and participate in sex acts with him. Diddy issued a statement denying the allegations.
His attorney told TMZ: "Lil Rod is nothing more than a liar who filed a $30 million lawsuit shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday. His reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines."
Last week, federal agents raided the rapper’s LA and Miami mansions, reportedly as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged sex trafficking. Diddy's lawyer, Aaron Dyer, slammed the authorities for their "gross overuse of military-level force" and vowed that his client is "innocent" and will "fight every single day to clear his name" in a statement to The Mirror.