Posts spread digitally altered photo of Kamala Harris with Sean Combs

Following the arrest of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs for sex trafficking and other charges, social media users — including former president Donald Trump — shared a digitally altered photo that purports to show Combs with Vice President Kamala Harris. The original image actually shows Harris with then-talk show host Montel Williams in 2001.

Rapper and record producer Sean Combs, also known by his stage name P. Diddy, was arrested in New York on Sept. 16 and charged with “racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution,” according to the indictment unsealed the following day. Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a Sept. 17 press conference: “The indictment alleges that between at least 2008 and the present, Combs abused, threatened, and coerced victims to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”

On Sept. 17, Combs pleaded not guilty to the charges. The following day, U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. denied Combs’ petition for bail. Since his arrest, social media users have spread an altered photo to baselessly claim a relationship between Combs and Harris.

A Sept. 21 Facebook post shared a photo which appears to show Combs and Harris posing together, along with the caption, “P. DIDDY & KAMALA ‘hanging out’ back in the day. Wonder if any ‘Crazy Stuff’ was going on then?” The photo was also shared to Instagram with the caption, “Could this be our next president. A picture speaks 1000 words.” Former president Trump reposted the photo on Truth Social on Sept. 20, where it was captioned, “Madam Vice President, have you ever been involved with or engaged in one of Puff Daddies freak offs?” The post was later deleted.

But the photo shared on social media has been digitally altered. The original photo, taken May 18, 2001, shows Harris with then-talk show host Montel Williams at that year’s Race to Erase Multiple Sclerosis gala. The photo appears in a file of images taken by photographer Ron Galella for Getty Images. In the altered image shared to social media, Williams’ face has been replaced with Combs’ face.

Williams tweeted in 2019 that he and Harris had dated 20 years earlier.

This is not the first time Harris has been falsely linked to an accused sex-trafficker. In December 2023, social media users shared a digitally altered photo that appears to show Harris with Jeffrey Epstein, as we wrote. The original photo shows Harris with her husband, Doug Emhoff.

This article was originally published by FactCheck.org on September 25, 2024.