What was Claimed
Photos and videos show US Vice President Kamala Harris posing with rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
Our Verdict
False. The photos are altered and the videos misidentify Harris’ ex-boyfriend Montel Williams as Combs.
AAP FACTCHECK - Photos and videos show US Vice President Kamala Harris posing with rapper and alleged sex trafficker Sean “Diddy” Combs, social media posts claim.
This is false. Images and footage have either been altered or incorrectly captioned.
Combs was arrested this week on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, and has been denied bail.
He denies the charges and pleaded not guilty.
Multiple posts on Facebook claim to show Combs posing with Democratic presidential nominee Harris.
Some posts have shared a video of Harris at an event with a man they identified as Combs.
However, the footage does not show Combs; instead, it shows former talk show host Montel Williams, who Harris briefly dated.
Other posts purportedly featured a still image of Harris with Combs at the same event.
“P. DIDDY & KAMALA 'hanging out' back in the day. Wonder if any 'Crazy Stuff' was going on then?” one post's caption said.
However, a reverse image search revealed the photo was an altered image of Harris with Williams, upon whose body Combs’s head appeared to be superimposed.
The original photo, published by Getty Images, shows Williams and Harris attending the Eighth Annual Race to Erase Multiple Sclerosis in California on May 18, 2001, alongside Williams's daughter Ashley.
Williams, Harris and his daughter also appeared in other photos of the event published by Getty.
Williams was also identified as the man with Harris in an Inside Edition video posted on YouTube.
Williams responded on X to a post misidentifying him as Combs, saying: “Here they go again with “all black people look alike…”.
AFP has also debunked claims about Harris and Combs.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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