Diddy and Justin Bieber Appear Very Close in Series of Throwback Photos

Diddy and Justin Bieber hung out back in the day … but it was hard to gauge just how close the two celebs were … until now.

TMZ has obtained rare archived photos of the music legends kicking back at two events … the 2010 Haiti Benefit Concert at American Airlines Arena in Miami and the 2016 after-party for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards at 1OAK in L.A.

Reviewing the images, one thing becomes abundantly clear … Diddy and the much younger Bieber were super tight.

Check out these photos … Diddy had his arm around the Biebs’ shoulder, pulling him in close while singing into a mic. Justin was all smiles and also took the mic to belt out a few lyrics.

In other images, the Biebs raised the mic to the mouth of French Montana, with his back to Diddy.

The Bad Boy Records CEO peered over at French with a serious look on his face … guess Diddy wasn’t too pleased Bieber was having fun with someone other than him.

As we reported Friday morning … Diddy and Bieber were interviewed together on the “Jimmy Kimmel Show” in 2011.

In the resurfaced clip, Diddy said Justin “knows better than to be talking about the things that he does with Big Brother Puff on national television,” referring to his notorious house parties.

Of course, Diddy’s statement hasn’t aged well given the mountain of trouble he’s in. The feds arrested Diddy and charged him with racketeering, sex trafficking and other serious crimes. Diddy has pled not guilty to the crimes, but remains in jail without bond.