Former ‘Vibe’ Editor Recalls Sean Combs Death Threat in Docuseries Preview

During a harrowing scene in the upcoming documentary series The Fall of Diddy, former Vibe editor-in-chief Danyel Smith recalls an intense interaction with Sean Combs during which he allegedly threatened to see her “dead in a trunk” if she didn’t show him the magazine’s December 1997/January 1998 issue.

“After the shoot, Mr. Combs wanted to see the covers before they were published,” Smith recalls in the preview of the docuseries, which premieres Jan. 27 and 28 on ID and Max. “It was policy for us not to show the covers to anyone before they were published.” When the editor conveyed this, she says she received a phone call at her office from Combs who was then informed once again of the policy. “I told him that I wouldn’t be making an exception,” she continued, “and he said that he would see me dead in a trunk if I did not show it to him.” (Combs has denied the allegation.)

Smith says she initially stood up to Combs, telling him, “You need to take that back.” She recalled his response maintaining that “he wasn’t taking shit back,” so she contacted her attorney. “My attorney called him to say that if he didn’t immediately fax over an apology, my attorney was going to reach out to law enforcement,” she said. “It took about 90 minutes to two hours and I received that faxed apology.”

The preview concludes with Smith sharing that the phone call wasn’t the first intimidation tactic Combs allegedly deployed. “I’ve only recently come to realize — through the members of the staff at that time — that he had actually, in the days before, come up to the Vibe offices with two tough guys looking for me.”

Smith previously shared this story in a personal essay published by New York Times Magazine last July. There, she recalled that soon after these events, the databases where Vibe stored the pages for its upcoming issues disappeared and they suspected Combs had something to do with it. The issue, which features the now-disgraced hip-hop mogul on the cover with the tagline “The Good, the Bad, and the Puffy,” ran anyway.

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In May 2024, Rolling Stone published a six-month investigation into Combs, who is currently being housed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after being charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and interstate transportation to engage in prostitution. His trial is scheduled to begin in May. (He has pleaded not guilty and has denied all the charges.)

The Fall of Diddy is a multi-part series made in partnership with Rolling Stone Films. The documentary features new interviews with Combs’ accusers, former friends, and work colleagues including Danity Kane’s D. Woods, producer and accuser Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, Thalia Graves (who claims Combs raped her in 2001), and more. Rolling Stone’s Cheyenne Roundtree, journalist Mara S. Campo, and former Combs associates including his longtime bodyguard, personal driver, and personal chef, will also make appearances.

“From those who saw his alleged violence and temper during his college days at Howard University and the onset of his career with Bad Boy Records, to those who knew him at the height of his influence and power in recent years, The Fall of Diddy covers decades of mounting allegations,” the docuseries synopsis reads. “Through these interviews combined with a vast collection of archival footage, The Fall of Diddy paints a holistic picture of a mogul who is alleged to have wielded his extensive power and influence to obscure, for decades, a pattern of abuse and violence that left an unprecedented amount of pain and suffering in his wake.”