Selena Gomez dated Justin Bieber for almost a decade and during that time, she had a strange encounter with the rapper who was arrested earlier this month

Selena Gomez once faced an awkward mix-up with rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, long before he encountered legal trouble.

The 54-year-old music mogul was taken into custody at a New York City hotel on Sept. 16 and has been held without bail on grave federal accusations including sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Despite this, Diddy has vehemently rejected all allegations, with his legal representative claiming that the celebrity is “an innocent man with nothing to hide.”

While Diddy remains incarcerated at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre, past footage of him with a youthful Justin Bieber has reemerged and unsettled many of Bieber’s followers, prompting a wave of social media users to label Diddy’s previous remarks to a younger Bieber as ‘creepy’.

Gomez, who had an on-off relationship with Bieber from 2009 to 2018, shared in a 2016 GQ interview how she was once mistaken by Bieber’s mentor for a parking attendant. She described fame as like being around people who laugh even though no joke has been told, then vividly recounted: “Or when P. Diddy gave me his valet ticket once,” reports the Mirror.

“Do you know what I mean? ” Gomez asked interviewer Zach Baron, who admitted he didn’t follow. She elucidated: “Because he thought I was the valet lady,” leading to Baron’s surprised response of “What?! ” to which the actress, known also for Spring Breakers, simply responded: “Yeah!.”

Gomez, who recently shared some personal and distressing news about her fertility, confessed that she wasn’t upset by the oversight at the time and actually thought it was amusing. “Look, I see all of it. I don’t care – I actually laughed hysterically when it happened. But I get it,” she said. “I know what all of it is.”

On Monday, September 16, Combs was taken into custody in New York City on allegations of sex trafficking and racketeering. Having been refused bail on several occasions, he remains in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) in Brooklyn.

Bieber, who had close ties with Combs during his younger years and even contributed to Combs’ last album in September 2023 before the accusations surfaced, is reportedly having second thoughts about his participation in The Love Album: Off The Grid (Image: FilmMagic)
Combs has maintained his innocence regarding the charges, pleading not guilty and denying any misconduct. His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse on Tuesday, September 17, asserting: “Mr Combs is a fighter, he’s going to fight this to the end. He’s innocent. He came to New York to establish his innocence. He’s not afraid, he’s not afraid of the charges.”

Bieber, who had close ties with Combs during his younger years and even contributed to Combs’ last album in September 2023 before the accusations surfaced, is reportedly having second thoughts about his participation in The Love Album: Off The Grid. An insider revealed last week that “Bieber is so disturbed by the Diddy news and is unwilling to process it or discuss it so he has shut off.”

“So many people who helped to make him who he is were very close to Diddy and it has completely thrown him,” a source disclosed to the Daily Mail. Bieber, the singer of smash hit ‘Peaches’ who recently celebrated the birth of his son with spouse Hailey Bieber, is reportedly so distressed he’s refusing to comment on any allegations.

The source went on to claim that Bieber is re-evaluating his participation in Combs’ newest project. The music icon is said to have also taken a considerable hiatus from his interactions with Combs “when he believes most of this took place.”