Sometimes the shiny veneer of the world of music mags belied a darker, dog-eat-dog power play. That same year, the hip-hop-culture magazine Vibe got embroiled in a tawdry standoff between editorial freedom and star power. The narrative drives to the heart of artistic integrity versus editorial independence, following controversy surrounding a Dec. 1997/Jan. 1998 cover with Sean “Diddy” Combs (then Puff Daddy).
The cover was a statement in itself. Sean “Diddy” Combs, a powerful figure in the music world looked at them beneath dark sunglasses and angelic wings framed against his steely gaze. A line, “The Good, the Bad and the Puffy,” played clearly on his own image. Nevertheless, it was in the complexity that controversy truly erupted.
Diddy threatened to kill a former Vibe editor, Danyel Smith, by putting her ‘in the trunk of a car’ after she wouldn’t allow him to change his cover photo.
Combs was slated to be on the cover for the magazine’s December 1997/January 1998 issue, pictured glowering at the camera… PIC.TWITTER.COM/QPT51WN2HD
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) JULY 12, 2024
Diddy reportedly asked to see the cover days before it was sent off for printing. This is not an unusual request from the standpoint of some artists, but it does directly challenge Vibe’s editorial policy that requires every piece to air for the first time in print anything else would almost certainly be uncool. Danyel Smith, the editor-in-chief at Vibe was very defiant and didnt bend to pressure. This would set off a chain of events.
With his entourage, Diddy showed up at Vibe offices. The air was alive with pressure. They carried her off in the nick of time, preventing Smith from stepping into what could have been a powder keg. That changed dramatically the next day. Diddy made a chilling phone call insinuating he knew where Smith was, sources said. When Smith challenged a retraction, he was met with an ominous laugh and profanity.
Smith was less than drink, and the first thing he did when regaining some sense of composure was to seek legal counsel. But wait, there was more: Diddy faxed an apology a few days later. Not long after the threat, Vibe’s servers housing the complete layout for the next issue disappeared. The timing raised eyebrow, with fingers being pointed at Diddy and his Bad Boy outfit. Happily, a somewhat subversive staff member had stowed away an extra copy of the files on his personal disk so that publication would be able to proceed smoothly.
But Diddy declined to drop a word regarding the situation and it seemed like this whole thing was left in suspense aspect. But one thing was made clear: music publications were on a precarious tightrope walk with powerful artists. The story also demonstrated the doggedness of managing editor Danyel Smith. Her time in charge was fraught with high pressure moments, none more so than when she stood strong for the principle of journalistic integrity in the face of external intimidation.
The confrontation of Diddy and Smith raises grim implications about the underlying power structures in the music business. It brings to the spotlight the tense interactions between stars and the press, in which the authority to shape and mold has become a battlefront. It is a heinous moment in Vibe’s past a chilling warning that radical artistic pressure, while supporting publishers to their restrictions can risk the ambiance of protected expression.
