The Sean Combs case is not an album release. We need to stop treating it like one.

Content warning: This story includes discussions of domestic and sexual abuse, as well as child sexual abuse that may be distressing to some readers. 

Recently, I fell down a TikTok rabbit hole. It's not the first time it's happened, and it surely won't be the last. This time, I found my For You Page inundated with content about the many allegations Sean "Diddy" Combs is facing.

If you're unaware, the rapper and business mogul is currently facing federal charges of racketeering, and sex trafficking in the United States. Furthermore, a Houston law firm recently announced that they would be filing an additional 120 individual civil lawsuits against Combs — one of which is an allegation of child sexual abuse from a victim who was nine years old at the time.

It goes without saying that these alleged crimes are deeply serious. But as I scrolled endlessly on TikTok, what I saw was a spectrum of videos that ranged from wild speculation and bold claims that could be easily disproved as misinformation to jokes and memes.

And look, I get it. The Diddy case isn't just high profile, it's compelling, and inarguably so. When Tony Buzbee — the Texas attorney whose firm is gearing up to file those 120 civil suits — says that the names of people involved will shock the public, it's only natural to wonder just how many A-List celebrities are going to be brought down with Combs. After all, Diddy has been a key figure in Hollywood for decades, and the list of his A-List connections is nothing if not extensive.

"The day will come when we will name names other than Sean Combs," Texas lawyer Tony Buzbee said in a recent press conference. "And there's a lot of names. It's a long list already, but because of the nature of this case, we are going to make damn sure, damn sure, that we're right before we do that."

The problem with playing detective with the Diddy case.

The internet loves to play detective. Hell, I love playing detective. I'm a Swiftie, albeit not an especially dedicated one. For me it's more like, I'll watch any fan theory about when Reputation (Taylor's Version) is coming out, believe it wholeheartedly, and then when it doesn't happen, I move on to the next theory like the clown I am.

The point is, I get it. There's a certain appeal to "cracking the code", to figuring something out before everyone else has, to feeling like you're one step ahead.

The issue here — and this should really go without saying — is that the case against Diddy is not a Taylor Swift album release. The victims of these alleged crimes are not Easter eggs. So why are we treating them like they are?

At the moment, my feed is an endless stream of years-old interview clips, out-of-context celebrity quotes, and creators sounding off with their latest theories about which household names will soon be named in the lawsuits.

One trending sound features J. Cole's song 'She Knows', as creators post video after video alleging that the "she" in question is Beyoncé Knowles, and that the thing that she "knows" is not only everything about Combs' alleged crimes, but also the "real" reason that Aaliyah, TLC's Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Michael Jackson are dead, with the idea being that Combs and Beyoncé's husband Jay-Z, were responsible.

@christopherisatree

♬ son original - J2 🌟

Simultaneously, there's also a "thank you Beyoncé" joke going around. These videos feature creators thanking Knowles for her contributions to their homework assignments, work emails and more, "just in case". In fact, JoJo Siwa even jumped on the trend at this week's Industry Dance Awards.

@crime.busters1

Thier is no way Jojo Siwa just did that 😂😱😱 #beyonce #jojosiwa #pdiddy #jayz #clivedavis #oprah #allycarter #celebs #musicindustry #secret #pdiddy #undergroundtunnels #exposed #woke #truth #lawsuit #crime #disgusting #control #evil

♬ She Knows - J. Cole

"Just in case, what?" you ask? Just in case Beyoncé sends her evil co-conspirators after you. The meme began trending after TikTokers pulled clips of artists like Adele and Lizzo thanking Knowles for her impact on their careers and began speculating that people who don't thank Knowles publicly face the consequences of her connections to Combs and his co-conspirators. Basically, it's a conspiracy theory that draws back to the idea that Beyoncé is, on some level, involved with Combs and his many alleged crimes.

And look, we can write that joke off as being commentary on how absurd some of the conspiracy theories circulating have become. But what's far more alarming in all of this is the ongoing speculation surrounding Justin Bieber and his relationship to Combs. In the wake of the charges against Combs, TikTok sleuths have been quick to claim that Bieber may have been one of Diddy's victims, using old interview clips, the music video for 'Yummy', and paparazzi videos to make their case.

Let me put it bluntly: Maybe we, as a society, should not be spending our time speculating about this. Maybe that's not the way we should be building our social media followings, or driving up engagement on our TikTok pages. Maybe, just maybe! That's actually a really f**ked up way for us to be spending our time.

Because here's the thing, right? Regardless of whether these rumours are true or not, and regardless of Bieber's celebrity status, all this does is put him in a lose-lose situation.

The truth of the matter here is that we don't know what — if anything — happened between Combs and Bieber. What we do know is that Bieber has been open about his mental health struggles over the years. Still, we've put him in a position where he can either publicly come forward as a victim and confirm his trauma in front of a global audience, possibly before he's ready to. Or, he can deny it, at which point the internet will no doubt label him a liar — regardless of what the truth actually is — because hey, they SAW that video on TikTok and it was really convincing!

I don't want to sound preachy, but the Combs case isn't TikTok fodder. Celebrities or not, the ever-climbing number of people who have come forward as victims are real people, and if Combs is guilty, these are people who are suffering from real trauma as the result of very serious, very real crimes.

As a reminder, we've seen the video of Combs violently assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016, which he took "full responsibility" for in an Instagram apology video. We've read the claims in her lawsuit against him, in which she alleged that she would often need "days" worth of IV fluids after his alleged "freak offs" in order to "recover from the excessive substances pushed upon her". Combs reached a settlement with Ventura just one day after she filed her lawsuit.

Watch Sean "Diddy" Combs' address the video of him assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. Article continues below.

So while it's natural to want to know exactly who was involved and to what extent, when we treat the case against Combs like a hunt for Easter eggs that pointed to his alleged crimes all along, what we're doing is trivialising the very real trauma of the many alleged victims.

Beyond that, we're actively perpetuating a culture of desensitisation around abuse when we turn this case into an entertainment spectacle.

Our collective desensitisation to true crime.

The way we've been discussing the Combs case isn't anything new. Rather, it's a symptom of a much broader issue around the way we engage with true crime as entertainment.

The interest in true crime has always been there. Hell, William Randolph Hearst coined the phrase "If it bleeds, it leads" back in the 1890s after seeing the way that news stories about horrific incidents captured the public's attention. But the way we talk about these crimes has shifted over the past decade or so. Both mainstream media and social media have been flooded with true crime content, and these days, it's not uncommon to watch influencers discuss heinous, violent crimes while casually doing their makeup.

It's no wonder, then, that we've come to treat the Sean Combs case like another episode of a true crime series. We've been conditioned to treat real human suffering like a puzzle to solve, rather than a tragedy that deserves respect. And these videos rack up tens of thousands of views, but at what cost?

I'm not arguing that we should stop discussing the Combs case, but I do think we need to reconsider where we draw the line between entertainment and exploitation, because it appears that we're losing our ability to empathise with the victims.

The Diddy case is just the latest example of how desensitised we've become, and that has real consequences, not just for the victims involved in this case, but for victims of crime more broadly.

When we talk about the Combs case through the lens of TikTok theories, memes, and viral sound bites, we minimise the impact that real life abuse has on victims everywhere. For survivors, watching traumas like theirs being dissected and speculated about can not only be re-traumatising, but it also creates an environment where coming forward becomes even harder.

In Australia alone, the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) "estimates that around 1 in 4 (28.5%) Australians aged 16 years and over have experienced child sexual abuse, with females twice as likely to have experienced child sexual abuse than males (37.3% compared to 18.8%)". When we talk about these cases as thought they're entertainment, when we casually speculate about what did or didn't happen to someone like Justin Bieber, there's a 1 in 4 chance that we're talking to someone who's been through something similar. And when we do that, we risk sending the message to them that their trauma is nothing more than entertainment fodder.

In the end, we need to rethink how we engage with stories of trauma and abuse. The internet's collective need to "figure it out" — particularly in cases that involve such complex and sensitive issues — needs to take a backseat to basic human empathy. The Combs case isn't a fan theory to crack — it's a criminal case that should be handled by the courts, not TikTok sleuths.

So, before we share another theory, post another video, or jump on the latest social media bandwagon, let's remember that these aren't just stories — they're people's lives. And when we treat trauma like a trending topic, we risk doing far more damage than we realise.

If this brings up any issues for you, contact Bravehearts, an organisation dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse, on 1800 272 831.

Alternately, if you feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.

Mamamia is a charity partner of RizeUp Australia, a national organisation that helps women, children and families move on after the devastation of domestic and family violence. Their mission is to deliver life-changing and practical support to these families when they need it most. If you would like to support their mission you can donate here.