Samantha Bee Recalls Sean 'Diddy' Combs 'Instantly' Sanitizing His Hands After Their Handshake: 'So Rude'

Mar. 15, 2025

Samantha Bee; Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.Photo:John Lamparski/Getty; Dia Dipasupil/Getty

John Lamparski/Getty; Dia Dipasupil/Getty

ComedianSamantha Beeis reflecting on a past encounter withSean “Diddy” Combsshe says was “so rude” in thewake of his arrest.

On an episode ofThe Daily Beast Podcastwith Bee andDailyBeastCOO Joanna Coles that aired on Thursday, Sept. 26, Bee, 54, recalled meeting the music mogul “ages and ages ago” at the Democratic National Convention — and how he “immediately” sanitized his hands after she reached out for a shake.

The political commentator said she was standing in a cordoned-off area with cameras and a producer, and was flagging down people to interview when Combs, 54, entered the room with a man she believes was Fonzworth Bentley, his former assistant.

“I went up to them, and it was an area where you would expect to be interviewed, so it wasn’t outrageous for me to approach with a camera and a very polite question,” she recalled. “So I went up to him and I said, ‘Would you mind if I asked you a couple of questions?’ He seemed very taken aback, his voice was soft. He was like, ‘I think that’s OK.’”

Sean “Diddy” Combs in Los Angeles in October 2019.Scott Dudelson/Getty

Scott Dudelson/Getty

Bee thanked the star for his time, and reached out to give him a handshake — but after doing so, Combs was quick to sanitize.

“I shook his hand and then he immediately, like, instantly, turned to his attendant, held his hands out helplessly, and his attendant squirted copious amounts of Purell into his hands,” she said. “Then he softly rubbed his hands together to extinguish whatever microbes I had put on his hands, and it was so rude. It was actually so rude.”

She continued, “I do understand that, you know, you shake a lot of people’s hands and your hands feel dirty, but you don’t typically need to sanitize while the person is standing before you, expressing your disgust. And it occurred to me in the light of all these freak-offs that it’s always the germaphobes who want to go home and recreate [Roman emperor] Caligula every Tuesday afternoon.”

Combswas indictedon charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution on Sept. 17. His indictmentcenters around “freak offs,”which prosecutors have described as elaborate sex performances that he arranged. Women were allegedly forced or coerced into participating with male sex workers, sometimes for multiple days, according to the indictment.

Sean “Diddy” Combs in Beverly Hills in March 2018.John Shearer/Getty

John Shearer/Getty

Combs, who haspleaded not guilty, is currently being held in federal custody as he awaits trial, and his lawyer Marc Agnifilo recently said that thestar wants to testify.

“I don’t know that I could keep him off the stand,” Agnifilo told TMZ. “I think he is very eager to tell his story."

Combs is next due in court in early October. He is currently in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Sources tells PEOPLE he iscurrently housed in the same area of the facilityas disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

source: people.com