Novak Djokovic is in a difficult spot after his friendship with American Rapper Sean Diddy Combs, known as P. Diddy, sparked an uproar following the latter’s arrest on Monday.
Diddy and Djokovic first made their friendship public when the rapper arrived at the 2011 US Open to support the Serb against Roger Federer. Djokovic, a 4-time grand slam champion at that time, was keen on winning his first-ever US Open title that year, which he eventually managed.
The image of Diddy from Djokovic’s box resurfaced on social media as the news of his arrest came out. The Serb had also put out a tweet thanking Diddy for his support and added how his team found the rapper ‘cool’.
“Thanx for supporting on Saturday on US Open! Whole team thinks you are very cool ;-),” wrote the 24-time grand slam champion in his tweet.
@iamdiddy Yo Diddy! Thanx for supporting on saturday on US Open! Whole team thinks you are very cool 😉
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) September 13, 2011
On Monday, Diddy was arrested by federal agents in New York following lawsuits accusing him of s*xual abuse and s*x trafficking. Following the arrest, fans decided to revisit this tweet from 13 years ago and suggested that the tennis star should now ‘delete it.’
Delete it Novak, better for you
— houda benabid9 (@BHouda9) May 24, 2024
You are in trouble boy
— ZANE (@ZAN_93) September 22, 2024
Well well well
— CFCSupreme (@CFCSupreme) September 22, 2024
After the 2011 US Open semifinal game, Djokovic, in a press conference, had accepted to have known Diddy beforehand. He revealed how he met the rapper at a party and it felt great to have the latter rooting for him.
“Well, it was great to have him there. We met at one party that I cannot talk about details. It was fun, you know. He’s a huge star obviously in show business, and he’s a character and a very successful man. So it was great to have him there. I think it was very interesting the way he supported me,” said Novak in the press conference.
Furthermore, fans condemned Djokovic for keeping ties with controversial people, since he was also following Andrew Tate. Tate has often faced backlash from the public for promoting misogynistic views and the tennis legend’s presence in his followers’ list did not sit well with some.
A fan had taken to Twitter and shared the screenshot of Tate’s Twitter profile which clearly showed ‘followed by Novak Djokovic.’ The fan wrote, “No comments” while sharing the image, while others expressed their disappointment in the Serb.
The 24-time grand slam champion finds himself in a difficult place, as fans have discovered his connection to Diddy and will unlikely let him off the hook anytime soon.
