Tyson Beckford Recalls Alleged “Street Fight” With Sean “Diddy” Combs And Crew

Tyson Beckford has opened up about a decades-old altercation allegedly involving Sean “Diddy” Combs’ entourage — and according to the model and actor, the long-ago confrontation was nearly deadly.

During a recent interview on The Breakfast Club, Beckford detailed the events of what started out as a typical day outside a tattoo shop in New York City. Beckford recalled chatting with a friend when fashion stylist Groovey Lew — who was closely affiliated with Diddy and Bad Boy at the time — approached him with a request to take a photo with a woman he was with.

“I said, ‘Yo, my man, I’m having a conversation,’” he recalled, adding that things quickly escalated into a fight. “He started getting tough. I said, ‘Lew, don’t talk to me like that.’ Next thing you know, he swung on me.”

According to Beckford, the fight left him with a bloody head injury that required six stitches. Beckford says an NYPD officer briefly stopped to assess the situation but, despite the visible injuries, drove off when both parties downplayed the altercation. But moments later, the tension intensified.

Beckford claims Lew left the scene and then returned with Diddy and several members of his Bad Boy crew from a nearby office. Outnumbered and solo, Beckford claimed his friend disappeared and he then went to his Land Cruiser to retrieved his pistol-grip Mossberg shotgun.

“I said, ‘Look, I only got five [shells] in here,’” Beckford recalled. “Puff, you going to get it first… I’m going to shower the rest of y’all with it.” Although no shots were fired, and the confrontation ended without further violence, Beckford reflected on how close the situation came to taking a tragic turn.

“I could have saved the world a whole lot of trouble and took him out back then,” he said of Diddy. “But then where would I be?” When asked if he’s reconciled with Diddy since the incident, Beckford responded, “I ain’t seen the man in years… but yeah, he know — don’t mess with me,” he added.

Beckford also claimed that the tension between the two extended beyond the street encounter. He says he later sued Diddy after being shorted on a two-year modeling contract with the Sean John clothing line. “I was too straight for him, and he was just on whatever he was on,” Beckford quipped. “Karma is where it’s at.”

Beckford noted that more details about the altercation and other previously untold stories of his life will be included in his upcoming book and production project, Pretty Boy. “I’m doing the book,” he said. “And all of that’s going to be in Pretty Boy. That’s a cold scene — standing on Sixth Avenue with a shotgun.” Watch below.