Controversial, incarcerated record exec Suge Knight says he thinks he knows why Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are on the outs — and he believes Diddy and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have everything to do with it.
Before we even try explaining it, we have to back up quite a bit for a tiny history lesson about hip-hop and New York City in the late 1990s.
Suge Knight is known for many things – among them being wounded in and often suspected of orchestrating the drive-by shooting that killed Tupac Shakur – and Suge is currently serving a 28-year sentence in prison:
" … Knight is serving a 28-year prison sentence in California for running over and killing a Compton businessman outside a burger stand in January 2015. The case capped the former rap music mogul’s downfall from his heyday as one of the biggest — and most feared — names in the music industry."
Prison hasn't prevented Suge Knight from starting a podcast, though, called Collect Call With Suge Knight, a reference to how charges are often reversed for a call coming from within a prison.
Podcast-based commentary often takes some time to circulate or garner attention, as was the case with Episode 22 of Collect Call With Suge Knight, "Politics As Usual":
Episode 22 was under half an hour long, but its description box alluded to a number of topics referenced, including Ben Affleck, J. Lo, and Diddy's extended and ongoing fall from grace:
"Suge starts off this episode by diving into the promise he saw in Nate Dogg's talent from the moment they met. He later gives details on little-known aspects of J-Lo and Diddy's past relationship and how they may be affecting J-Lo's current relationship with Ben Affleck …"
Suge Knight's involvement with hip-hop and music production at the time of Diddy's rise to fame and power was so high-profile that it stands to reason he might truly have insight into Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's apparent divorce.
Why Suge Believes The FBI Scared Ben Affleck Away From J. Lo
Before we even get into Suge's theory about Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, and the FBI, it's worth pointing out that Knight is the sort of figure who might be speaking from some kind of direct, informed experience.
Although Suge is serving a sentence for a matter entirely unrelated to Diddy, his assertion that the FBI is involved is a compelling one — it is entirely possible he's engaging in pure speculation, but it's not impossible that he's speaking from specific experience interacting with investigators with respect to Sean Combs.
Suge's commentary in the video was kind of free flowing, and he began to speak about Nate Dogg and politics in general before turning to Diddy (previously known as "Puff Daddy" or "Puffy") and his connection with Jennifer Lopez.
Knight began to discuss an incident involving Diddy and J. Lo, one that occurred in December 1999, but was back in the news in March — alongside a headline implying Jennifer covered for Diddy.
Suge speculated that when Diddy's homes were raided earlier this year, authorities recovered potentially incriminating material involving Jennifer, further asserting that she covered for Diddy back in 1999:
"When they go raid Puffy's house, and they get all these videos of J-Lo doing this and J-Lo doing that, and they know the fact that J-Lo lied and said that the gun was Shyne's or whatever and sent that man to prison and destroyed his life, when she knew it was Puffy."
Then, Suge continues, surmising that Ben Affleck received a "courtesy call" from the FBI, to warn him about the alleged material they found.
Again, Suge's perspective here is interesting for myriad reasons, not the least of which is that Knight is among people who would have long been aware of what Diddy was allegedly doing.
On top of that, Lopez's presence for the 1999 club shooting was in the news when Diddy's raids were, so Suge is almost certainly referencing other reasons Ben Affleck might not be able to "look at" his purportedly estranged wife the same way:
"I'm quite sure they [the FBI] probably called, and the FBI gave respect, a courtesy call to Ben Affleck. [Ben Affleck is] a white man who got respect in the white world.
"And I'm quite sure they said: 'We want to show you some things. It's about your wife.' When [Ben] see the s*** that [J. Lo] and Puffy was doing and who they was doing it with, I'm quite sure they gave his ass those tapes.
"And I'm quite sure he can never look at [Jennifer] the same."
Suge's certainty as he speaks is almost unsettling, as are the many insights he offers — he isn't just assuming this happened because of the divorce rumors, and he's clearly thought his theory all the way through.
None of us know what Suge Knight might be basing his inferences on, but one thing was clear: he's "quite sure" about many of his assertions, and he thinks the FBI found something that could ruin Ben Affleck's career by mere association with his apparently estranged wife:
"I'm quite sure they heading for divorce, because, you know, [Ben is] a man who had a good life. Great parents, don't spend a lot of money, ain't trippin' off paparazzi …
"He's living his life, he got his own team. She done brought all the extra s*** to that motherf*****. He want out. He stay married to J. Lo, he'll be broke.
"Instead of just doing movies, he'll be doing Yum Yum Donuts commercials, next thing he'd be doing is Jack In The Box commercials."
After that point, Suge laughed and turned to another topic, cleanly dropping both his fleshed out theory, as well as the proverbial mic.
None of what Suge Knight said about Ben Affleck and J. Lo is proven, but his reasoning is sound and seems to fit both the timeline and the apparent speed with which Affleck and Lopez's relationship deteriorated after the raids.
