R&B and gospel singer, Kelly Price has responded to criticism following her “prayer” for Diddy, issued after a 2016 surveillance video showing the Bad Boy CEO assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura was released by CNN last week.
“For those who misconstrued, misinterpreted, or just chose to put words in my mouth, this is for clarity. If you choose to believe otherwise that’s your choice, but I won’t let anyone call me out for something I didn’t do,” Price posted on Instagram Sunday.
She stated:
“I can’t offer redemption, forgiveness, or grace because my name is Kelly, not Jesus. Therapy + Jesus that’s doing the soul work. What happens legally is up to those with that authority.”
In a 12-minute Instagram Live video, Price explained her initial comments were intended as a warning for Diddy to introspect and “do the soul work.”
“I was basically telling him you gotta change your heart, you gotta change your mind, you gotta change your direction,” she said. “I simply was saying he had to do the work.”
Price clarified she wasn’t defending Diddy’s actions and was not a “Diddy cheerleader.”
“I told him, do what you need to do to get your soul right, brother,” she stated. “It’s up to the courts to decide what they do with him legally. I have nothing to do with that.”
Initially, Price’s comment on Instagram, which has since been deleted, read:
“It is my sincere prayer that the power of the Holy Ghost overtake you so that you not only have a change of heart but a change of mind and a change of direction. I have seen you at your best and at your worst. I know what you are capable of being when you were at your best despite the seductions of this industry. I want to see you and I want to see you soon to create in this business but I need you to pray and I need you to receive from the most high. I need for those prayers to take place sincerely. You are a unique talent, and both sides that represent light and darkness receive you anxiously. Do you know who God is! Lean not unto your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path.”
Amid multiple sexual misconduct lawsuits against Sean “Diddy” Combs, CNN released surveillance footage on May 17 showing Diddy attacking Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in March 2016.
Forty-eight hours later, Combs apologized for his “inexcusable” actions in a video posted on social media Sunday.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” Diddy said. “I was f—ed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom. But I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, I’m disgusted now.”
