Modern Daddy and the Rebranding of Abuse: When Power Writes the Love Story
Silk, Cliché, and Control: Why the Diddy Defence is so Dangerous.
By
Naira Khan
They called it a “modern love story.” She called it survival.
They said the texts were “beautiful.”
They said what the prosecution calls a crime scene was just his “private sex life.”
And they called him the victim — misunderstood, unfairly targeted, deeply romantic.
This wasn’t just a defence strategy. It was a full-blown rebrand of abuse.
This poem is for everyone who’s ever had their story stolen and rewritten to protect someone else’s image. This is my answer to the spin, the silence, and the spectacle.
They gave the monster a crown- we are tearing off the costume.
Modern Daddy
They said he was modern —
a lover with flair,
Not a predator lurking
behind tailored care.
They said he was tender —
a man of great taste,
Not a tyrant in silence
with a hand at her waist.
They read the texts —
called them beautiful, bright,
Ignoring the bruises
she hid every night.
They dressed up control
in silk and cliché,
While she fought to breathe
in a script gone astray.
They rewrote the story,
gave the monster a crown,
But truth walks in barefoot
when lies fall down.
When the Crown is Made of Lies
There’s nothing modern about power protecting itself.
There’s nothing romantic about gaslighting, coercion, surveillance, or fear.
But that didn’t stop Sean Combs’s defense team from trying to romanticise years of alleged abuse, painting a picture of passion instead of predation. In doing so, they echoed a larger pattern we’ve seen too many times before: the myth of the misunderstood powerful man, hurt by love, betrayed by headlines, and somehow always the victim.
When Consent Is Coerced, It Isn’t Consent
One defense claim stood out: that he’s “the only person on trial for making homemade pornography.”
But that’s not what’s on trial.
It’s not what was made.
It’s how it was made.
Who had the power.
Who had the freedom.
And who had none.
When sex is filmed under pressure, fear, or manipulation — it is not intimacy. It is not art. It is exploitation.
This Is Not a Love Story
For survivors watching this unfold, the message is loud and clear — and devastating.
If you speak out, your pain might be dressed in silk and denied in court.
If you bleed, they’ll read your text messages back to you as proof of your consent.
If you fight back, they’ll say you were part of a “modern love story.”
A Reckoning, Not a Romance
They rewrote the story, gave the monster a crown.
But truth walks in barefoot when lies fall down.
The crown may shine, but it cannot hide the harm.
Let’s stop calling abuse love. Let’s stop letting power rewrite the script.
Let’s tell the truth — even when it hurts. Especially when it hurts.
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