Kamala Harris did not pose with Sean 'Diddy' Combs in 2001 photo

An image purportedly showing Kamala Harris posed beside Sean "Diddy" Combs is circulating across platforms after the rapper was indicted for sex trafficking, racketeering and other charges. But the photo is doctored; the original from 2001 showed the now-US vice president with talk show host Montel Williams, whom she briefly dated.

"The Diddy Client List goes all the way to the top," says an X post shared September 16, 2024, the day federal agents arrested Combs in New York.

Similar posts spread the image across X and other platforms after the indictment of the Grammy-winning music mogul, 54, whose charges also include transporting victims across state lines to engage in prostitution, according to the US Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. He pleaded not guilty September 17.

The indictment alleges that Combs for decades "abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct." It accuses him of running a "criminal enterprise" that carried out "sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice."

The powerful music industry figure, also known by the monikers Puff Daddy and P Diddy, has seen his reputation challenged amid several civil lawsuits that characterize him as a violent sexual predator who used alcohol and drugs to subdue his victims. Agents had raided his luxury homes in Miami and Los Angeles in March, indicating that a federal investigation and potential criminal case were in the works.

The picture appearing to show Combs with Harris is altered, the latest in a flood of often-gendered disinformation that followed the vice president's emergence and nomination as the Democratic Party's nominee for the White House.

A reverse image search surfaced the original Getty Images photo, which is more than two decades old (archived here). It shows Harris with Williams, a former marine who hosted "The Montel Williams Show" in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the television personality's daughter Ashley Williams.

"Talk Show Host Montel Williams, daughter Ashley Williams and Kamala Harris attending Eighth Annual Race to Erase Multiple Sclerosis on May 18, 2001 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, California," the caption says.

Several other photos from Getty Images show the trio at the event (archived here).

Williams and Harris dated for a short time in the early 2000s, but Harris's political ascent has drawn new attention to their relationship -- including the spread of false claims online.

"@KamalaHarris and I briefly dated about 20 years ago when we were both single. So what? I have great respect for Sen. Harris," he wrote in a 2019 post on X (archived here).

As some social media users separately claimed that footage of Harris and Williams at the 2001 event showed the Democrat with Combs, Williams posted on September 17, 2024: "Here they go again with 'all black people look alike...'" (archived here).

He also amplified a comment noting that he and the rapper "look nothing alike" (archived here).

AFP has debunked other misinformation about US politics here.