When news broke over the weekend that Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson would be putting the team up for sale at the end of the 2017 season following an investigation into his multiple sexual and racial harassment allegations, Diddy wanted in on the action.
On Instagram and Twitter, the music mogul and businessman made his case stating that there were "no majority African American owners in the NFL" and he wanted to change that by buying the Panthers. However, his plea for change was quickly mocked by San Francisco KRON-TV anchors Darya Folsom and black anchor Henry Wofford in a sports segment called "The World According to Darya."
“The guy looks high right there in this video,” Wofford said on air. “He looks like he smoked a blunt and drank a 40. Come on, I’m not taking him seriously.”
Piggybacking off of Wofford, Folsom made a comment about Diddy's worth saying that “ Diddy is only worth $800 million and the Panthers are valued at $1 billion.”
“I don’t even know what Diddy does right now,” Folsom quipped. “What does Diddy do?”
The snickering and grinning continued. Wofford had to add a little more steam to the lame joke.
“Diddy’s drinking and smoking right now,” he said. “The man was in another world.”
Racism and Stereotyping is exactly why we must continue to make big moves like the one Diddy is trying to make! #Panthers
#Diddy
#NFL
pic.twitter.com/NS2AXhzdEw— Saint Thomas (@themvpsaint) December 18, 2017
When the segment made its way online, all hell broke loose. Black Twitter came for throats and wigs without a shred of mercy to spare.
It's much easier to use a black face to say what white folks truly think about black men. Trust me, he said what they wanted to say. It's just like Lavar Ball. The black men on tv are doing the work for their master when they attack him as a father.
— donalddoejr (@donalddoejr) December 19, 2017
Nobody is taking Diddy serious about buying the Panthers but y’all took Trump serious enough to run for President? ????????♂️ How being an NFL Owner is more exclusive than being the President of the US?
— D. Rose (@DavidRoseTheBar) December 18, 2017
@Diddy . Hope you caught @DaryaKRONFolsom & Co. dawgin you on the air probably didn't because the show trash time slot , please shut her & every other person up with actions & buy the panthers . then switch the name to Black Panthers really piss em off . #BlackExcellence
— Kid Hendrix (@HendrixIsAlive) December 18, 2017
You see a black mogul modeling his own brand and you think of smoking "blunts" and "drinking 40's"?!
— Treena Beena (@BrownieKat85) December 18, 2017
Like he would drink a 40, the man OWNS Ciroc!
— 9ToeHavin'est (@KissMyEntireAzz) December 18, 2017
Because the owners are 98.999% white, and they have to vote in the majority for him to become one. They didn't even allow Trump to become one lol..
— Petty Ruxbin (@JarvisD90) December 19, 2017
After a storm of ridicule for dismissing Diddy's accomplishments to mere stereotypes, Wofford apologized in a tweet.
Diddy is a businessman who has the work ethic, success & contacts to run an NFL team.My response to @DaryaKRONFolsom question was regarding if he's serious about buying the team. She laughed at my joke. The snippet takes things out of context. Sorry for any misunderstanding.
— Henry Wofford (@HWoffordKRON4) December 18, 2017
Wofford took the bulk of the blame for the segment's backlash in a longer statement on the news outlet's site, but many on Twitter were still waiting for Folsom to apologize.
"Darya Folsom has taken a lot of heat for her reaction to my comments this morning. The negative feedback she’s receiving is unfortunate because Darya is a very professional journalist and I would never want to see anyone blamed for something I said."
Instead, she shared his apology on her twitter.
@DaryaKRONFolsom where’s your apology. You were complicit and made zero effort to admonish or shame the comment. You cackled along with him. Both of you need to be #fires
— ohsogauche (@ohsogauche) December 19, 2017
Sad.