Video of Trump and Diddy was altered

The claim: A video shows Donald Trump and Sean “Diddy” Combs talking about getting away with crimes

An Instagram video from September 19 (direct link, archive link) appears to show young versions of former President Donald Trump and music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs talking to each other about getting in trouble.

“I'm just a passionate young man and I made a mistake,” Combs says in the video, which was originally shared by another Instagram user but appears to have been deleted.

Trump responds: “Well, everyone’s going to get in trouble. The question is how to get out of the crisis.”

Combs then appears to say Trump made the same mistakes he did, but is better at hiding them.

The caption of the post reads: “Just two (clowns) discussing how to get away with crime.”

The post received more than 1,000 likes within a week. Other versions of the claim were shared on Instagram.

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Our rating: Changed

The video consists of two separate interviews that were digitally stitched together. Both interviews predate Combs' Sept. 16 arrest by more than two decades.

The video combines footage from two interviews

Combs was charged Sept. 16 in Manhattan with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation for the purpose of prostitution. The rapper and music producer was denied bail the following day after pleading not guilty and is being held in solitary confinement at the special housing facility at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, CNN reported.

The video in which Combs allegedly talks to Trump about his “mistakes” has been altered. It is a combination of two separate interviews from the 1990s.

The clip of Trump comes from a 1992 interview with talk show host Charlie Rose. In the interview, Trump talks about his experiences during the economic recession of the early 1990s, his various properties and his experience near bankruptcy.

Fact check: Social media purges of celebrities unrelated to Diddy's arrest

The clip of Combs comes from a separate 1999 interview with Rose in which he discussed his past violent acts and the media's portrayal of his actions.

The altered video was originally shared on YouTube by an account called “The Talk” on August 27, weeks before Combs' arrest. The video's description includes a disclaimer that the footage has been edited.

“THE TALK: Conversations that never happened between people who have never met,” reads the video’s description. “Created using existing interviews.”

The video's creator, a Danish video editor named Jonas Hollerup Helle, told the Danish Fine Arts Association that his series “The Talk” was created through “the appropriation of existing video material.” He said he achieved the resulting video by combining footage from individual interviews with Charlie Rose and editing out the presenter.

USA TODAY reached out to the original user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The other Instagram user could not be contacted.

PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

Our fact-checking sources:

Charlie Rose, August 19, 1999, Sean “Puffy” Combs
Charlie Rose, November 6, 1992, Donald Trump
The Talk (YouTube), August 27, The Talk: Donald Trump & Puff Daddy
Danish Association of Fine Arts, September 12th, new member – Jonas Hollerup Helle

Video of Trump and Diddy was altered

The claim: A video shows Donald Trump and Sean “Diddy” Combs talking about getting away with crimes

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