Paid Protestors: Everything is a Psyop

Who is funding the "Free Diddy" protests? Diddy? George Soros? Qatar?

Friday afternoon, as court was letting out for the United States vs. Sean Combs trial, I noticed a group of unenthused, disheveled locals standing awkwardly against a fence in matching black t-shirts.

“Free Puff” their shirts demanded in bold white font.

“Free $Diddy” others advertised.

Their shirts were bold. Their body language was not.

This was the first time a pack of protestors showed up to advocate for Mr. Combs’ freedom. Yet, they stood so far away from the court house, hunched over bashfully across the street from the usual post-trial madness, that not a single mainstream reporter noticed them.

They were way out of frame—too far for even the longest paparazzi lens to catch. The photographers were packed tightly outside the courthouse doors waiting for the Combs family to strut to the blacked-out van parked at the curb.

Normally, I’d be right there in the middle of the action, elbowing a German newscaster out of the way to snag a front row seat myself. But this Friday, I was more focused on figuring out what was going on with the misfits across the street, chilling, vaping and snacking on strawberry Uncrustables.

Were they rebels with a cause? Or paid crisis actors hired to manufacture the illusion of support?

Unlike the man who’d been cuffed twice this week for “insanity” after screaming at an Entertainment Tonight reporter—then returning the next day to monologue “FREE LOVE! BAD BOYS 4 LIFE! WHERE IS MEEK MILL?”—this group was dead silent. Mute. Zoned out.

They didn’t even have signs.

Once I got closer look, I was 99% sure this wasn’t grassroots.

This was a paid psyop.

One by one, I started asking each protestor if they were being paid to stand there. The first guy smirked. The second guy shrugged. The third guy said “yes, but you didn’t hear it for me.”

I knew it was a psyop when I asked one of the protestors what his favorite Diddy song was and he said “Big Poppa.”

Close. But not quite. Sure, Diddy was a producer on that track. But…no. Cute but no.

I approached a young woman who told me she had just been approached by someone trying to recruit her for this “protest,” offering her $20/hour cash to wear a “Free Diddy” or “Free Puff” t-shirt (an offer she declined). She said one of the women told her she made a quick $60 cash for standing outside the court house for three hours.

“They just tried to pay me $20 to wear a Free Puffy shirt,” she told me

“They told me it was for a $DIDDY coin. I’m not really sure what that is.”

Suspicions confirmed. These weren’t real protestors.

So I did what any self-respecting citizen journalist would do. I pulled out my barely charged iPhone, hit record, and posted a video exposing the entire staged spectacle to Instagram, as quickly as I could before my phone died and someone beat me to the story. If I’ve learned anything this week, it’s that timing matters more than details.

After, I walked across the street and saw a tall young man holding one of these Free Diddy t-shirts while FaceTiming a few friends. I asked him if he was a paid protester and he said “no,” but told me that some guy let him have that shirt for free because it served as a promotion for a $DIDDY crypto coin.

And that’s when it all clicked. This wasn’t just a paid protest. It was a promotion for a Solana shitcoin.

I was glad my original caption was literal:

“Free Diddy Protestors Being Paid $20/Hour.”

I didn’t say Diddy funded it. But the internet sure did:

“NICE TRY, DIDDY!”

By morning, the clip had gone full viral:
3 million views on Instagram. 2 million on TikTok.
Then came the headlines—from Complex, The Neighborhood Talk, Hoodratchetv, and more. Only Complex bothered to say “allegedly.”

Media outlets slid into my DMs asking the same thing: could they repost the video and tag me in the caption? Not one asked for additional context. Not one asked a single follow-up question.

Eventually, the video reached 50 Cent.

“OMG 50 Cent posted your video!!! Wait… he didn’t tag you??”

I didn’t care. He tagged Branson Cognac instead—and honestly, with Ciroc sales in the gutter, who better to fill the void.

My only complaint? He didn’t ask me 21 Questions. Not even one.

He just posted my video to his 34.9 million followers and blamed Diddy:

“Diddy paying people to wear Free Diddy shirts is diabolical, but $20 a hour ain’t bad. I might go throw that on for a hour tomorrow LOL @ 50centaction @ bransoncognac.” -50 Cent

This video triggered massive reaction online. In less than 72 hours, the video was shared 191k times and had received over 10k comments.

A Reddit thread showed more empathy than the Instagram comment section—acknowledging that, in this economy, some have to sacrifice morals to survive.

Who’s Funding the Protestors?

This video didn’t blow up because it was “good content.” It blew up because it exposed something bigger—tapping into a suspicion people already carried:

Public opinion is for sale.

Every day, crowds are staged. Support is scripted. From campaign rallies to flash-mob “activism,” it’s all political theater—bankrolled by marketing firms, Super PACs, crypto sharks, billionaire donors, and celebrities with one shared goal: to manufacture the illusion of consensus.

We’ve seen it before. During elections. During pandemics.
Paid protestors. Controlled narratives. Prepackaged outrage.

So I started asking the real question: Who was funding this “Free Puff” protest?

Was it Diddy? George Soros? Qatar?

Or was it really just some rogue Web3 startup trying to moonshot a meme coin off the back of a federal indictment?

Below is a deeper investigation into $DIDDY, fake protests, and the psyop economy hijacking perception in America one Gildan shirt at a time.

Who’s Behind $DIDDY?

The $DIDDY COIN

On Friday, after hearing about the $DIDDY coin, I reached out to an influencer in the crypto space on X, who said the $DIDDY chart “actually looked good.”

Right now, as I write this article on Sunday evening, 72 hours later, the $DIDDY chart has worsened, but still has a decent size market cap at $26.7 million with $3M in liquidity. The $DIDDY token is available for purchase on the Solana blockchain and the current price of one token is just under 3 cents.

PDIDDYMEMES: The Official Website for $DIDDY

A one-page website, pdiddymemes.com, is currently live and features photos of Sean Combs himself on the landing page with big block letters reading “FREE DIDDY,” in a sans serif font that matches the t-shirts the protestors were wearing.

The landing page reads:

“Free $DIDDY isn’t just a memecoin- it’s a decentrialized courtroom drama. Owning a $DIDDY meme puts you in the front row of one of the most talked-about real-life sagas of our time. What used to be gossip on TMZ or barbershop talk now runs through our community.

Fueled by memes, drama and raw internet energy, $DIDDY is the internet’s way of responding — with humor, with chaos and with collective creativity.

Welcome to the spectacle.

Welcome to $DIDDY.”

The website has two buttons where people can purchase the coin “easily” with multiple forms of payment: Moonshot, MasterCard, VISA, Apple Pay, Venmo and Solana.

“Being part of the $DIDDY community is just a few clicks away! Buy now with either card or crypto!”

Diddy’s Official X Account Promoted $DIDDY coin

I remembered hearing about the $DIDDY coin ten days ago, on May 8th, when Ye retweeted a post from Diddy’s official account on X directly promoting the coin. The original post on Diddy’s X account said “WE LOVE YOU POPS ! $DIDDY, CA” followed by the CA (contract address) directing his 14.5 million followers to the coin.

Ye retweeted Diddy’s post with a black heart emoji, on May 8th at 1:40 PM, promoting the coin to his 33.3 million followers on X.

As of this evening, the original tweet promoting the $DIDDY coin has been wiped from Diddy’s account.

Luckily, Kanyesposts on Instagram always has all the receipts.

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The $DIDDY Terms Page

The introduction of the terms page on the pdiddymemes.com website, the official website of the coin, has an introduction that states this crypto coin is “owned exclusively by relatives of Sean Combs, a/k/a “Diddy”, including certain of his children.”

Sean Combs is the name Diddy was born with and name he is currently going by in court during this trial.

The FAQ section on the website states that this is the “only project associated with Sean Combs.”

If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the website’s “terms” page, it says:

“Serving as an advisor to Combs Brothers Production LLC is Maven Agency LLC and Michael Shelton, Mission Street Ventures, Brannan Street Ventures, and by and through Reed Smith LLP.”

Mission Street Ventures is a Zurich-based venture capital firm that invests in blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. Although, when you click “yes” to view investments, $DIDDY is not listed.

Reed Smith LLP is a global law firm with a crypto department

When you google “Combs Brothers Production LLC” the only thing that pops up is the $DIDDY website:

There’s multiple agencies called “Maven,” so it’s uncertain which one is associated to this project.

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PUFF DADDY & HIS FAMILY

Diddy’s Godbrother Wearing “Free Puff” Merch

Last week during jury selection, a man in a “Free Puff” hat walked past a small cluster of journalists waiting in line for the overflow room. Whispers spread quickly: it was music producer Charlucci Finney, Diddy’s godbrother—or as Rolling Stone once called him, a “self-described godbrother.”

One reporter told me Charlucci was allegedly considering handing out “Free Diddy” merch to the public once the trial officially kicked off. But when we showed up Monday morning for opening statements, there wasn’t a single shirt in sight.

That same reporter later told me Charlucci had allegedly changed his mind.

Still, he’s made his presence known—seated in the row behind Diddy’s kids all week, rotating between various “Free Diddy” and “Free Puff” gear.

Who’s Running Diddy’s Social Media?

Back when Ye was selling the “LOVE” hoodie on Yeezy.com—the same one Cassie wore in the hallway during the assault video—Diddy’s Instagram account posted a timeline collab promoting it. That post appeared to be a coordinated effort between Ye and whoever was controlling Diddy’s page at the time.

Ye claimed he was splitting the profits 50/50 with Diddy. But by then, Diddy was already under intense scrutiny, and sources close to Ye said Diddy’s sons were running his accounts.

A Source From Diddy’s Camp Denies Diddy’s Direct Involvement

This afternoon, I spoke to a direct source from Diddy’s camp who said that Sean “Diddy” Combs himself was not behind this paid protest and neither is anyone on his legal team.

Given all the evidence, it looks increasingly likely that the $DIDDY coin was launched by someone in his family. Whoever launched it, clearly has access to his social media channels since the coin was promoted on Diddy’s official X account.

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Other Paid Protestors in America

Antisemitism Hanging from an LA Overpass

A faceless account with just five followers left a public comment on the video claiming they were once offered money to hold a sign on an overpass in Los Angeles—allegedly hired by their management company to dress like a “typical MAGA” and wave antisemitic banners after “a certain rapper made an appearance on a certain talk show about wars on info.”

This person was obviously talking about Ye’s appearance on InfoWars in December 2022—when he infamously said, “I see good things about Hitler.”

I remember that day the overpass photos were published. A group of protestors were photographed on an L.A. overpass doing Nazi salutes beside a banner that read:
“KANYE IS RIGHT ABOUT THE JEWS.”

It went global within hours. At a time when free speech advocates were defending Ye’s tweets, the mainstream media used this photograph as proof that Ye’s online rhetoric had spilled into the real world. “Words have consequences” vibes.

The timeline this anonymous account described didn’t quite match up.

They claimed they were hired after Ye’s InfoWars meltdown in December 2022 to dress like a “typical MAGA” supporter and hold antisemitic signs on an L.A. overpass. But the photo they’re referring to—the one that went viral showing protestors saluting Hitler above the freeway with a banner reading “KANYE IS RIGHT ABOUT THE JEWS”—was published in October 2022, two months before InfoWars.

At the time, I remember thinking: these protestors moved fast.
That overpass stunt happened just ten days after Ye’s now-infamous tweet:

“I'm a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I'm going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE… I actually can't be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also…”

What most people forget is that tweet came during a public argument with Diddy. Ye had posted screenshots of their private texts, telling Diddy:

“Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me… This is war.”

He even called Diddy a “fed.”

And yet—today, Ye is the most vocal celebrity defending Diddy’s freedom.

Weeks before the trial, Ye posted audio of a prison phone call with Diddy, turned it into a song featuring North, and triggered a tabloid storm with Kim Kardashian. In that call, Diddy thanked Ye for looking out for his kids. This came after the Sean John x YZY hoodie drop, and just days after Ye and King Combs were seen hanging out on Super Bowl Sunday, Ye gifting him designer jackets on camera.

And here’s where it gets even murkier.

That original overpass protest—the one the anonymous account claimed may have been staged—happened just four days after Ari Emanuel, Diddy’s former agent and one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood, published an op-ed calling for every brand and business to cut ties with Ye.

Suddenly, Ye tweets. Protestors appear on a freeway. A viral photo explodes across CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and every international outlet that needed proof Ye’s words were turning into real-world hate.

So maybe that anonymous commenter was telling the truth. Maybe that protest wasn’t spontaneous at all. Real or not, it stirred up the same old question that still haunts us:

WHAT IS REAL?

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Pro-Palestine Protests Linked to George Soros

In May, Politico published a piece titled: “Pro-Palestinian protesters are backed by a surprising source: Biden’s biggest donors.” The article named major Democratic power players—Soros, Rockefeller, and Pritzker—as financial backers behind the campus protests.

According to the report, groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow were involved, both of which receive funding from the Tides Foundation, which is seeded by George Soros. Soros declined to comment, but his Open Society Foundations said it supports a broad range of groups advocating for peace and Palestinian rights.

In response, IfNotNow’s deputy comms director, Matan Arad-Neeman, pushed back hard:

“The campus protests are driven by young people’s outrage at the U.S.’s complicity in Gaza. To suggest Jewish groups, backed by Jewish donors, are pulling the strings is antisemitic. Full stop.”

Several other groups involved in pro-Palestinian protests are backed by a foundation funded by Susan and Nick Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt Hotel empire — and supporters of Biden and numerous Democratic campaigns, including $6,600 to the Biden Victory Fund a few months ago and more than $300,000 during the 2020 campaign.”

-Politico

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Pro-Trump and Anti-Trump Paid Protestors

Trump has repeatedly claimed throughout his political career that paid protestors were being hired to sabotage him.

Just last month, one of the few #BinderGate influencers, David Harris Jr.—a prominent MAGA voice and recipient of the underwhelming “Epstein binder”—posted about it again. He claimed Craigslist was listing “paid to protest” gigs, offering cash for people to attend anti-Trump rallies and blend in as organic outrage.

In 2016, even Trump himself was accused of hiring a crowd of actors to cheer him on after he announced his bid for the presidency at the Trump Tower on June 16, 2015.

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Crowds on Demand

In 2018, The Los Angeles Times published an article that began with, “paid protesters are a real thing.”

The article highlighted a Beverly Hills firm, Crowds on Demand, founded in 2012, that is known for hiring protesters and executing high-profile PR stunts, proudly stating on its website that it provides clients nationwide with “protests, rallies, flash-mobs, paparazzi events, PR stunts and crowds for hire.”

According to Los Angeles Times, “the company hired actors to lobby the New Orleans City Council on behalf of a power plant operator, protest a Masons convention in San Francisco and act like supportive fans and paparazzi at an L.A. conference for life coaches.”

The company was even hit with a lawsuit by Zdenek Bakala, who claimed the firm was used to “run an extortion campaign against him.”

“Bakala has accused Prague investment manager Pavol Krupa of hiring Crowds on Demand to pay protesters to march near his home in Hilton Head, S.C., and to call and send emails to the Aspen Institute and Dartmouth College, where Bakala serves on advisory boards, urging them to cut ties to him. Bakala alleges that Krupa has threatened to continue and expand the campaign unless Bakala pays him $23 million.”

-The Los Angeles Times

Other companies with similar business models exist: Easycrowd, Crowds for Rent and Rent a Crowd.

In an interview with CNN, Crowds on Demand founder Adam Swart spoke openly about his company’s offerings, claiming many clients spend top dollar to help garner better press, and more importantly shift the media narrative.

“When a clients spends $10,000 on a protest and wins a $20 million settlement, that’s a clear return on investment,” Swart told CNN.

“Other situations are harder to decipher – it may be more ‘can we shift the media narrative?’ ‘Did we get more press coverage or photo opportunities?’ There are many ways to judge our services and their effectiveness - some quantitative, other qualitative,” Swart claimed.

Swart said that crowd members his company hires are generally actors who are expected to look “enthusiastic,” look and sound authentic and not be overly excited to the point that they may risk being arrested.

“They almost always hold signs and chant, and sometimes talk to media on behalf of the event,” says Swart.

All of his paid protestors are required to sign NDAs to protect the client’s anonymity to avoid public embarrassment.

Whoever hired the “Free Puff” protestors to promote the $DIDDY token didn’t go through a reputable firm. The crew arrived sloppy, confused, and bored—openly discussing their pay rates just feet away from media row, and even admitting to independent journalists like me that they only showed up for the cash. Protestors claimed that they found this job listing on Craigslist—one of the sites Diddy and Cassie Ventura would frequently use when looking for freak off escorts.

Maybe the stunt gave the $DIDDY coin a temporary boost, but it slapped another layer of humiliation onto Diddy’s already-scorched reputation, turning the federal trial into a crypto clown show.

Nothing tops the courtroom circus though, live Monday through Friday at 500 Pearl Street, where Diddy’s most deranged desires are blasted out faster than he prefers his male escorts blast urine on his girlfriend’s faces.

In one week, the public has learned more than it ever needed to know: the baby oil obsession, the urine kinks, the semen-drenched nipple play.

And somehow, it’s only the beginning of week two.

Those Craigslist hires may not have nailed the assignment—but if they did one thing right, it was this:

They reminded the public to look deeper into everything.

Because in this trial, and in this country, nothing is exactly what it seems.

And the devil is the author of confusion.