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‘Blackface [and] making light of sexual assault are deeply offensive’

San Diego State University is looking into a pair of white students who dressed up as Sean “Diddy” Combs and a bottle of baby oil for a Halloween party.

The biggest cause of concern, as you might expect in this day and age, was the “blackface” part of the male’s outfit. Never mind that Combs is awaiting trial for sex trafficking and racketeering, among other things.

According to the New York Post, social media commenters took the couple to task with remarks such as “Any excuse for blackface,” “Oh wow that’s not okay at all,” and “Not a single friend in sight to tell them ‘hey, this is a really bad idea.’”

One commenter noted the guy as Diddy was just “lazy” as he didn’t even bother to don the rap mogul’s all-white suit and “signature glasses.”

Another claimed the guy could’ve been Diddy “while not being racist” as his outfit would have been sufficient: “Everyone would’ve known who he was especially with his girl as baby oil.” (Combs was accused of using a date-rape drug in the 1,000 bottles of baby oil found in his home during a federal raid.)

The person who uploaded the since-deleted video of the couple was identified as a SDSU student (but not part of the couple). The Daily Mail referred to the partygoers as “a pair of college students.”

A spokesperson for SDSU said: “Our team is working to confirm information, including the location and the names and affiliations of the individuals involved. We appreciate the willingness of people who have come forward to share information with the university.”

MORE: Howard U. to give dropout ‘Diddy’ honorary doctorate, graduation keynote

“The use of blackface and any actions making light of sexual assault are deeply offensive and have no place in a respectful, caring community.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression fired off a letter to SDSU warning officials that “regardless of whether anyone finds these costumes offensive, SDSU, as a public university bound by the First Amendment, may not impose disciplinary measures that violate students’ expressive rights or launch chilling ‘investigations’ of clearly protected expression.”

The U.S. Supreme Court case  Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education  established that in order for things like this couple’s costume to be considered “harassment,” such must be “(1) unwelcome, (2) discriminatory on the basis of gender or another protected status, and (3) ‘so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it can be said to deprive the victim[s] of access to the educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school.'”

This time of year always tends to bring out the campus inanity; a couple of years ago a white Washburn University professor was investigated for allegedly dressing up as Michael Jackson from his video “Thriller.”

A few before months that, a University of Washington professor resigned over a 2009 photo of her dressed up as same.

In 2020, a school district superintendent was suspended for 40 days without pay — because a 2002 photo of him dressed in blackface at a Halloween party had come to light.

A year before that, University of Mississippi officials used a student who had “self-reported” himself for wearing blackface as a warning to others about the costume for that year’s Halloween.

And perhaps most hilariously, in 2022 an Arizona State instructor, also a member of a local school district DEI committee, accused a disco-themed party DJ of being dressed in blackface. Except there was problem: The DJ was black.

The instructor later conceded the issue could have been the “lighting.”

MORE: Rapper Diddy allegedly made ‘terrorist threats’ at UCLA and attacked someone with a kettleball

UPDATE: October 31 response from FIRE was included.

IMAGE: Allegra’s Diary/TikTok

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