Speaking in 2017, during an interview with Australian radio hosts Kyle and Jackie O on KIIS FMPayne said: “I went over to talk to him and Jay Zand as I shook his hand he just chuckled… the meanest laugh I’ve ever heard.
“So I’m a little scared of that guy.”
Payne later explained that he felt “nervous” approaching Diddy at the party, as he also stood next to the Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
But of the three showbiz giants, he chose to approach Diddy.
He said: “It was the most terrifying celebrity experience you could imagine.
“I thought P Diddy was a safe bet. Obviously I missed the mark a little bit.”
Payne plunged to his death from a 130-foot hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, where he was staying to watch his ex-One Direction bandmate Niall Horan performing in concert.
Before his death, Payne had been behaving erratically in the hotel foyer and had destroyed his laptop.
According to local media, he had to be carried back to his room.
The staff called the police in panic and reported an ‘aggressive man who was possibly under the influence of drugs and alcohol’.
Footage taken from Payne’s hotel room featuring a broken TV screen, smashed burnt aluminum foil in a bathtub, plus white powder and other drug paraphernalia strewn across a wooden surface, have since gone viral.
Meanwhile, Diddy has defiantly claimed “the truth will prevail” after facing more lawsuits, including one claim alleging the music mogul molested a 16-year-old boy.
The 54-year-old rapper released a statement through his lawyers claiming that the latest allegations against him were a “publicity coup” and reiterated his innocence.
“In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually abused anyone – adult or minor, male or female.”
Diddy is currently being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after multiple allegations of sexual assault and rape.
His trial date has been set for May 5 next year, the same day during Vogue magazine’s annual MET Gala, which Diddy has attended in the past.
The rapper was not invited to this year’s Gala due to his federal investigation.