On a dimly-lit street in the grungy East Village sits a New York institution where on any given day, sheepish, lovelorn men seeking connections stream through the door. But in the entrance of the Turkish & Russian Bath on East 10th Street hangs a photograph of one very well-known face.
The grainy photograph shows a young Diddy, his face slightly hidden beneath a baseball hat, posing with a friend. It was taken during one of many visits owners say the rapper made throughout the course of the 90s – when he was at the height of his game as the King of Hip Hop.
Now, as he sits in a squalid jail cell accused of sex trafficking and horrendous abuse, the visits carry with them dark questions about how the rapper hid his unhealthy obsession with sex in plain sight of the world that revered him.
P. Diddy is pictured with a friend during one of his frequent visits at The Turkish & Russian Bath. The photograph hangs proudly in the lobby of the East Village institution
The unassuming three-story townhouse, nestled on 10th Street in the East Village, has been a destination for locals and celebrities alike since its founding a century and a half ago.
The unassuming three-story townhouse has been a destination for locals and celebrities alike since its founding a century and a half ago. Since 1892, men and women have flocked to this legendary bathhouse for its health benefits—to scrub, steam, relax, and rejuvenate.
Many visit innocently, looking for a place to rinse off the city after a hard day’s work. But for Diddy, the allure was deeper. That’s according to his former bodyguard, Gene Deal, who claims he visited to ‘cruise’ for male partners. On a recent rainy afternoon in September, DailyMail.com visited the notorious bathhouse. By 11.30am, a line of men was already waiting for the doors to open, ready to enjoy the ‘men-only’ session that runs from noon until 5pm.
The crowd included men of various ages, professions, and demographics. Some were newcomers. Others, veteran splashers. Many were fit and muscular while others looked well-fed with generous bellies. By 2pm, nearly 100 men had streamed through the basement of the bathhouse—some wrapped in small loincloths, others completely naked.
While many were there for nothing more than a steam, others quickly got frisky. When the men weren’t taking a dip in the heated freshwater pool or using the steam and sauna rooms, they indulged in therapeutic treatments—mud and salt scrubs, shiatsu massages, or the trademark platza oak leaf.
According to some staff members, that was one of Diddy’s favorite treatments. In an video interview with The Art of the Dialogue, Diddy’s former bodyguard Gene Deal spoke about the record producer’s trips to the Russian and Turkish Bath months before he was arrested for running a criminal enterprise. Deal claimed his boss would secretly meet up with gay men in the steam rooms, sometimes three times a week.
‘So you heard the rumors. I used to wait outside the Turkish baths for him,’ Deal told the producer, ‘that’s where a lot of gay men meet and all take hot baths together,’ he said. ‘So that is why, you know, twice, sometimes three times a week, me and the driver would be outside. ‘He’d run into the Turkish bath—you got that big-ass tub at home, but you want to come here?’ he laughed.
Diddy has never addressed the claims. The bodyguard also spoke about some of other Diddy’s escapades, recalling one of their trips to an exotic bookstore. The bath is not only for male patrons—there are designated times for women-only, and co-ed ‘couple’ times, when the men have to be dressed in shorts. The bath offers yearly and monthly memberships or just one-day passes starting at $60. Walk-ins are also welcome.
For Diddy, the days of a luxurious visit to the bathhouse that carries the sly chance of getting lucky are over. It’s safe to say his showers in Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center are far more straight forward – and solitary. Exactly what he did or didn’t get up to will remain hidden in a cloud of steam. DailyMail.com has reached out to the owners of the bathhouse but did not hear back.
