Angela Poe Russell: Our inaction allowed Sean Combs’ alleged abuse to continue

“Whatever you do in the dark, eventually comes to light.”

It’s a bible verse that often rings true in everyday life. The caveat? When you have money and power, it just seems to take longer.

Jeffrey Epstein. R. Kelly. Harvey Weinstein. All went unchecked for years. And there are many others who have yet to face justice. Now, in the case of music mogul Sean Combs, the accusations go back more than 15 years.

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While I blame him for his alleged actions, I’m also reserving some anger for something else that stood out while reading the indictment — the people who knew about his behavior and did nothing about it.

The indictment against Diddy even said that physical abuse was quote “recurrent and widely known” and that he relied on associates, employees and business influence. Are we, as a society, so desperate for relevance and money that we can look at something so wrong and just pretend it’s not happening?

It’s understandable with trauma and recovery that victims are too fearful and ashamed to come forward. And Combs allegedly used violent tactics to keep them quiet.

But what about the bystanders? I think we’ve all had those moments where we see something and we want to speak up, but we freeze. And hours later, we wish we would have said or done something.

In some cases though, we do have an opportunity to make it right.

After the dust settles, you reflect and make a choice. And that choice is typically between courage or comfort. Being a whistleblower, it’s never easy being the person who speaks up. You can make enemies and face tons of harassment … or even violence.

In a majority of cases, it can be safely done, and I hope Diddy’s case is a wake-up call. A reminder that people engaging in this behavior do so because we as a culture are allowing it. Nothing changes if everyone looks the other way. And here’s the thing, intervening can happen in many different ways and it can be done safely.

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On the website No More, under the learn tab and bystander link, you can find common scenarios and tips on what to say and do.

While sex traffickers must own their crimes, we have to admit we are part of a culture in which this behavior exists. But whether it is allowed to continue is on us.

Angela Poe Russell is a local media personality and a fill-in host on KIRO Newsradio.