Take one particular bash in the spring of 2008 at Combs's house in the Hollywood Hills. The attendees included musicians Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes,
Mel B and
Lionel Richie; actors
Ben Stiller,
Ashton Kutcher and
Denzel Washington; socialites
Nicole Richie, Paris and
Nicky Hilton; and tennis stars Venus and
Serena Williams.
'And they were just the ones I recognised,' says my contact, a Hollywood insider, who prefers to remain anonymous, and attended this extraordinary party as the plus one of a friend of the host himself.

Sean 'P Diddy' Combs at one of his parties in Miami in 2004, with a naked woman as a centrepiece
The picture my contact paints comes in a week where the events at Combs's parties are being thrown into newly sharp focus, with many allegations emerging of rapes, abuse and coercion.
Yesterday, for example, photographs emerged from a star-studded party in 2004 which showed Combs eating food from the body of a naked woman who acted as the centrepiece of a platter – with just a green leaf covering her private parts. Guests appeared to be completely unfazed by the spectacle.
Actors Will Smith, Owen Wilson and Bruce Willis were also pictured at the same party.
While there's no suggestion any celebrity in attendance at this party – nor the one my contact attended in 2008 – took part in or witnessed illegal activities, the optics, to put it mildly, are still not good.
And, according to my source, the story is potentially set to get even more squalid – if that's possible, considering that investigators have already seized a thousand bottles of baby oil and other lubricants while carrying out raids on Combs's properties.
For, along with a guest list reading like a celebrity Who's Who entry, there was another apparently essential element to the Combs party he attended: a number of very young looking girls.

Combs with socialite Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian at one of his White Parties in St Tropez in 2006
Say what you like about P Diddy 's parties, but they were certainly memorable - for those 'privileged' enough to make it onto the strict invitation list at least.
www.dailymail.co.uk