Sean Combs AKA Puff Daddy, P Diddy and Diddy may be one of the most recognisable figures in the historically male-dominated genre of hip-hop, but he also made his name by working with numerous female artists including Lil Kim, Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige – and singer Cassie Ventura, who launched her singing career with his label Bad Boy Records in 2006 and was in a relationship with Combs from 2007 to 2018. This week she has accused him of rape and severe physical abuse during their relationship, allegations he has denied.
A man of many guises as well as names – rapper, impresario, entrepreneur, actor and fashion designer – the Harlem-born 54-year-old was a talent director at Uptown Records before he started production company/label Bad Boy Entertainment in 1993. Combs and Bad Boy turned the street rapper Christopher Wallace – AKA Biggie Smalls or the Notorious BIG – into a huge star. Then, amid a fierce rivalry between east coast-based Bad Boy and Suge Knight’s west coast label Death Row, unidentified assailants murdered the latter’s Tupac Shakur (in 1996) and then Wallace (in 1997). Combs and singer Faith Evans, Wallace’s widow, recorded the tribute I’ll Be Missing You about his protege. The song topped the US chart for 11 weeks, rocketing the first Puff Daddy album No Way Out to seven-times platinum status and Combs into hip-hop’s commercial stratosphere.
Combs’ subsequent albums didn’t reach such commercial high points. Still, he has picked up three Grammys, was the first male rapper on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and both cultivated and produced successful artists including Boyz II Men, KRS-One, Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J and Usher. Arguably his greatest talent is as an entrepreneur. After launching the Sean John clothing line in 1998 on the back of his musical success he was named the 2004 designer of the year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. He has been a brand ambassador for a vodka company since 2007, has occasionally acted and in 2013 co-founded a TV network, Revolt.
Combs has been the subject of controversies since he first emerged in the public eye: in 1991, nine people were crushed to death in New York at a charity basketball game he had promoted. He was found liable for damages in 1999. That year, he also pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment after an altercation with a music business executive; in December a jostle involving Combs led to a shooting at a Manhattan nightclub. He was charged with several crimes including illegal gun possession but acquitted on all counts.
Combs once said his goals in life were to “get money, have fun and treat a woman like a queen” and he certainly succeeded at the former. In 2022 Forbes estimated his net worth at $1bn. His longest known relationships were with the late Kimberly Porter, on and off from 1994 to 2007, and then Ventura, as well as notable shorter spells with singer Jennifer Lopez and actor Cameron Diaz. He has fathered seven children with various women, most recently a daughter born in 2022.
