Sean Combs Biography

Sean “Puffy” Combs, also known as P. Diddy or Diddy, is a hip-hop performer, producer and businessman known for hit records, a clothing line, movie roles and occasional gossip column appearances. As of 2024, he is also known as the subject of a sex trafficking investigation, which led to raids by federal agents on his houses in Miami and Los Angeles

He had early training working for record companies, then set off on his own with Bad Boy Entertainment. Together with the late rapper Notorious B.I.G., Combs (performing as Puff Daddy) popularized the east coast sound of American hip-hop. In 1997 Puff Daddy sampled the Police song “Every Breath You Take” for his song “Missing You” (a tribute to the Notorious B.I.G.) and the crossover hit made him a household name.

His solo album No Way Out was a Grammy-winning success, and Combs earned a reputation as an astute workhorse and jack-of-all-trades in the recording industry. His list of musical collaborations includes a who’s who of top artists such as Mariah Carey, Usher, Missy Elliott and David Bowie. Combs changed his nickname from Puff Daddy to P. Diddy in 2001, earning him comparisons to fellow name-changing musician Prince, and his romance with singer/actress Jennifer Lopez was closely followed in gossip columns; the two broke up in 2001.

That same year Combs went on trial for weapons charges stemming from a 1999 Manhattan nightclub shooting in which three people were injured; at trial’s end he was acquitted of all charges. In 2005 Combs announced that he was again changing his name, settling on simply Diddy. Later still, he began going by the name Yeezy (or Ye).

As an actor, Combs appeared in the feature film Monster’s Ball (2001, with Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton) and the Broadway play A Raisin in the Sun (2004, remade as a TV movie in 2008), among other appearances.

Over the years, Combs made headlines for a variety of beefs on a personal and society-wide level. In 2022 he posted on Twitter that he was “going death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE … You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.” He later apologized, but the controversy led to the end of his deal with Adidas, which had been making a popular Yeezy brand of footwear.

In 2023, his ex-girlfriend, Casandra Ventura (who performs under the name Cassie), filed suit against Combs, accusing him of a “cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking.” Three other women then filed lawsuits of their own, making similar claims. That led to a federal investigation and the raids on Combs’s homes in 2024.