Bad Boy CEO P. Diddy (Sean Combs) has opened up about his painful experience of loss following the recent death of his former girlfriend Kim Porter.
The rapper spoke about his emotions in an interview with Essence magazine, and also appears on the cover of the magazine’s May issue with all of his children to pay tribute to Kim.
Kim is the late mother of three of Diddy’s children. She died tragically from pneumonia in November 2018. Diddy revealed that before she died, Porter asked him to take care of their children, 21-year-old Christian and 12-year-old twins Jessie and D’Lila.
Diddy also talked about the impact of Porter’s recent death and how it taught him to prioritize his responsibilities as a father and put family first in every situation. He shared memories of the shock and trauma he went through when he first learned that she had died.
“She was unforgettable. That day turned my world upside down. Three days before she passed, she wasn’t feeling well,” he said. “She had the flu, and she sent the kids over to my house so they wouldn’t get sick.”
“One night I was checking on her, and she was like, ‘Puffy, take care of my babies.’ She actually said that to me before she died,” he added.
He told Essence that his priorities changed after Porter’s death and that since she died he has been setting aside more time for his family.
“Before this, I was a part-time father, you know? My family was always first, but there are countless times when I chose work over everything else,” Diddy said. “But every day I can hear her telling me to go and spend some time with the kids and make sure everybody’s all right, like she would do. I’m just a lot more present, and, most important, now my kids come before anything else in my life.”
Diddy also praised his kids for helping him to adjust to their mother’s passing.
Diddy’s latest comments come soon after he recently voiced regret that he never married Porter. His comment was in response to an Instagram fan who called him out for never marrying Porter and honoring her only after she had died.
“I was scared,” he wrote on Instagram. “I wasn’t ready and that’s it. I’m ready now, but it’s too late. Don’t be like me.”
Porter died in her Toluca Lake, California home in November 2018 at the age of 47. She and Diddy were in a relationship in the 1990s.