Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ on-again-off-again relationship with ex-partner Kim Porter has gained renewed interest amid the rapper’s arrest on sex trafficking charges. The late model, who died in 2018 at the age of 47, was in a tumultuous relationship with Diddy between 1994 to 2007. They also became parents to three children and her last words were dedicated to her kids.
In an interview with ESSENCE , the now-disgraced music mogul reflected on Porter’s death following the year of her passing. He told the outlet, “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.'” Parenthood seemingly ‘meant everything’ to Porter, and during her final days, her sole focus was her children. Though these words weren’t exactly her last, Diddy insisted, “She actually said that to me before she died,” meaning it was the last conversation he had with his ex-partner .
The 54-year-old musician has three children with Porter: 26-year-old Christian and 17-year-old twins Jessie James and D’Lila. In addition, Diddy assisted his late partner in raising her 33-year-old son Quincy from her previous relationship. As such, in the wake of Diddy’s arrest, the teenage twins are currently residing with Porter’s best friend Lala, who is not their legal guardian but has been a caregiver to them for a couple of years now. Quincy, Justin (Diddy’s 30-year-old son with fashion designer Misa Hylton), and Christian have been attending the rapper’s legal proceedings.
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Though the former couple welcomed three kids, they never got married. After Porter’s sudden death by pneumonia, Diddy shared his regret over not tying the knot with her. In 2019, he shared a photograph on his Instagram account where he’s cuddling with Porter on a couch and captioned it ‘SMH’ (meaning: shaking my head) with a broken heart emoji. Under the post, one fan wrote, “When she was alive you didn’t wanna marry her.” Diddy replied, “I know. Played myself, smh.”
The day after Porter died, a source close to the rapper told PEOPLE, “Diddy is devastated and shocked. He and Kim were still very close friends and co-parents even though their romantic relationship didn’t work. They were still a family.” Another insider confirmed, “This is the most awful, sad, and unreal situation for him. He isn’t sleeping. Despite not being together romantically, he loved Kim. It was really true love, and he is hurting badly right now.”
Three days after Porter’s death, Diddy broke his silence on losing her. He wrote on his Instagram, “For the last three days I’ve been trying to wake up out of this nightmare. But I haven’t. I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, baby. I miss you so much. We were more than best friends, we were more than soulmates. And I miss you so much.”