Sean "Diddy" Combs Didn't Really Offer Sting $5K: Hip-Hop Mogul Sets the Record Straight

Sean “Diddy” Combs' recently said that he pays Sting $5,000 a day in royalties for sampling Every Breath You Take in his 1997 song I’ll Be Missing You. Diddy has now confirmed that his statement about Sting was actually a joke. 

“I want y’all to understand I was joking!” Diddy wrote on Twitter Friday. “It’s called being Facetious! Me and @OfficialSting have been friends for a long time!" Diddy said that the rocker “never charged me $3K or $5K a day” for I’ll Be Missing You, the rapper’s hit tribute song to the late Biggie Smalls. “He probably makes more than $5K a day from one of the biggest songs in history,” Diddy concluded.

The music mogul sent Twitter users into a frenzy Wednesday when he retweeted a resurfaced clip from the rocker's 2018 interview with The Breakfast Club, where he first spoke about the agreement, initially stating that he receives $2,000 a day from Diddy.  “5K a day. Love to my brother [Sting],” tweeted Diddy. The tweet, which amassed more than 7.6 million views, came as a correction to Sting telling the morning show host Charlamagne Tha God that Diddy had to pay him $2,000 a day for co-opting his Grammy-winning hit.

On the show, when asked if the Bad Boy tycoon had truly agreed to the pricey royalties deal, Sting said, “Yeah, for the rest of his life.” For clarity, Charlamagne questioned, “Did he ask you for permission?” to which Sting replied, “Yes, he did.”  However, the Roxanne rocker went on to reveal that Diddy waited to request the use of the chart-topper until after his song had already hit the airwaves. Despite the alleged shadiness, Sting said of the rap icon, “We’re very good friends now.”

I'll Be Missing You served as a tribute to The Notorious B.I.G., who died in 1997 at 24. Faith Evans — his former wife and mother to his 26-year-old son C.J. Wallace, accompanied Diddy for the track alongside the R&B group 112. After its release, the track went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned Diddy awards at the 1997 Billboard Music Awards ceremony for top rap artist and top rap song.

The rapper most recently reflected on their friendship in a tweet shared on the 26th anniversary of his death in March. "There will NEVER be another. The GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME" wrote Diddy. "Today we celebrate and honor you King. Love and miss you!!"

The actual status of Diddy and Sting's royalties matter remains unclear, but it appears there's no bad blood between the two, as the latter said in his interview that they're "very good friends now." They even posed together for a photo at the 2018 Grammy Awards.