Diddy once addressed the famous rumour that he was made to pay Sting $5,000 a day for sampling his song without permission.
You’ve probably heard The Police’s 1983 hit ‘Every Breath You Take’ and drew similarities from this to Diddy’s own 1997 hit ‘I’ll Be Missing You’, featuring Faith Evans.
Well, that’s because the latter song sampled the former, with both topping the charts across the world – but Diddy once claimed that he had to pay The Police frontman, Sting, $5,000 (£3,880) in royalties per day for using the song without his blessing.
Does Sting make $35,000 a week from Diddy alone? (Paul Morigi/Getty Images)
But last year, the music executive clarified this comment and revealed the truth, once and for all.
‘I’ll Be Missing You’ was made in tribute to his late friend Biggie Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G, who died after a drive-by shooting in March 1997.
Apparently, Diddy only asked for permission to sample the iconic baseline from The Police’s original song after his own song was released.
During an interview with The Breakfast Club in 2018, Sting claimed that he got a payment of $2,000 (£1,550) from Combs for using his song without asking.
Combs then took to Twitter, replying to the clip saying: “Nope. 5K a day. Love to my brother @OfficialSting!”
Then in 2023, commenting on the claim that he made years previously, he wrote on X: “I want y’all to understand I was joking! It’s called being facetious! Me and @OfficialSting have been friends for a long time! He never charged me $3K or $5K a day for ‘Missing You’.
“He probably makes more than $5K a day from one of the biggest songs in history. LOVE.”
During the 2018 interview though, Sting clarified: “We’re very good friends now. It was a beautiful version of that song.”
Diddy is currently facing several charges (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Diddy, real name Sean Combs, is currently incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, as he awaits trial following his arrest.
In September, he was arrested at a Manhattan hotel before being charged with racketeering and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion.
Ever since, Combs has denied these allegations and pleaded not guilty after being accused of using his ‘power and prestige’ to drug sex workers for his alleged ‘freak-offs’.
US Attorney Damian Williams stated in September: “As alleged in the Indictment, for years, Sean Combs used the business empire he controlled to sexually abuse and exploit women, as well as to commit other acts of violence and obstruction of justice.
“Today, he is charged with racketeering and sex trafficking offences. If you have been a victim of Combs’ alleged abuse – or if you know anything about his alleged crimes – we urge you to come forward.”
Combs’ representatives then released a legal statement, claiming that ‘in court the truth will prevail’, while alleging: “Mr Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone – man or woman, adult or minor.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.
Featured Image Credit: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images / Paul Morigi/Getty Images
A woman who was a photographer at some of Diddy’s parties said she had a ‘scary’ moment when her camera was snatched away from her.
The musician, real name Sean Combs, is currently in jail with a plethora of accusations made against him.
Lawsuits have been filed which allege a number of incidents over a 25 year period, including some involving people who were underage at the time they are claimed to have occurred.
Combs is currently jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn after pleading not guilty to charges of racketeering, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution.
He has twice been denied bail, and after allegations that 120 people were planning to come forwards with lawsuits his legal representatives told us: “As Mr. Combs’ legal team has emphasised, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus.
Sean Combs has denied the allegations made against him and pleaded ‘not guilty’ to multiple charges. (Mark Mainz/Getty Images)
“That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors.
“He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”
Since claims were made against him a number of people have spoken out about his parties, with a comedian claiming to have attended one in 2010 where he said he saw people openly having sex in a Miami mansion.
Someone else who has made allegations about what the parties were like is celebrity photographer Selma Fonseca, who says she went to ’20 or 30 Diddy parties’ in total.
She said she didn’t witness the alleged ‘freak offs’ which are claimed to have occurred at the parties, but did say that some people who attended brought their kids and alleged that Diddy told them to ‘put the kids away’ so people could ‘groove on’.
Speaking to Fox, the photographer said there was a ‘scary’ moment where her camera was confiscated from her.
A photographer who claims she attended numerous Diddy parties said she once had her camera confiscated. (Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage)
Fonseca said she never felt ‘unsafe’, at one of Diddy’s parties but in 2006 she claimed he told one of his bodyguards to confiscate her camera, but stated that no photos were deleted.
She said: “Diddy was in a VIP area, and I saw there was a girl next to him that I had never seen before.
“I took pictures of him with the girl, and he told his bodyguard ‘go get her camera.’ The bodyguard came and said ‘let me see the pictures’.
“Diddy looked at the pictures, and I’m waiting, and he’s pouring shots, having fun. He did eventually give me my camera back.
“He never asked me for my camera, I had been photographing the man for 20 years. It was scary, but he knew better.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.
Featured Image Credit: Mark Mainz/Getty Images / Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage
Janice Smalls Combs, the mother of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, has spoken out against the allegations made about her son.
The musician is currently in jail after being arrested in New York City on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs has denied the charges laid against him, submitting a plea of not guilty, while his legal representatives said he was looking forward to his day in court.
They said in a statement to LADbible Group: “As Mr. Combs’ legal team has emphasised, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus.
”That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors. He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”
Diddy’s mother Janice Smalls Combs said her son wasn’t perfect but claimed she was watching a ‘public lynching of my son before he has had the opportunity to prove his innocence’ (Carley Margolis/FilmMagic)
Now, his mother, 84-year-old Janice Smalls Combs, has told the Daily Mail that her son was not perfect, but claimed that the allegations now made against him came from ‘those seeking a financial gain’.
She said: “I come to you today as a mother that is devastated and profoundly saddened by the allegations made against my son, Sean Combs.
“It is heartbreaking to see my son judged not for the truth, but for a narrative created out of lies. To bear witness what seems to be like a public lynching of my son before he has had the opportunity to prove his innocence is a pain too unbearable to put into words.
“I am not here to portray my son as perfect because he is not.”
She then spoke about a case where Diddy reached a settlement with his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, after hotel CCTV footage from 2016 showed him assaulting her.
Janice Smalls Combs claimed that people saw how quickly her son settled with Cassie Ventura and decided to try for ‘a quick payday’ by making allegations (Michael Tran/FilmMagic)
“He has made mistakes in his past, as we all have,” Janice Smalls Combs said.
“My son may not have been entirely truthful about certain things, such as denying he has ever gotten violent with an ex-girlfriend when the hotel’s surveillance showed otherwise.
“Sometimes, the truth and a lie become so closely intertwined that it becomes terrifying to admit one part of the story, especially when that truth is outside the norm or is too complicated to be believed.”
Diddy’s mother said this was why she believed her son’s legal team settled the matter instead of contesting it, and claimed that the recent allegations against her son were ‘motivated by those seeking a financial gain, and not justice’.
She said her son would get his day in court where he could ‘finally share his side’ and ‘prove his innocence’ (John Nacion/WireImage)
Combs claimed that her son’s accusers ‘believe they can receive a quick payday by falsely accusing my son’, and stated that false allegations ‘thwart true victims of sexual violence from getting the justice they deserve’.
She insisted that ‘not being entirely straightforward’ about one case ‘does not mean my son is guilty of the repulsive allegations and the grave charges leveled against him’ and said other people had been convicted on false accusations.
The musician’s mother said the worst part for her was ‘watching my beloved son be stripped of his dignity, not for what he did, but for what people choose to believe about him’.
She said: “My son is not the monster they have painted him to be, and he deserves the chance to tell his side. I can only pray that I am alive to see him speak his truth and be vindicated.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.
Featured Image Credit: Michael Tran/FilmMagic / Carley Margolis/FilmMagic
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing
One of Avicii’s friends in the music industry wishes he understood the meaning of one of his most famous songs as he now realises that it was a devastating cry for help.
The Swedish artist sadly took his own life in April 2018 in Muscat, Oman, as he was understood to be struggling with the pressures and lifestyle that came with being a worldwide DJ star that was regularly touring.
The 28-year-old was said to be like a ‘zombie’ in his final days, as the introverted artist continued to struggle with fame and his own mental health, as the harrowing last words in his diary spoke levels of the pain he was going through.
He wrote a message hinting at rebirth, saying: “The shedding of the soul is the last attachment, before it restarts!”
A new documentary about the DJ’s life premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday (9 June), featuring exclusive interviews with his family, loved ones, friends in the music industry and even from the artist himself.
Some of his words are also used in a powerful narration during the film, which hasn’t had an announcement on a wider release as of yet.
One of his friends and collaborators, Aloe Blacc, recently spoke out about his late friend and peer, saying that he wished he had acted sooner after seeing some warning signs.
Avicii took his own life in 2018 at the age of 28. (Rich Polk/Getty Images for Rolling Stone)
The pair are best known for their song, 2013 hit ‘Wake Me Up’, which has over two billion streams on streaming platform Spotify.
Blacc opened up on his heartbreak when he read the lyrics to another one of their big hits together, called ‘SOS’.
Following Avicii’s passing, the Swede’s record label executives asked Blacc to sing on the track, which would be released in a posthumous album for the artist, called ‘TIM’.
When performing the vocals for the song, he explained that he properly read and understood the words, calling it a ‘cry for help’.
“I got the lyrics from the record label and I looked at them and I thought, ‘How am I getting this S.O.S. as a song after Tim’s gone,’” he told Good Morning America in 2019.
The 45-year-old continued: “It felt like… all of us really wanted to have this message way before, so that we could have been there to support him.
“He had written in his notes that he wanted me to sing this song, but he never communicated that to me. He communicated other things via emails and text messages,” Blacc revealed.
The artist was highly successful in his career, but he was also incredibly troubled away from it. (Lester Cohen/WireImage/Getty)
The soul-singer further said that he was ‘flattered’ that Avicii requested that he features on the track, which was sent to his producers with some new music before his death.
Blacc explained: “I was super impressed with the way that he could create melodies on the drop of a dime and come up with great productions and sonic landscapes and he was impressed with my voice,
“I think he just knew with this song I could attack it and accomplish what he was looking for. I’m glad that I got a chance to do that,” he concluded.
Some of the lines from the song read: “Can you hear me? SOS, help me put my mind to rest.
“Two times clean again, I’m actin’ low, a pound of weed and a bag of blow…”
“I get robbed of all my sleep, as my thoughts begin to bleed.”
Blacc thought that if anyone had paid any attention to the lyrics, the DJ could have got the help he needed prior to taking his own life.
Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
Grey’s Anatomy actor Jack Merrill has opened up to the public about his harrowing experience with a notorious US serial killer, saying “If I’d fought him I would be dead.”
Active between the years of 1972 to 1978 near Chicago, Illinois, John Wayne Gacy was found guilty and convicted of sexually assaulting, torturing and murdering 33 young men and boys.
He was later sentenced to death for his crimes and executed by lethal injection in 1994.
Decades after his ordeal, Law & Order cast member Merrill, 65, has now decided to reveal that he was assaulted by Gacy at the age of 19, after accepting a ride in his car one evening.
Sharing the account with PEOPLE, Merrill explained that he had been walking home after swimming when a car pulled alongside of him and offered a lift.
The driver was Gacy, who has often been referred to as ‘The Killer Clown’ due to his work as a clown prior to being discovered.
He then recalled how Gacy instructed him to lock the car door as it was ‘dangerous’ outside, questioned if he’d ever taken ‘poppers’ before knocking him unconscious with a liquid splashed onto a flannel.
Merrill then went on to explain that he came round to find himself in handcuffs outside Gacy’s house before the serial killer led him inside, placed him in restraints and began to sexually assault the actor.
Actor Jack Merrill has revealed his experience with a serial killer John Wayne Gacy earlier this week (Greg Doherty/Getty Images)
“I knew if I fought him, I didn’t have much of a chance. I never freaked out or yelled,” Merrill explained.
“I also felt sorry for him in a way, like he didn’t necessarily want to be doing what he was doing, but he couldn’t stop. We’d been there for hours.
“Finally, I could tell he was tiring. All of a sudden he said, ‘I’ll take you home’.”
Merrill then went on to add that Gacy dropped him off in the street and handed over his number before driving off, with the now actor deciding against going to the police (he was unaware that Gacy was a serial killer at the time) and made a pact to himself to ‘get past this’.
The actor then went on to explain that he chose not to open up to his parents due to his difficult home circumstances and relationship with his parents, only confiding to his sister.
John Wayne Gacy raped, tortured and killed 33 young men and boys (Bureau of Prisons/Getty Images)
Explaining why he had decided to come forward about his experience, Merrill revealed that he’d written a one man show named The Save to tell his story.
He also revealed how he’d previously been made to feel ashamed about what had happened after broaching the idea of telling his story with a Hollywood movie executive.
“He said ‘That’s how you want to be remembered?’,” Merrill recalled. “It stopped me at that time… but then I came to the realisation that it’s my story. It might be ugly, but it’s mine.”
