Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs honoured his late ex-partner Kim Porter as he accepted the Lifetime Achievement prize at the BET Awards on Sunday.
During his speech, the rapper gave a shout out to several people who have influenced his life, including his mum Janice Combs, Uptown Records founder Andre Harrell and Bobby Brown.
He also candidly revealed how much he still misses Kim, the mother of three of his children, following her death aged 47 in November 2018.
“I just miss Kim, y’all,” Diddy said. “I know we all go through grief and stuff like that in this life, you know, stay connected to God and he’ll bring you out. This is not – we don’t control this. But I miss Kim so much and I just want to say thank you to Kim.”
Diddy was in an on-and-off relationship with Kim for 13 years before they split in 2007. They remained close until she passed away.
The 52-year-old also gave a shout out to his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, whom he dated between 2007 and 2018, as he thanked people who were “really there” for him when he was in “a dark place for a few years”. He said, “And also Cassie, for holding me down in the dark times, love.”
Diddy concluded his speech by announcing plans to donate $1 million (£816,000) to Howard University, which he briefly attended in the ’80s, and to Deion Sanders, the head American football coach at Jackson State University.
“I want to donate a million dollars to Howard University,” he told the crowd. “Also I’m gonna drop another million dollars on Deion Sanders and Jackson State, because we should play for us. Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart, I love y’all – peace.”
Kanye West and Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmond shared tributes to Diddy before he was presented with the award.
