Diddy mourns Kim Porter: How her sudden death changed his life forever
Sean "Diddy" Combs is remembering Kim Porter one year after her sudden death. The model and actress, who shared three kids with the hip hop mogul, died from lobar pneumonia at age 47. Diddy shared a broken heart emoji on the eve of the anniversary.
On Friday, he wrote, "today is gonna be a beautiful day."
Porter and Diddy met when he was an A&R executive at Uptown Records and began dating in 1994. They were on and off, but together for the better part of 15 years. They never married, something he apparently regrets. Although Diddy and Porter were not romantically involved when she passed away on Nov. 15. 2018, they were very close and raised all their children as one family. Aside from the three kids they shared — twin girls Jessie James and D’Lila, 12, and son Christian, 21 — Porter had a son Quincy, 28, while Diddy is father to daughter Chance, 13, and 25-year-old son, Justin. Diddy has publicly grieved Porter over the last year.
"I don’t know what I’m going to do without you baby. I miss you so much," he wrote on Instagram last year. "Today I’m going to pay tribute to you, I’m going to try and find the words to explain our unexplainable relationship. We were more than best friends, we were more than soulmates. WE WERE SOME OTHER S**T!! And I miss you so much. Super Black Love."
In April, Diddy tearfully opened up to Dream Hampton for Essence, saying the day Porter died "turned my world upside down."
"Three days before she passed, she wasn’t feeling well. She had the flu, and she sent the kids over to my house so they wouldn’t get sick," he recalled. "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 continued, "Every time Kim and I talked, it was about the kids. It was what she cared about the most. We’d check in as friends, of course, but we never had a conversation that didn’t include the kids. ... On some level I knew she was training me for this. I knew that I had to be ready to do whatever I was supposed to do if something like this ever happened. There was screaming and crying when I heard the news, of course, but I had to ask myself, ‘What would Kim do?’"
Prior to Porter's death, Diddy said he was a "part-time father" and while family "was always first," there were times he would prioritize work. Now, Diddy explained, "I’m just a lot more present, and, most important, now my kids come before anything else in my life."
Diddy praised the mothers of his children for helping out after Porter passed away.
"Kim was about love, and all of that care she gave to us every day, we just came together. It really made me proud that even though I didn’t get married, Kim and I, along with the other mothers of my children, raised a great family," he told Essence. "We have a great family. The way we’re handling it is together. From Sarah [Chapman, Chance’s mom] to Misa [Hylton-Brim, Justin’s mother] to all of Kim’s friends, the grandparents—it takes a village. We’re doing really well because her passing has changed us and made us love each other more. I’m happy to say that, because at first I really didn’t know how we’d be doing."
Over the past year, Diddy has tried to move on romantically, too. In July, rumors swirled the 50-year-old entrepreneur was dating Steve Harvey's 22-year-old stepdaughter, Lori. They were photographed looking affectionate from Italy to Cabo, but they reportedly split in October.
"Him and Lori had a fun fling, but Diddy is still healing and focusing on himself right now," a source told E! News of the breakup. "He is not ready to be in a longterm committed relationship and is focusing on his kids right now."
And that's exactly what he seems to be doing. Along with spending time with his kids, Diddy continues to keep Porter’s memory alive on his social media pages.
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
Selena Gomez backs Taylor Swift in dispute with Scooter Braun, Big Machine
Mo'Nique sues Netflix for racial, gender discrimination over comedy special: 'I chose to stand up'
Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle’s newsletter.
