While promoting his new fragrance, 3AM, on Watch What Happens Live, Diddy told Andy Cohen he wasn’t ready for marriage anytime soon but that he would sign a “love contract” instead.

OK, let me wrap my head around this, and then decode it.

I’m all for making your own rules when it comes to love, as long as both parties involved are happy, but here’s the thing: Isn’t that what marriage is, a love contract? Diddy even went as far as to say his contract would include a financial agreement of sorts. This setup that he describes (as if it were something brand new) sounds exactly like marriage, without the label and without being recognized by law.

So it raises a few questions... A) Is Diddy a commitment-phobe who has been so scarred from his past relationships that he’s in fear of screwing up his current one? B) Maybe this is his way of keeping Cassie happy, without the responsibility that comes with being a "real" husband. C) Is marriage becoming a thing of the past and is this the new direction relationships are headed in?

Call me old fashioned, but I’m not ready to throw away the institution of marriage for a “love contract,” especially one written by Diddy. Or better yet, I’ll sign your contract as long as we have a marriage license, too. In this day and age, where everything is all about a piece of paper, logistics and the legal system, I can see the appeal of wanting to throw it all out the window and create your own definition of love, but at the same time, we don’t live in a hippy-dippy world where we have the freedom to do so.

Both parties in the relationship need to be protected and there will be situations that arise where this “love contract” just won’t cut it. I can picture it now — his longtime girlfriend, Cassie, drafting an amendment year after year to address the loopholes of this so-called commitment.

I applaud Diddy for wanting to keep the focus on the love rather than the system, but let’s call it what it is: an open relationship. My only hope that Cassie is happy with just “doing the Goldie Hawn thing,” as he put it (a reference to the actress and Kurt Russell, who have famously avoided marriage after 32 years of dating). She seems like a committed, loyal girlfriend and the type of woman any guy would love to lock down. But that’s just me.
What’s your stance when it comes to marriage vs. a “love contract”? Sound off below, and take our poll to the right!

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