Hip Hop Royalty: A Look Back At Kim Porter And Diddy’s Rollercoaster 13-Year Relationship
Former model and actress Kim Porter passed away on Thursday (Nov. 15) at the age of 47.
While she made a name for herself ripping the runway and serving major 'lewks' during the '90's, the proud mom of four's on-again off-again relationship with music mogul, Diddy, kept her in the headlines as one of hip-hop's earliest #couplegoals.
Here's a look back on their relationship through the years:
Diddy reminisced on meeting Kim Porter when he worked as an A&R exec at Uptown Records, during a December 2006 chat with "ESSENCE."
"The first time I saw her, she was at the studio with her ex-boyfriend (singer Al B. Sure, the father of Porter’s oldest child, Quincy) I wasn’t trying to holler at her or anything, but I was admiring her—her lips, her eyes, her mouth, her shape, her energy—and thinking, ‘I wish I had a girl like that,'" he explained.
He followed up with details on what set Kim Porter apart from the rest.
"She wasn’t like a New York girl. She was Bohemian, mixed with Georgia-peach hospitality. I got the idea she’d like doing stuff like walking barefoot in the grass. I didn’t think I could get her to like me.She was smooth, you know, like ice. She’s cool and collected and thinks before she speaks. You meet a lot of young ladies, and they just don’t do that. Kim was never pressed; she was always in control."
Despite Diddy's initial interest, they didn't begin dating until 1994.
"It just didn’t feel right without her. I’m talking about from a strip club to playing poker, she would be there. The girl could even throw a football."
Their relationship took a turn after Porter got pregnant with their son, Christian, in 1997. Diddy soon began dating Jennifer Lopez from 1998 to 2000, but Kim Porter remained unfazed by the media circus.
"That relationship wasn’t real... The world just saw the bright lights and the camera. But I knew what was really going on. He was still in love with me... He was calling fifty, sixty times a day. Sometimes I wouldn’t even talk to him because I was so angry. I couldn’t be ‘nice Kim.’ I had to be, you know, that bitch. Like, this is not going down.”
Things intensified with Porter kicking Diddy out of the home they shared together.
"I told him someone’s got to go, and it isn’t going to be me and these kids."
Despite reuniting and welcoming twin daughters in 2006, Porter spilled the deets on their final breakup in an interview with "ESSENCE."
"There was no other way. You think he would have let me walk out the door? He wouldn’t have wanted me to go. I wanted to be dramatic. I wanted him to know I wasn’t breaking up with him for two weeks-or maybe leaving for two days. If I pack up everything – twins and all- it means I’m out," she said.
Porter opened up about learning that Diddy fathered a daughter named Chance, with another woman, Sarah Chapman, months before the arrival of their twin daughters in December 2006.
"He told me that he may have gotten himself into a situation and he may have fathered another child outside the relationship and I said, ‘Really? Well, I already knew. I’m glad you decided to be a man.'I was like, ‘Dude, this is so wack I can’t even respect you right now.’ And for me, once the respect is gone, I’m not even listening to you,” Porter explained.
Despite their split, the duo managed to maintain a loving relationship.
"Sean and I have this bond, this friendship. It’s not about ‘if you’re faithful to me, if I’m being faithful to you.’ We’re friends. I’m the person he can tell his inner most thoughts to and he’s that person for me. He still calls me everyday and we talk. There’s no ill feeling or ‘I can’t stand you, I hate you, don’t call.’ There’s none of that. We have three children together so that’s just not an option. We’re committed to our children even if we couldn’t commit to each other."
Their relationship remained on the up and up until the very end. Diddy gave Kim Porter a special shout out on what turned out to be her final birthday.
One of Porter's final Instagram posts was a tribute to Diddy and their blended family.
