Diddy tape puts renewed focus on the women in his life

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — The surveillance video of Sean “Diddy” Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, comes days after he paid tribute on social media to some of the women in his life, including the mothers of his seven children and his own mother, Janice Combs.

Interest in the footage, obtained exclusively by CNN, has stoked conversation about not only his past with Ventura, whom he dated from 2007 to 2018, but also some of his other former relationships.

Ventura documented their relationship in a lawsuit last year in which she alleged Combs raped and subjected her to years of repeated physical and other abuses over the course of their more than a decade together. Combs has denied Ventura’s allegations. The suit was settled a day after it was filed, but it has led to questions about his possible behavior in other relationships.

Here are some of the women Combs has had partnerships with.

Misa Hylton

The fashion stylist credits Combs, in part, for her career.

In 2017, Hylton-Brim told Billboard magazine she began styling music artists when she was a 17-year-old high schooler and found herself in the “right place, right time.”

“My boyfriend at the time was Sean Combs (aka P. Diddy), who was an intern when we met and had just got promoted to A&R,” she told the publication. “I was there as he was working with [R&B group Jodeci] and shaping their album. I was able to help him work on the image and to sell it to [Uptown Records head] Andre Harrell.”

She’s been hailed as the most influential stylist in hip-hop in the 1990s, working with artists like Lil Kim, Mary J. Blige and others who were on Combs’ Bad Boy Records label.

Hylton gave birth to Combs’ first child, Justin, in December 1993. The two split soon after but appear to have amicably co-parented over the years.

Kim Porter

Porter, a model who also was one of the founders of a lifestyle company in Atlanta, was Combs’ off-and-on girlfriend for more than a decade.

He helped raise her son Quincy Brown, whose biological father is R&B singer Al B. Sure. Porter and Combs welcomed their first biological child together, a son named Christian, in April 1998. Their twin daughters, D’Lila and Jessie, were born in December 2006.

The couple split for good the following year after Porter learned that Combs was also expecting a child with his friend, businesswoman Sarah Chapman, around the same time she was pregnant with their twins.

Porter talked to Essence magazine shortly after the split and explained her reasons for ending the relationship.

“I left because at this point in my life I want something different for myself,” she said. “I invested ten years, I have children, and I’ve always stood by him. But now it’s time for me and what I want to do for Kim.”

The pair maintained a close relationship until Porter died after a brief illness in November 2018. She was 47.

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office later ruled her death the result of pneumonia.

Jennifer Lopez

Lopez was already a star when she began dating Combs in 1999. While their relationship only lasted for two years, they were the focus of a lot of media attention in that time.

She stood beside him after the couple, Combs’ bodyguard Anthony “Wolf” Jones and the rapper Shyne Barrow, a Combs protégé, were involved in a disagreement at Club New York in Manhattan that ended with gunfire.

Three people were injured, and while the men and Lopez were initially arrested, charges against her were soon dropped. Combs and Jones were later acquitted in the incident.

Lopez and Combs split in 2001, and two years later she told Vibe magazine infidelity played a role in their breakup.

”It was the first time I was with someone who wasn’t faithful,” she said. ”I was in this relationship with Puff (the nickname Combs went by at the time) where I was totally crying, crazy and going nuts, it really took my whole life in a tailspin.”

The former couple remained friends, however.

Sarah Chapman

Chapman, an Atlanta-based businesswoman and longtime friend of Combs, welcomed their daughter, Chance, in July 2006. While she has lived pretty privately, their daughter has been more in the spotlight.

Chance Combs was her father’s date for the 2022 Academy Awards and shared that she was an aspiring actress.

“Zendaya is one of my biggest inspirations and someone that I really want to work with in the future,” the teen told Laverne Cox on the red carpet as her father proudly looked on.

Caresha “Yung Miami” Brownlee

One of Combs’ most recent loves is a fellow hip-hop artist.

Brownlee, better known as Yung Miami, is a rapper who has been one half of the popular duo City Girls. She was first linked to Combs in 2021.

“We’re dating. We go have dates. We’re friends,” Combs said to Brownlee on her Revolt podcast “Caresha Please.” “We go to exotic locations. We have great times.”

Combs co-founded Revolt and he and Brownlee were frequently seen together on social media and in paparazzi photos. Since Ventura’s lawsuit, Brownlee has been implored by her followers to make a statement, but so far she has not commented.

Dana Tran

Tran, a cybersecurity specialist, is the mother of Combs’ youngest child, a daughter named Love Sean Combs.

The elder Combs had earlier restyled himself as “Love” and since their daughter’s birth, Tran has shared plenty of content featuring the little one on her Instagram account.

Combs this week shared a photo on social media of him cradling his youngest, writing in the caption “My Love” with a heart emoji.

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