Diddy is one of the wealthiest men in hip-hop and is the true definition of a mogul. From producing to rapping, singing, acting and television production, the Harlem-born celebrity is a man of many talents. However, before he acquired his wealth, he still had a taste for the finer things in life.
When Diddy first founded Bad Boy Entertainment in the early-1990s, he had just been fired from his A&R position at Uptown Records and was a little cash-strapped. However, upon discovering Biggie Smalls, things quickly changed, and he began to ice himself out with diamond jewellery, curating his image.
However, in an interview with the esteemed publication GQ, some of Diddy’s former associates unveiled that Diddy didn’t spend much money on diamonds. As the founder of Revolt TV and an ambassador of the famous vodka brand, Cîroc, the mogul (real name Sean Combs) has a lot of money. However, not all of the diamonds in his collection are real.
Diddy’s former personal valet, Fonzworth Bentley, recalled a story about how Diddy first fell in love with jewellery while on holiday in the Caribbean, remembering, “He went in town to get the mother of two of his children a gift. So there are all these really nice boutiques, and we fell into this one boutique, and there were these diamond watches, and they were really beautiful.”
However, Bentley revealed that the diamonds were all fake, stating, “There was something really unique about them, and I remember him asking, ‘Hey let me see this one.’ He picked it up, and he was looking at it, and then the price tag was there, and the price tag was something like $2,500. He was like, ‘Wait, these are fake?’ And the woman was like, ‘Yeah, these aren’t real!'”
However, even though they were fake, Bentley disclosed that Combs was more than happy to buy and wear them, divulging, “So he puts one on, and we’re looking at it, and we’re both marvelling at it. He looks at me, and he goes, ‘They ain’t gonna think it’s fake on Diddy.'”
Bentley concluded by confirming that before Bad Boy really took off when Diddy was a label executive looking for talent, a lot of the jewellery he wore to music industry functions was utterly fake and worthless.
You can see Combs’ updated jewellery collection below.
