Kanye West once said Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs “inspired” his life choices, but their relationship soured following a very public falling out.

P Diddy has defended Kanye over the years despite his past controversies and even said the Flashing Lights hitmaker “changed my life” with his music. Kanye returned the compliment and called Diddy his “favorite artist.”

He also hinted that Diddy inspired his marriage to his ex-wife Kim Kardashian as he presented Diddy with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards in 2022. However, their friendship seemed to come to an end that year when Kanye released his controversial White Lives Matter T-shirts.

Diddy slammed the tops as “tone deaf,” and their feud quickly turned public. Kanye shared a series of tense text messages they exchanged on Instagram, and the pair have not been seen together since. Here, we’ve taken a look back at Kanye and Diddy’s relationship over the years.

BET Awards tribute

P Diddy was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 BET Awards by Kanye. The Runaway singer gushed about Diddy as he presented him with the award and described him as an idol.

Kanye said he would listen to Diddy growing up and remembered thinking: “I just need to meet this man. This is my favorite artist.”

He continued: “You see I’m saying favourite artist — everything, not specifically production, the trip. Back then there was so many rules to hip-hop, and he broke all of them.”

He also suggested Diddy was responsible for his marriage to Kim Kardashian. “I go to him for advice to this day. He inspired so many of my choices. So many of my life choices. My wife choices.”

Justin Bieber mentoring

Diddy acted as a mentor to Justin Bieber at the start of the singer’s career. The pair’s connection has come under close scrutiny following Combs’ arrest in New York last month.

Diddy is facing federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. Diddy has vehemently denied the allegations and pled not guilty in court.

Kanye has also looked out for Justin over the years. In March 2016, Justin shared a picture of himself with Kanye, Diddy, and his manager, Scooter Braun, as they prayed backstage at a concert.

Kim Kardashian was also seen joining in a second picture. Alongside the snaps, Justin wrote: “Uncle puff and Yeezy giving thanks to Jesus.”

Lifechanging concert

Diddy credited Kanye for making him fall back in love with hip-hop after he attended one of his concerts in 2009. He said: “Back in 1986 I saw Run DMC at The Garden on their Hell tour and that day I began my dream and said one day I want to be up on that stage right there where Run is at, holding those Adidas in the air.

“I thought one day I want that to be me and 12 years later it was me, I sold out The Garden three times. Boom.” However, he admitted to becoming “uninspired” after becoming famous.

Diddy continued: “Boom. Take you back to now. The other night I go to the Kanye West concert and I’m going there to see Kanye do this thing. I don’t have anything but high expectations, the concert changed my life.

“I won’t lie I was so impressed and inspired. It was beautiful, and I fell in love with hip-hop again.” He also described Kanye’s performance ability as “a gift”.

White Lives Matter controversy

Kanye and Diddy have been caught in a bitter feud since October 2022, when Combs hit out at Kanye’s infamous White Lives Matter T-shirts. Diddy said the clothes were “tone deaf” during an interview with The Breakfast Club in 2022.

The comment sparked a very public feud, with Kanye sharing text messages they sent one another. In a text to Diddy, Kanye said: “I’m selling these tees. Nobody gets in between me and my money. This is my grandfather texting you now. Never call me with no b——- like that again unless you ready to green light me. Cause anybody who got on that tee is me.”

Kanye added: “Out of respect for everything you’ve meant to me I’ll be quiet as Virgil. But now I know how I’ve hurt people I love with threats.”

He then continued to message Diddy, sending: “Come do something illegal to me noooow pleeeeeeeeease.” Kanye shared screenshots of the messages on his Instagram page with the caption: “God is Love My brother misspoke to me but I still love him.”

Diddy eventually responded to Kanye, writing: “As soon as I land we’ll meet face to face!!! Send me a address.” He then asked for an address a second time, adding: “Let’s stop playing these internet games. And don’t feel threatened. You’ll be fine. Just love.”

Kanye hit back at Diddy saying: “This ain’t a game.” He suggested “no one can threaten or influence me,” before adding: “I told you this was war. Now gone get you some business.”

Diddy shot back: “I’m just trying to talk to you as a black man. And I’m talking to you because this is hurting our people. Stop.” Kanye replied by saying Diddy was “breaking his heart” and said he accepted the music mogul’s apology in advance.

Refusing to meet

Fans had hoped the feud was over when Diddy was spotted attending Kanye and Ty Dolla $ign’s controversial performance at Rolling Loud in Los Angeles back in March. However, it’s believed Kanye refused to meet with Diddy after the show.

Diddy told Kanye’s security team he wanted to say hello to the rapper personally, but Kanye said he wasn’t interested in speaking to him, according to TMZ.

Diss track

In April of this year, Kanye seemed to reference Diddy on his remix of Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Like That. “Can’t stop, won’t stop/ I just f***** your b**** in a Sean John tank top,” Kanye sang.

The lyrics were seemingly a reference to the sex trafficking investigation surrounding Diddy, who created the fashion line Sean John. Just one month before the song debuted during an appearance on Justin LaBoy’s The Download, Diddy’s homes in Miami and Los Angeles were raided by federal agents as part of a sex trafficking investigation.