All About Diddy's Parents, Melvin and Janice Combs — and What His Mom Has Said About the Scathing Allegations Against Him

Mar. 15, 2025

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and his mother Janice Combs attend the premiere of “Get Him to the Greek” at The Greek Theatre on May 25, 2010, in Los Angeles.Photo:Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images

The “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper was born in November 1969 to his parents, Janice and Melvin Earl Combs. However, when he was 3, Diddy’s father was killed.

“I don’t have a lot of memories of my father,” he toldREVOLTin 2013. “They say you can’t miss something you never had, that’s only a little ways right. There’s definitely been times as I’ve gotten older that I’ve missed my father.”

Here’s everything to know about Diddy’s parents, Janice and Melvin Earl Combs.

Melvin died when Diddy was a child

Sean Combs and his mother Janice attend VH1’s 3rd Annual “Dear Mama: A Love Letter To Moms” Cocktail Reception at The Theatre at Ace Hotel on May 3, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.Leon Bennett/Getty Images

Leon Bennett/Getty Images

Melvin died in 1972 when Diddy was 3 years old. Janice originally told the rapper his father died in a car accident, but when Diddy got older, he discovered that Melvin was a drug dealer who had been shot.

Diddy only found out his father died from a gunfight when he started school at Howard University and looked up his dad’s name in the school’s library, he shared during a commencement speech in May 2014.

“When I typed in my father’s name and the day he died, I read in theAmsterdam Newsthat he had been murdered in a drug deal gone bad,” he said. “Right there in that library I realized there’s nothing greater than a mother’s love and desire to protect her child.”

In October 2013, Diddy told REVOLT that his father was a “hustler,” which led him to learn early in life that there were “only two ways out” of a life of drug dealing: “dead or in jail.”

Janice put Diddy through private school

Sean Combs and his mother Janice Combs attend the opening of the new Broadway production “A Raisin In The Sun” at the Royale Theatre in New York City.RJ Capak/WireImage/Getty Images

RJ Capak/WireImage/Getty Images

In a 2006 interview withOprah Winfrey, Diddy shared that his mom took on the role of a father, while his grandmother acted like his second mother, and that shaped the person he became.

“My mother likes to spend time with me,” Diddy said. “She loves me so much, and she’s so proud of me. She almost killed herself to make sure I went to private schools, to expose me to travel.”

Diddy has tried to help his mom date

Sean “Diddy” Combs with his mother Janice.Jim Spellman/WireImage/Getty Images

Jim Spellman/WireImage/Getty Images

Diddy shared in a 2022 livestream video that his mom was single and he’d taken her to strip clubs in the past. The two joked that they would make a dating show for her, but she’s too “picky.”

“Me and my mom talked about one time doing a dating show with her,” he said. “She’s so picky. She’s so picky they don’t stand [a chance].”

The rapper went on to say Janice “knows how to have a good time.”

He bought her a car and gave her $1 million in 2020

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and his mother, Janice Combs, arrive at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theater on September 21, 2008, in Los Angeles, California.Jeff Vespa/WireImage/Getty Images

Jeff Vespa/WireImage/Getty Images

Diddy has been generous with his mom over the years,buying her a Bentleyand giving her a $1 million check for her 80th birthday in 2020. He posted about the day on his Instagram Stories, showing off the black luxury car he bought for her.

“I only exist because of this beautiful, hardworking, loving, hilarious, ass-whooping, always telling me the truth, genuine, smart, fly [and] absolutely amazing Black Goddess Queen!!” he wrote in the caption of his post. “Happy 80th Birthday to the best mother in the world! Love you forever and ever! ❤️ … and this is actually her at 80th … no filter … no edit 🖤!!!”

Janice defended Diddy after his arrest

Jason Kempin/Getty Images

In the weeks following Diddy’s arrest and not guilty plea, Janice released a statement of her own pleading the public to not make assumptions about her son’s guilt.

“I am not here to portray my son as perfect because he is not,” Janice said in her statement. “He has made mistakes in his past, as we all have. My son may not have been entirely truthful about certain things, such as denying he has ever gotten violent with an ex-girlfriend when the hotel’s surveillance showed otherwise.”

source: people.com