Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek’s network of contributors
Sean “Diddy” Combs turned 55 while in jail for multiple sex crimes charges on Monday, November 4. In a video posted by his son, Justin Dior Combs, the rapper’s children sang him “happy birthday” over the phone, and viewers could hear Diddy’s voice over the phone for the first time since his arrest.
In the video, the rapper’s two-year-old daughter Love was coached by her siblings Quincy, 33, Christian, 27, Justin, 30, and twins D’Lila and Jessie, 17, as they sang “happy birthday to daddy.” After the song, Love blew out the candle on the cake that the Combs kids were sharing in their father’s honor. Justin captioned the video, “Happy Birthday Pops, we love you! 🎂❤️.”
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic via Getty Images
After the song was sung, the rapper and producer responded to his children’s tribute by saying, “I love y’all, I can’t wait to see y’all. I’m proud of y’all, especially the girls, all of y’all, but just for being strong, thank you for being strong.”
While Love started to dig into the birthday cake face first, Diddy continued, “Thank you for being by my side and supporting me, I got the best family in the world. It’s my birthday, I’m happy for you giving me this call, I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
The Combs children also had Diddy’s oldest daughter, Chance Combs, 18, on a video call, which they held up to the phone so she could speak to their father as well. Diddy said “I love you” to all of his children, who began laughing as Love ended up “face down in the cake.”
The producer, who faces charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution, as well as a growing number of civil cases, apparently received a birthday lunch of cheese pizza, Italian pasta salad, and green beans. Combs was then allowed to choose between chicken or tofu fried rice with black beans and carrots for dinner.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to https://www.rainn.org/