Brian Buckmeyer

I honestly say, like, I'm the luckiest man in the world.

I honestly say, like, I'm the luckiest man in the world.

If the late 2010s were Diddy's soft launch of the Love rebrand, then the early 2020s were the hard launch. He started a new R&B record label called Love Records. He named his seventh child Love Sean Combs, and he was projecting love in the media too. A 2021 Vanity Fair cover shows a 50-year-old Diddy, shirtless and fit. He's got the word love tattooed down his side vertically.

If the late 2010s were Diddy's soft launch of the Love rebrand, then the early 2020s were the hard launch. He started a new R&B record label called Love Records. He named his seventh child Love Sean Combs, and he was projecting love in the media too. A 2021 Vanity Fair cover shows a 50-year-old Diddy, shirtless and fit. He's got the word love tattooed down his side vertically.

He's in profile against a pink and orange backdrop with his fist in a black power salute and his mouth wide in what looks like a scream. He told Vanity Fair reporters in that cover story, quote, the Me Too movement, the truth is that it inspired me. It showed me that you can get maximum change. But despite his best efforts, Diddy's love persona didn't stick. Here's Jameela Lemieux again.

He's in profile against a pink and orange backdrop with his fist in a black power salute and his mouth wide in what looks like a scream. He told Vanity Fair reporters in that cover story, quote, the Me Too movement, the truth is that it inspired me. It showed me that you can get maximum change. But despite his best efforts, Diddy's love persona didn't stick. Here's Jameela Lemieux again.

Maybe it's because he was in his 50s by the early 2020s, a seasoned artist that the public had gotten used to rather than a fresh, new voice. And his music wasn't hitting the way it had back in the 90s and early 2000s either. Jamila says his biggest artists were behind him too.

Maybe it's because he was in his 50s by the early 2020s, a seasoned artist that the public had gotten used to rather than a fresh, new voice. And his music wasn't hitting the way it had back in the 90s and early 2000s either. Jamila says his biggest artists were behind him too.

So maybe that was the reason Love didn't catch on. People just weren't interested enough in his music. He couldn't pull fans along for yet another name change. Or maybe it's because Love is so grandiose and kind of egocentric, right?

So maybe that was the reason Love didn't catch on. People just weren't interested enough in his music. He couldn't pull fans along for yet another name change. Or maybe it's because Love is so grandiose and kind of egocentric, right?

Like when I heard about the name change, I thought, Diddy's about to show up on some podcast and announce a new religion, or try to sell us on a new spiritual practice or something. Could anyone get away with naming themselves Love? Or maybe it was because Love felt tone deaf to people who had been following Diddy's career for decades.

Like when I heard about the name change, I thought, Diddy's about to show up on some podcast and announce a new religion, or try to sell us on a new spiritual practice or something. Could anyone get away with naming themselves Love? Or maybe it was because Love felt tone deaf to people who had been following Diddy's career for decades.

Maybe it didn't match the reputation he'd made for himself all these years. The self-proclaimed bad boy with an allegedly bad temper. A guy who generated rumors about the way he treated women in his life.

Maybe it didn't match the reputation he'd made for himself all these years. The self-proclaimed bad boy with an allegedly bad temper. A guy who generated rumors about the way he treated women in his life.

Kim Porter had once been asked about the rumors of abuse by OK! magazine, and she denied that Diddy had been abusive towards her. She said, quote, he has a little temper. Sometimes he talks to people in ways they don't like, but he's never been physically abusive to me. There had been rumors about Cassie too. Rumors on gossip sites that he beat her.

Kim Porter had once been asked about the rumors of abuse by OK! magazine, and she denied that Diddy had been abusive towards her. She said, quote, he has a little temper. Sometimes he talks to people in ways they don't like, but he's never been physically abusive to me. There had been rumors about Cassie too. Rumors on gossip sites that he beat her.

In fact, people honed in on an incident that Cassie later alleged in her lawsuit, how in 2009, Diddy allegedly pulled her out of a club in LA. They got into a fight in the car, and when they got to his house, she tried to run away. Diddy followed her and allegedly kicked her in the face. She bled badly from the injuries.

In fact, people honed in on an incident that Cassie later alleged in her lawsuit, how in 2009, Diddy allegedly pulled her out of a club in LA. They got into a fight in the car, and when they got to his house, she tried to run away. Diddy followed her and allegedly kicked her in the face. She bled badly from the injuries.

Looking at the gossip site side by side with the lawsuit now, the echoes are uncanny. But the rumors, the rebrand flop, they didn't seem to slow Diddy down, at least not for a while. Coming up, a series of career highs for Diddy, then a crushing blow.

Looking at the gossip site side by side with the lawsuit now, the echoes are uncanny. But the rumors, the rebrand flop, they didn't seem to slow Diddy down, at least not for a while. Coming up, a series of career highs for Diddy, then a crushing blow.