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While Sean “Diddy” Combs was still involved with Kim Porter, he began a relationship with Jennifer Lopez. Their romance was tabloid fodder, and Porter found herself constantly confronted with photos of them. She said that she struggled to keep herself together during this time. Still, she said she didn’t feel threatened by Lopez.

Kim Porter rolled her eyes at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Jennifer Lopez’s relationship

According to Porter, she found out about  Diddy’s relationship with Lopez through a friend. Before long, the news was everywhere. She admitted that the new romance hurt her, but she never thought it was real.

“That relationship wasn’t real,” she told Essence. “The world just saw the bright lights and the camera. But I knew what was really going on. He was still in love with me.”

Jennifer Lopez and then-boyfriend Sean 'Diddy' Combs pose on the red carpet at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards
Jennifer Lopez and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs | Vince Bucci/AFP via Getty Images

Porter believed Diddy fell for a “big booty and a smile,” but his heart was still with her.

“He was calling fifty, sixty times a day,” she said. “Sometimes I wouldn’t even talk to him because I was so angry. I couldn’t be ‘nice Kim.’ I had to be, you know, that b****. Like, this is not going down.”

Kim Porter shared how she dealt with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ new relationship

Porter said she struggled with the fact that the entire world knew the details of her heartbreak. It was painful for her, but she knew she had to stay strong for her children.

“Everywhere I went, people were asking, ‘Are you okay?’ I just hated that,” she said. “People just believed everything they saw in print, and they were talking to me like I was really crushed. But I had just had a baby. I couldn’t be somewhere in a corner heartbroken. I have kids. I’m a grown woman.”

Her mother said Porter’s strength through Lopez and Diddy’s relationship was impressive.

“Kim didn’t fall apart. She didn’t stop eating; she didn’t do any of that. She behaved normally,” Porter’s mother, Sarah, said. “As her mother I was checking her out all the time, looking and watching to see if she was putting on an act. But she’s very resilient; she handled it like a champ, even though I knew she must have been hurting. I was so very proud of her.”

She shared why she took him back 

By 2001, Diddy and Lopez had ended things for good. Porter had moved back to Georgia to be with her family, and he soon began visiting her there. She said he had to work hard to get back in her good graces.

“[H]e really had to jump through some hoops,” she said. “He was on the plane every weekend, talking to my mom and my grandmother and telling the kids, ‘Daddy made a mistake.’ It wasn’t like I had been going out with Puffy by myself, I had a whole family behind me.”

Diddy stands with Kim Porter. He wears a white jacket and sunglasses. She wears a strapless dress and necklace.
Kim Porter and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs | J. Strauss/FilmMagic
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She said that she could see a side to him that most people don’t.

“He’s gentle, giving, and sensitive, especially to me,” she said. “He’s really a good guy, with a big, big heart. I get to see that. I’m really thankful I get to see that.”

Diddy’s efforts ultimately paid off. He and Porter reunited and had two more children together.

“I’m not impressed with things—not a bag or shoes or a car—I’ve got a lot of stuff,” she said. “Impress me with your person. Show me you can be a really good man. That’s how to impress me.”

The couple broke up in 2007.