The months following the tragic death of The Notorious B.I.G. saw Sean “Diddy” Combs doing the complete opposite of what many people would have thought possible: he put his own interests first. While the world was literally in grief over Biggie, sources close to him say Diddy took advantage and furthered his career. Bad Boy Records had secured an opportunity to get one of their artists on the cover of Rolling Stone, and many would have assumed Biggie was the one who earned the right to do so. Instead, Diddy took it upon himself.
Just two weeks after Biggie’s murder, Biggie’s album Life After Death was released, and Diddy channeled all his energies into promoting the disc. He even refused time off to mourn, according to staff. Months later, when the Rolling Stone cover offer arrived, Diddy made it clear he was desperate for the cover for his debut album No Way Out, admitting Biggie’s murder had helped boost his album sales by millions.
Although he felt responsible for Biggie’s death himself, the moves Diddy made certainly raised some eyebrows. It wasn’t until decades later that he finally returned the publishing rights to Biggie’s estate, but many still frown upon how he handled the loss of one of hip-hop’s biggest legends.
