Hip-Hop mogul, Sean “Diddy” Combs paid tribute to his late partner, Kim Porter at the 2022 BET Awards.
While being honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 BET Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, the rapper, 52, gave special shout-outs to Porter, who died unexpectedly of lobar pneumonia in 2018 at age 47.
After several star-studded performances to celebrate the rapper’s career, Diddy played an old video clip of Porter telling him, “Congratulations, Puffy, you’re a star. I can’t tell you how proud I am. From Harlem to Hollywood, that’s a long journey … You work so hard, and I’ve watched you, your blood sweat and tears, and you’ve arrived.”
Kim Porter + Diddy ????
I’ll Be Missing You – *Every Breath You Take* pic.twitter.com/0rYXVI6sTY
— RealityStella (@realitystella) June 27, 2022
Sweet home videos of their children, son King, 24, and twins Jessie James and D’Lila Star, 15, were also featured in a montage.
Before performing “I’ll Be Missing You” with Faith Evans and Maverick City Choir, Diddy said, “Baby girl, this is for you.” During the performance, Diddy yelled out, “I miss you so much, baby.”
The artists who paid homage to Diddy’s career were Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, The Lox and Lil’ Kim. Diddy also performed “I Need a Girl,” “Pass the Cîroc” with Busta Rhymes,” and “Gotta Move On” with Bryson Tiller.
After the performances, Kanye West and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds presented Diddy with his award. While accepting the honor, Diddy said, “I just miss Kim y’all.”
“Stay connected to God, and he’ll bring you out,” he said. “I just want to say thank you to Kim.”
He went on to thank “everyone who played a part in my life,” including ex Cassie who brought him out of the “dark times.”
Concluding his speech, he said, “When I was a kid, I saw these images that were setting me up for failure, these images that were making me feel less than a dog. I was like, ‘Man I’m not with that. I’m not with that.’ I closed my eyes and dreamed and saw what I had to do.”
“We here for ourselves, we here for our ancestors, you feel me?” he said.
“God gave me this message to give to you, and you, and you and you and the time is right now … I got this dream of Black people being free … I got this dream of us taking accountability and stop killing each other … Being rich and wealthy and living on the same block. I have this dream of us unifying … Our allies. If you’re with us, don’t be silent…I got that dream for us to be free, the last shall be first, and the first shall be last. We gotta unify.”
BET’s Lifetime Achievement Award honors those “who have not only significantly shaped culture through their extensive careers, but who have also been transformative leaders that consistently inspire generations by setting a true standard of excellence,” according to a press release.
