Sean “Diddy” Combs was raised in New York City by his mother, Janice Combs. Born in November 1969 to Janice and Melvin Earl Combs, Diddy lost his father when he was just 3 years old due to his murdеr.

“I don’t have many memories of my father,” he told REVOLT in 2013. “They say you can’t miss something you never had, which is partly true. As I’ve grown older, there have definitely been moments when I’ve missed my father.”

After Melvin’s dеath, Diddy was mostly raised by his mother, Janice, a model and teacher’s assistant, in Harlem and Mount Vernon, NY. In light of Diddy’s arrest on Sept. 16 and the numerous allegations of sеxual аssault and sеx trafficking he has pleaded not guilty to, Janice has come to her son’s defense.

“It’s heartbreaking to see my son judged not based on the truth but on a narrative built from lies,” she stated in a message shared by her attorney on Oct. 6. “Witnessing what feels like a public lynching of my son before he has had the chance to prove his innocence is an indescribable pain.”

Here’s everything about Diddy’s parents, Janice and Melvin Earl Combs.

Melvin diеd when Diddy was a child

Melvin passed away in 1972 when Diddy was just 3 years old. Janice initially told her son that his father diеd in a car accident, but as he grew older, Diddy learned that Melvin was actually a drᴜg dealer who had been shоt.

He discovered the truth about his father’s dеath during his time at Howard University when he searched for his dad’s name in the school library, as he recounted in a commencement speech in May 2014.

“When I entered my father’s name along with the date of his dеath, I found an article in the Amsterdam News stating that he had been murdеred in a drᴜg deal gone wrong,” he shared. “In that moment, in that library, I understood that a mother’s love and her instinct to protect her child are unparalleled.”

In October 2013, Diddy told REVOLT that his father was a “hustler,” which taught him early on that there were “only two ways out” of a life involved in drᴜg dealing: “dеad or in jail.”

Janice put him through private school

After Melvin’s dеath, Janice raised Diddy on her own, emphasizing the importance of his education to ensure he graduated from an all-boys Catholic school and attended college. They returned to Mount Vernon, NY, where Janice grew up, and Diddy split his time between the suburb and Harlem, where his grandmother lived, throughout his childhood.

In a 2006 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Diddy expressed that his mother took on a fatherly role while his grandmother acted as a second mother, which significantly influenced who he became.

“My mom enjoys spending time with me,” Diddy said. “She loves me deeply and is incredibly proud of me. She went to great lengths to make sure I attended private schools and had opportunities to travel.”

Diddy tried to support his mom to date

In a 2022 livestream, Diddy mentioned that his mom is single and that he has taken her to strip clubs before. They joked about creating a dating show for her, but he noted that she is too “picky.”

“We once discussed the idea of doing a dating show for her,” he said. “She’s so selective that they wouldn’t stand a chance.”

The rapper added that Janice “knows how to have a good time.”

He bought a car to her and gave mom $1 million in 2020

Diddy has been incredibly generous to his mother over the years, gifting her a Bentley and presenting her with a $1 million check for her 80th birthday in 2020.

“I only exist because of this beautiful, hardworking, loving, hilarious, truth-telling, genuine, smart, stylish, and absolutely incredible Black Goddess Queen!” he captioned his post. “Happy 80th Birthday to the best mother in the world! Love you forever! ️ … and this is her at 80 … no filter … no edit !!!”

Janice defended her son after arrest

In the weeks after Diddy’s arrest and not guilty plea, Janice issued her own statement urging the public not to jump to conclusions about her son’s guilt.

She expressed that she was “profoundly saddened” by the allegations against Diddy and requested that he be given the opportunity to “prove his innocence” in court. Janice also referred to a lawsuit filed in November 2023 by Diddy’s ex, singer Cassie, who accused the rapper of rаpe and аssault. Although the lawsuit was settled within a day, CNN released hotel surveillance footage in May 2024 showing Diddy physically аssaulting Cassie, which matched the account of a 2016 incident mentioned in the lawsuit.

“I’m not here to present my son as flawless because he isn’t,” Janice stated in her message. “He has made mistakes in his past, just like everyone else. My son may not have been completely honest about certain matters, like claiming he never got violent with an ex-girlfriend when the hotel surveillance footage shows otherwise.”

“Sometimes, the truth and a lie become so intertwined that it’s frightening to admit any part of the story, especially when that truth is unconventional or too complicated to be believed,” her statement continued. “This is why I think my son’s civil legal team chose to settle the ex-girlfriend’s lawsuit instead of fighting it to the end, which resulted in a backlash as the federal government interpreted this decision as an admission of guilt against my son.”