Inside Kanye West and P Diddy's warped bond from 'war' to Trump plea

Rapper Kanye West has recently sparked controversy after showing support for P Diddy, real name Sean Combs, in the latest dramatic chapter in their on-off relationship. Following his arrest back in September, Combs, 55, is currently locked up on federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. The Bad Boys Records founder is currently incarcerated in the infamous Metropolitan Detention Center, where he faces a number of new lawsuits. He has continuously denied all charges but has been denied bail on multiple occasions.

Now Kanye, 47, appears to have rallied behind his fellow hip-hop star in a series of social media proclamations in which he implores President Donald Trump to "free [his] brother Puff". However, although the pair now appear to be on good terms, they've certainly had a few ups and downs along the way. Taking to social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, Kanye, who supported Trump throughout his 2024 election campaign, pleaded: "@realDonaldTrump PLEASE FREE MY BROTHER PUFF.".

And he didn't stop there, going on to blast other stars for watching "OUR BROTHER ROT AND NEVER SAY S***". The Gold Digger hitmaker raged: “WE ALL WATCHED TAKE CHRIS BROWN AND AINT NOBODY DO NOTHING I WAS P— THEN TOO CHRIS BROWN ITS TO THE WHEELS FALL OFF.”. Kanye also took his show of support for Combs to Instagram, where he wrote: "A SON TO HIS DAD FOR EVERY SON WHO DAD IS LOCKED UP WRITE OR WRONG I WANT YALL TO LISTEN TO DAVE CHAPELLES JOKES VERY CLOSE THIS TIME LETS SEE HOW FUNNY IT GETS WHEN FAMILIES ARE SEPARATED ESPECIALLY BLACK FAMILIES.".

Making it clear he didn't care about the consequences of his outburst, Ye continued: "WHAT YALL GONE DO CANCEL MY SNEAKER DEAL CANCEL MY RECORD DEAL FREEZE MY ACCOUNTS F*** ALL YALL N***S SLAVERY IS A CHOICE IM SPEAKING MY MIND NOW I AINT EDITING S*** AGAIN EVER.". The star then went on to announce he would be launching a clothing line collab with Combs, sharing the new Yeezy line, complete with 'Sean John' - Combs' own fashion label - written across the front. Ye told followers: "YEEZY SEAN JOHN COLLAB AVAILABLE @ YEEZY.COM ME AND PUFF SPLITTING THIS 50/50 LIKE WE DISCUSSED BEFORE THEY LOCKED HIM UP.".

Combs also shared the announcement via his own social media page, complete with a link to the Yeezy website, writing: "Thank you to my brother @Ye", and shared a link to the Yeezy website where fans could buy the products.". Kanye was the one who presented Combs with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 BET Awards, and he took the moment to name the I'll Be Missing You artist as his "favourite artist".

Recalling how he would listen to Diddy as a youngster, Kanye shared: "I just need to meet this man. This is my favourite artist." He added: "You see, I'm saying favourite artist — everything, not specifically production, the trip. Back then, there was so many rules to hip-hop, and he broke all of them.". Ye even went as far as to suggest Diddy "inspired" his choice to marry his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, explaining: "I go to him for advice to this day. He inspired so many of my choices. So many of my life choices. My wife choices.".

In turn, Combs has credited Kanye for helping him fall back "in love" with hip-hop, with a life-changing concert in 2009 sparking his enthusiasm for the genre once more. He previously said: "Back in 1986 I saw Run DMC at The Garden on their Hell tour and that day I began my dream and said one day I want to be up on that stage right there where Run is at, holding those Adidas in the air. I thought one day I want that to be me and 12 years later it was me, I sold out The Garden three times. Boom.".

Admitting he'd become somewhat "uninspired" after rising to fame, Combs continued: 'Boom. Take you back to now. The other night I go to the Kanye West concert and I'm going there to see Kanye do this thing. I don't have anything but high expectations, the concert changed my life. I won't lie I was so impressed and inspired. It was beautiful, and I fell in love with hip hop again, and I want to say thank you, Kanye, for giving me that.".

However, in October 2022, mere months after Ye presented Combs with a Lifetime Achievement Award, a rift opened up between the once-close pair. Combs, who took issue with Kanye's controversial White Lives Matter T-shirts, didn't hold back with his disapproval during an appearance on The Breakfast Club podcast, where he described the clothing as "tone deaf.". Kanye responded by publicly sharing their text message exchange. In one message, Kanye told Combs: "I'm selling these tees. Nobody gets in between me and my money. This is my grandfather texting you now. Never call me with no b------- like that again unless you ready to green light me. Cause anybody who got on that tee is me.".