Diddy comes out with a bang as Hollywood gives him a Star
When the one-man, publicity-generating whirlwind that is Diddy met the well-oiled hype machine of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, sparks were bound to fly.
Sean Combs received a star Friday on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an event most honorees mark by turning up at the assigned time, smiling for cameras and going about their business. Not Combs.
He put a video online asking fans to show up for the star-unveiling, set to the tune of Lupe Fiasco’s hit “Superstar.” He sat down at the Beverly Hills Hotel for advance press interviews. And he’s being feted with a lavish party Friday night at billionaire Ron Burkle’s sprawling
“It’s also like my coming-out party here in
Fellow actor Jamie Foxx was on hand to introduce Combs as his star was revealed. “He throws the best party you’ve ever seen in your entire life,” said Foxx, who led dozens of people in a chant of “Diddy! Diddy! Diddy!” and rapped out famous choruses of the artist’s songs. “This is big. This is legendary,” Foxx told the music label intern-turned-entertainment mogul. “And they will never be able to take this away from you.”
Combs then told the crowd: “Today is proof that if you believe, all your dreams can come true. I’ve gone from
A story of inspiration
Combs is house-hunting in
He calls it a perfect time to stop and reflect on recent successes. Two of his “Making the Band” groups — Danity Kane’s second album and Day26’s first — just landed at the top of the Billboard charts. His ABC movie “A Raisin in the Sun” was a hit with critics and viewers in February.
“Sometimes you got to take a step back and breathe and enjoy and realize the magnitude of it, where you came from, how hard you worked, all the people that rode with you through your ups and downs,” Combs said.
Family and friends from the block he grew up on in
“It inspires them,” Combs said. “It inspires, you know, millions of young people all over the world that are in a place that I grew up in right now, and they want to make it to that point. I don’t know if we know where Brad Pitt came from, or George Clooney.
“People are familiar with my journey, so it may inspire them more,” Combs said. “So whether it’s Eminem or Britney Spears or myself, you know of that journey. Whether it’s coming from a small town, coming from a trailer park in
What about that party, which was sure to inspire a few paparazzi in the direction of Burkle’s mansion? Combs calls it an “intimate 250-person party” with “just very very close friends and family and people that I know throughout the industry.”
“I’ve had great parties with no celebrities there, great parties with tons of celebrities. We’re all people,” Combs said. Asked about the fest’s rumored price tag, Combs smiles and responds: “It’s up there, but I can’t confirm it’s $4 million. It’s priceless.”
Keeping the faith
Wearing a royal blue sweater over an elegant shirt and tie, with cufflinks shimmering next to a Cartier watch, Combs said he hasn’t rewarded himself for the Walk of Fame star with any new toys or baubles. “We’re going through a recession right now, so I’m cutting back,” he said. “Whatever I don’t need, I’m just not buying it.”
But he does have a few suggestions if friends are worried about what to get a guy who seems to have everything: “This party that we’re throwing, it is a gift. I’m not going to turn down a gift. So if somebody wants to buy me a Maybach or a house in
More seriously, Combs said he hasn’t yet decided yet whether to file a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Times, which last month retracted a March story implying that associates of Combs were behind a 1994 assault on superstar rapper Tupac Shakur, and that he knew about it in advance.
“I don’t have nothing against them now,” he said. “And if I sued them, they’ll understand it’s business. Just like if they were going to write a story about me, it wasn’t really personal, it was business. But they didn’t handle their business the right way. I was happy that I kept my faith in God and that the truth came out as quick as it did.”
The man who launched the careers of Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige said he’s back in the studio now, tinkering in preparation for another album. He’s is utterly unabashed about utilizing reality TV or the occasional publicity stunt — relieving himself on YouTube, for example — to further his ambitions (fragrances! liquor! marathons!).
“I’m a definition of how to build a brand and a 360 model. I feel like I’m the definition of that,” Combs said. “This new concept that people have, I’ve been doing it for years. Creating a way out of no way, making lemonade out of lemons, that’s what I do.
“So if the music industry’s getting cannibalized by the Internet, I figure out how to work with it, I figure out how to survive. You throw me in the jungle butt-naked, I come out with a lion’s head, some bearskins and a bunch of food. I may be driving a Maybach.” (AP)
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