Who Is Janice Small Combs? What to Know About Diddy’s Mom

As Sean “Diddy” Combs awaits trial in a Manhattan prison for sex trafficking and racketeering, his beloved mother, Janice Small Combs, is finally speaking out. Janice is named in several lawsuits, though she’s not named as a co-conspirator in his alleged crimes, as many of the disgraced hip-hop mogul’s businesses are reportedly in her name. His father died while he was young, bu Diddy has long maintained that his mother has been his rock, while he gets his personality traits from his deceased father. Still, Janice has been present by her son’s side throughout his career, and has even spoken to the media at length about her son.

Following the death of Diddy’s father, Melvin, Janice raised Diddy as a ingle father and made his education and environment her priority. She moved him from Harlem, N.Y. to Mount Vernon, N.Y. where he attended and graduated from an all-boys Catholic school and later attended college at Howard University. He dropped out during his junior year to pursue his career in the music business, and his mother supported him, noting his innate hustle. 

Diddy has lavished his mother throughout the years with expensive gifts, including millions of dollars in cash, luxury cars, homes, and businesses. But her most prized possession has been her family, notably her grandchildren, and she’s been vocal about the women in Diddy’s life. She had a close relationship with Diddy’s longtime late ex, Kim Porter, who paid tribute to her multiple times on social media until her death in 2018. Diddy and Kim’s twin daughters share the same birthday as Janice. He has also had an influence over who she dates.

He shared in a 2022 livestream video that his mom was single and he’d taken her to strip clubs in the past and that he wants to set her up via a reality dating series, per PEOPLE. “Me and my mom talked about one time doing a dating show with her,” he said. “She’s so picky. She’s so picky they don’t stand [a chance].”

After nearly a year of silence since Diddy’s legal troubles began, Janice has spoke out in a lengthy statement. She said in part: “I am not here to portray my son as perfect because he is not,” Janice said in her statement. “He has made mistakes in his past, as we all have. My son may not have been entirely truthful about certain things, such as denying he has ever gotten violent with an ex-girlfriend when the hotel’s surveillance showed otherwise,” she said, noting the hotel surveillance video footage of Diddy chasing after, beating, and dragging his ex, singer Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura,” through a hotel hallway.