In one of the most startlingly fast celebrity lawsuits ever, rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs settled a case within 24 hours of R&B artist Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filing in November of last year. And that one settled case has set off a massive number of lawsuits against Diddy, involving as many as 120 men and women (including 25 minors) this past month. With the startling amount of accusations from Ventura’s case, along with recent updates from Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, this has made fans and foes of Diddy wonder more about the real relationship between Diddy’s longtime girlfriend Kim Porter.

How Did Diddy and Kim Porter Meet?

Porter became more well-known for dating the founder of Bad Boy Records than for her own aspiring modeling career. She met him in the early ’90s when he was an A&R executive at Uptown Records. At that time, she was in a relationship with R&B singer Albert “Al B. Sure” Joseph Brown III. She’d also just had Quincy Brown in 1991 with the singer (on his father’s same birthdate).

“I wasn’t trying to holler at her or anything, but I was admiring her — her lips, her eyes, her mouth, her shape, her energy — and thinking, ‘I wish I had a girl like that,’” Diddy told ESSENCE magazine.

While Porter was dating Brown, Diddy was dating stylist and fashion designer Misa Hylton, whom he had a child (Justin Combs) with in 1993.

When Andre Harrell, Diddy’s mentor and founder of Uptown Records, hired Porter as a receptionist, new father Diddy still didn’t initially make a move. Although she was born in Columbus, Georgia, she’d moved to Atlanta to advance her career.

Described by Diddy as “Bohemian, mixed with Georgia peach hospitality,” he cracked a joke about her being the type to want to walk barefoot in the grass. With their polar opposite personalities, he didn’t think he had a shot.

Turns out that he did, and that led to an on-again, off-again relationship from May 1994 to August 1999 and again from June 2003 to July 2007. In April 1998, Porter birthed Christian Casey Combs. However, they broke up once infidelity rumors and confirmation spread that he was dating pop star Jennifer Lopez.

Unlike other people in Diddy’s circle, Porter may have been one of the few who actually stood up to him. She even kicked him out of their shared home and changed the locks after finding out about Lopez. Describing him as “very, very intrusive,” their relationship could get as volatile as her throwing a “small” television at him. Years later, the two reunited and Porter birthed twins D’Lila Star Combs and Jessie James Combs.

Even through all the highs and lows of their relationship, Diddy still stood by his opinion that Porter was on the carefree side.

“She was smooth, you know, like ice,” he said. “She’s cool and collected and thinks before she speaks. You meet a lot of young ladies, and they just don’t do that. Kim was never pressed; she was always in control.”

While Diddy admitted he was “used to applause when I walk in the room” and claimed to want someone “a little more aggressive,” Porter was consistently cool as a fan around him through all the fame and fortune.

Who Is Kim Porter Outside Of Diddy?

Although she didn’t have huge modeling names in her resume, she was no stranger to big name models. In fact, she was a bridesmaid at Russell Simmons and Kimora Lee Simmons wedding, along with Tyra Banks and Veronica Webb.

People certainly knew who she was, ranging from the star of Heavy D’s “Nuttin’ But Love” to Big Daddy Kane’s “Smooth Operator.” She also had small roles in The Brothers, Systems Within, Wicked Wicked Games, Mama I Want To Sing and Single Ladies.

Not exactly someone who would bite her tongue, she was also vocal on social media about equality, posting messages about Black Lives Matter, remembering September 11, sending voting reminders and highlighting the irony of the criminal justice system. Clearly a supporter of marijuana, she also made sure to post on 4/20 too. And while her own four children post about how much they miss their mother after she passed away of lobar pneumonia on November 15, 2018, the 47-year-old could relate and posted about missing her own mother too.

With the increasing rumors questioning her relationship, life and death now that Diddy is under a microscope (and incarcerated in the Special Housing Unit at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center), all her kids are asking is that people remember Porter for the “beautiful, strong, kind and loving woman she was.”