The king of a thousand nicknames just got one more: defendant.
A reputed former Bad Boy associate—and current inmate—has filed suit from his Florida cell against Diddy and his business empire, to the tune of $19 million. The plaintiff alleges that's how much he's owed in royalties from a 1994 recording session with the late Notorious B.I.G.
James Sabatino, who claims he's a former consultant for Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment Inc. (a point disputed by the rapper's lawyer), is seeking both actual and punitive damages.
Sabatino claims he is due the overdue payment of nearly 13 years after footing the bill for a Miami studio session. He says he paid for everything from flying Biggie into the city to renting the studio to recording 17 minutes' worth of vocals on audio and 90 minutes of the session on video.
According to Sabatino's lawsuit, it was understood that any material that came out of the session would be his, as he paid for the endeavor, but that there was never any formal contract signed between him and Diddy.
Fast-forward three years to 1997, when Notorious B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was gunned down in a still unsolved case and Diddy allegedly agreed to purchase both the audio and video from the session for a cool $200,000. Per Sabatino, Combs made a $25,000 down payment and promised to make good on the rest of the sum within 60 days.
But over the course of the next 60 days, Sabatino was declared a "person of interest" in Biggie's homicide investigation—he was due to meet the rapper on the night of his death but failed to show up.
Per the lawsuit, Combs then refused to pony up the outstanding balance for the music and video footage, claiming it would look less than savory for the rapper to cut a six-figure check to a man being investigated in his buddy and labelmate's death so soon after the incident.
In his lawsuit, Sabatino claims he waited so long to take legal action against the Grammy winner because he worried Combs would implicate him in the slaying, despite knowing he had nothing to do with it.
Sabatino goes on to claim that while he was waiting to be cleared in connection with the slaying, he was busted on separate charges.
According to Sabatino, he has been routinely promised the money was on its way.
Combs has yet to comment on the lawsuit.
He has, however, commented on a far more pleasant, though equally scandalous, relationship.
The rapper has finally acknowledged his disputed paternity of a 15-month-old daughter, telling the New York Post Monday he is "committed to being a good father" to Chance, the daughter born from an affair he had with Atlanta resident Sarah Chapman while still in the throes of his longtime relationship with former girlfriend Kim Porter.
"At first, I wasn't sure if this was my child," he told the paper. "Now that it has become clear she is, I will take care of her for the rest of her life."
The revelation comes after the artist submitted to a DNA test. The girl is Diddy's sixth child.
Meanwhile, open casting calls have already begun across the country to find a suitable actor to portray the late Biggie Smalls in an upcoming Fox Searchlight biopic. On Saturday, nearly 100 people showed up at the New York auditions, while video submissions for the role are currently being accepted online at biggiecasting.com.