Cupid Be Damned! Puffy, Lopez Call It Quits

After weeks of rumors, Sean "Puffy" Combs released a statement through his publicist Wednesday confirming he and Jennifer Lopez had split after more than two very public years together.

"Mr. Combs confirmed that he and his love Jennifer Lopez have in fact broken up," reads the statement from Nathalie Moar. "Mr. Combs is confirming this today as he wanted to put all the rumors surrounding their relationship to rest. At this difficult time, we ask that you respect his privacy."

Moar would not elaborate on the whys, whens or wheres behind the high-powered couple calling it quits, but the New York Post's Page Six gossip column says the breakup went down last week, and it was the curvacious Bronx beauty who did the uncoupling.

Lopez, who is traveling to Australia for a short promotional tour, was unavailable for comment.

Not that today's announcement was a real shocker--it had been rumored for weeks and was played out in competing stories in the New York tabloids. The Daily News earlier reported Lopez was dating a dancer from one of her videos. There were also reports the two were keeping up the front while Lopez made the rounds to hype her new movie, The Wedding Planner, and album, J.Lo, and Puffy fought gun and bribery charges in his highly publicized New York trial.

Combs and his bodyguard, Anthony "Wolf" Jones" are facing up to 15 years in prison for their roles in a December 1999 shooting at Club New York. Combs is also charged with trying to bribe his driver into taking the rap by offering $50,000 (and the ring Lopez gave him as a gift). Additionally, Combs' protégé, rapper Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, is facing three counts of attempted murder.

Lopez, who was with Puffy when the shooting took place, was arrested but not charged. She is listed as a witness for the trial.

In its latest take on the split, the Post reports Puffy, in a last-ditch effort at salvaging their relationship, tried to surprise Lopez with an early Valentine last Wednesday, sending R&B crooner Luther Vandross backed by a full orchestra to serenade her. However, on Saturday, after she finished hosting Saturday Night Live and he presented his first fashion show, they were spotted partying in separate clubs.

Combs, 31, and Lopez, 30, were friends before they were lovers (he produced the song "Feelin' So Good" for her On the 6). They officially became an item in 1998, shortly after Lopez divorced her first husband, club manager Ojani Noa, after less than two years of marriage.

By all accounts, both parties were devoted, but Combs was absolutely smitten. "I've never had anyone love me the way [Jennifer] loves me," said Combs just months before the 1999 club shooting that got him in trouble. "I love her, and hopefully one day I'll be able to marry her."

Apparently, the Puffster looks to be taking his heartache out on a writer who allegedly backed out of helping to pen Combs' autobiography.

As if his lawyers weren't busy enough, the Bad Boy Entertainment mogul filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan accusing Rolling Stone writer Mikal Gilmore of failing to deliver on a promise to cowrite the book.

The two men had sold the book proposal to Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, on December 7, 1998, and were supposed to start writing it in March 2000. Puffy says he even paid Gilmore $325,000 in advance, but plans were scrapped when Gilmore's attorney informed the rapper that Gilmore had dropped out as co-author, and offered up his services as a consultant instead.

Combs is seeking reimbursement of the $325,000, in addition to court and attorney fees.