While all eyes are on Cassie in the Diddy trial, there's one woman no one's talking about.

Everyone's focused on Cassie Ventura as she takes the stand against her alleged abuser, 'Sean Diddy' Combs, who is on trial for sex-trafficking. But before Cassie, there was Kim Porter — Diddy's ex, the mother of his children and a woman whose voice is now forever missing from the conversation.

Porter wasn't just another name in Combs' dating history, she was the woman who knew him best.

Across 13 years of an on-and-off relationship that began in the '90s, Kim remained a constant in Combs' life, and together they raised four children. Even after they parted ways, their bond remained strong. At least publicly.

When Kim was tragically found dead in 2018, the heartbreak was real, but so were the lingering questions. Speaking out following her sudden death, Combs described his ex as "more than a soulmate."

Kim Porter and Diddy. Image: Getty.

"For the last three days, I've been trying to wake out of this nightmare. But I haven't," he shared on Instagram at the time.

"I don't know what I'm going to do without you, baby. I miss you so much… We were more than best friends, we were more than soul mates. WE WERE SOME OTHER SH*T!! And I miss you so much. Super Black Love."

When the rapper was presented with a lifetime achievement award at the 2022 Bet Awards, he performed 'I'll Be Missing You', dedicating the performance to his former partner.

Fast-forward to 2025, Combs is now facing up to 120 serious legal suits — charged with racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

This is what we know about Kim and Combs' complicated romance.

The revelations about Kim Porter in the Sean 'Diddy' Combs documentary.

A documentary released earlier this year, titled Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy, explored the circumstances around Kim's death.

In the doco, which dropped on streaming service BINGE, Kim's former partner, Al B. Sure, raised suspicions about her death.

Kim was found dead at her home on November 15, 2018, with an autopsy determining her cause of death was lobar pneumonia. However, her ex-partner is not convinced by these findings.

In the film, he said that when he found out she died, he had an "empty feeling of like, 'Nah, something is not right with this.'"

He stated he had just seen Kim at a movie screening where she was "looking amazing," he noted.

"It was two or three weeks prior to her murder," he says, before he quickly corrected himself, adding "Am I supposed to say allegedly?"

Watch the trailer for Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy. Post continues after video.

Sure raised suspicions over some sort of cover-up, suggesting Kim was keeping a diary of her experiences with Combs, making her a target.

"Someone got the passcode to her phone and her computer, and they found out that she was writing what was going on behind closed doors," he claimed. "The public had no idea what was happening right in front of everybody's eyes. But there was a lot of people who turned a blind eye."

The musician shared several claims about what Kim had told him about Combs, including warning him to stay away from Combs.

"Kimberly said… 'Don't get involved. You will get killed,'" he said in his on-screen interview, declining to elaborate, citing ongoing legal issues.

"Let's just say, you got to listen to Kimberly. Because not only was she trying to save me, she was putting her own life in danger."

He claims that as the years went on, Kim expressed a change in Combs' behaviour.

"She started to confide in me. What she did say is that, 'Something's not right. His soul has gone completely dark, like he's just not there'," he recalled.

Sure was unable to share anything about Combs publicly as Kim made him swear on their son's life. "She made me promise on a certain Quincy Taylor Brown's life not to ever reveal because she was in complete fear of my life," he said.

As far as any abuse suffered by Kim at the hands of Combs, the documentary noted there was no evidence to suggest she was the victim of domestic violence.

That being said, there were witnesses featured in the film who told a different story.

"One time I was called on the phone to rush over to St. Luke's Hospital [in Manhattan]," a former Combs bodyguard, Gene Deal, recalled.

"She looked like she was bruised and stuff like that, but she wasn't saying much of nothing." Another interviewee noted they once saw Kim with facial injuries.

Here, we revisit the complex bond Kim Porter and Sean 'Diddy' Combs shared — the heartache, and the questions still surrounding her untimely passing.

How did Kim Porter and Sean 'Diddy' Combs meet?

When Combs first met Kim in 1994, it wasn't love at first sight — at least, not for her. Kim was in the studio with her then-boyfriend, singer Al B. Sure!, but Combs was immediately captivated by her.

"She kind of made me nervous," Combs said interview with Essence.

"She wasn't like a New York girl. She was Bohemian, mixed with Georgia-peach hospitality. I got the idea she'd like doing stuff like walking barefoot in the grass. I didn't think I could get her to like me."

He added, "She was smooth, you know, like ice. 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."

Despite his initial nerves, the pair began a relationship, and though they never married, it would stretch over a decade.

In an interview for Essence's December 2006 issue, Combs shared that he had no plans to marry Kim.

"I know she deserves to get married, but I'm just not ready," he said. "It's not a reflection on how much I love Kim. It's that I'm just learning how to be a good boyfriend. When I'm finished with this step, I'll move on to the next."

Image: Getty.

Did Kim Porter and Sean 'Diddy' Combs have any children?

When Kim and Combs met, she already had her own child, Quincy Brown. Quincy was born in 1991 to Kim during her previous relationship with music producer Al B. Sure!. Combs also already had his first child, Justin, whom he welcomed with Misa Hylton in December 1993.

Over time, Kim and Combs became inseparable, and just a few years after they first met, the couple were expecting their first child together. On April 1, 1998, they welcomed a little boy called Christian 'King' Combs.

But just a year on from welcoming Christian, Kim and Combs broke up as he went on to date Jennifer Lopez for two years.

During this time, Kim and Combs battled in court over child support for Christian. Just two years after splitting from J.Lo, Combs and Kim reconciled and got back together in 2003.

"That relationship wasn't real..." Kim said of Combs and J.Lo's short-lived relationship. "The world just saw the bright lights and the camera. But I knew what was really going on. He was still in love with me. He was calling fifty, sixty times a day."

In 2006, the couple welcomed two more children — their twin daughters D'Lila Star and Jessie James.

But five months before the couple's twin daughters were born, Combs had fathered a daughter, Chance, with another woman.

After the twin girls were born, Combs admitted the situation to Kim.

"He told me that he may have gotten himself into a situation and he may have fathered another child outside the relationship and I said, 'Really? Well, I already knew. I'm glad you decided to be a man,'" Kim told Essence.

In 2007, Combs and Kim split. Despite their differences, the pair remained close friends up until her death.

"In ending this relationship, I made a decision that was in the best interest of myself, Sean and our family," Kim said in a statement at the time.

"I look forward to moving on with my life and my career and wish him prosperity, health and happiness in life and in love. We will remain friends and committed parents to our children."

Image: Getty.

And it seemed that the couple did indeed remain friends, with Combs later praising Kim's parenting in an interview for JET magazine.

"Kim is an incredible mother to our children. We've been part of each other's lives for many years and I have always admired her courage and strength. We're the best of friends," he said.

How did Kim Porter die?

On November 15, 2018, at the age of 47, Kim Porter was found dead in her Toluca Lake home.

According to the autopsy report, she had been battling flu-like symptoms for several days, which later developed into lobar pneumonia — a severe infection affecting her lungs.

The report detailed her symptoms, including "nasal congestion, sweats, mild cough, body aches, and a sore throat," with a fever. She was treated with intravenous fluids and vitamins but unfortunately deteriorated.

The autopsy further revealed "fibrinopurulent effusions (infectious fluids in the chest cavities)," confirming lobar pneumonia as the cause of death.

In the final days leading up to her death, Kim had reached out to her doctors, reporting worsening symptoms such as "a streak of blood in her phlegm" the day before she died.

Image: Getty

Kim Porter's death is back in the spotlight amid the allegations against Diddy.

Kim's death has resurfaced in the media, as conspiracy theories run wild in the wake of Combs' legal troubles. Theorists on TikTok are speculating all manner of things, including questioning the validity of the official autopsy, which ruled that she died from lobar pneumonia.

Fuelling these rumours was the publication of an alleged memoir titled Kim's Lost Words: A Journey for Justice From the Other Side. The novel, which was published by independent author Todd Christopher Guzze on Amazon, purported to be the retelling of an amalgamation of "flash drive, documents and tapes" from Kim.

Guzze claims he was given these sources by someone "very close to Kim and Sean Combs", according to Associated Press. However, when asked directly by Rolling Stone, he said, "If somebody put my feet to the fire and they said, 'Life or death, is that book real?' I have to say I don't know. But it's real enough to me."

The book was published shortly after Combs' arrest, claiming to expose secrets about her relationship with the star, but has since been removed by Amazon.

Kim's children later issued a strong statement, calling the memoir "fake" and dismissing the conspiracy theories as "hurtful and false."

"We have seen so many hurtful and false rumours circulating about our parents, Kim Porter and Sean Combs' relationship. As well as about our mum's tragic passing," they posted on Instagram.

"Claims that our mum wrote a book are simply untrue. She did not. And anyone claiming to have a manuscript is misrepresenting themselves. Additionally, please understand that any so-called 'friend' speaking on behalf of our mum or her family is not a friend. Nor do they have her best interests at heart."

However, Kim's ex-husband, singer Al B. Sure!, spoke out on his Instagram. While he said the memoir was fake, he also alleged that devices containing critical evidence from Kim's life went missing.

"For over a decade and a half, I've been posting about, and tagging random law enforcement agencies in hopes to protect loved ones, avoid deaths & tragedies that could have all been avoided," wrote Sure, who is the father of Kim's son Quincy.

"Ms. Porter's missing devices, allegedly already in evidence, unquestionably contain the critical evidence that have been concealed," he claimed. "I'm convinced that evidence corroborates closely with details outlined in the recently released public indictment document."

He added, "Kimberly was allegedly taken from us because she was set on course to accomplish what Mrs. Cassie Ventura did by igniting the Bon Fire [sic] which brings us here today," appearing to reference Porter's death alongside a settlement between Combs and ex-girlfriend singer Cassie Ventura.

The theories persist, but as of now, the official cause of Kim's death remains lobar pneumonia, with no connection whatsoever to Combs' ongoing legal issues.

Combs' has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and is defending them in federal court, where his former partner Cassie Ventura this week shared horrific details of alleged abuse as the prosecution's star witness.

If found guilty, Combs could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Read on:

• While Diddy's family entered the courtroom, so did Cassie's biggest advocate.

• The Diddy trial started with one story about Cassie. It sets the pattern for what is to come.

• A pregnant Cassie just told us what her relationship with Diddy was like. It's worse than we imagined.

• Every harrowing detail to come to light in the Sean 'Diddy' Combs criminal investigation.

This article was first published in October 2024 and has since been updated.

Image: Getty.