Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is said to pay Sting a huge amount of money every single day after using a sample in one of his biggest songs, without permission.
The disgraced rapper was taken into custody last week on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
He has faced multiple lawsuits in recent months amid abuse and sexual assault allegations spanning decades – he has denied all accusations against him.
The 54-year-old was remanded to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center after being denied bail twice and is said to be on suicide watch.
In the wake of his arrest, his interactions with other famous faces have resurfaced on social media, including his star-studded parties and A-List friendships.
An interview Sting gave in 2018 is currently making the rounds online, in which the music icon revealed that he receives an eye-watering amount of money daily from Combs, for the unauthorized use of the Police’s 1983 hit, Every Breath You Take.
He famously sampled the track on his single, I’ll Be Missing You, with Faith Evans, which was released in 1997 – but didn’t ask for permission first, meaning the rocker has earned a fortune in royalties.
During an appearance on The Breakfast Club, Sting was questioned about the sample and explained that he gets $2,000 a day for the rest of the producer’s life.
‘Is it true that Diddy has to pay you $2k a day because he didn’t have permission to sample Every Breath You Take?,’ he was asked in the resurfaced clip.
‘Yeah… For the rest of his life,’ the singer replied.
Host Charlamagne Tha God clarified whether the music mogul asked for permission ‘after the fact’, to which Sting simply added: ‘Yes, he did. We’re very good friends now.’
Combs made light of this last April, quote-tweeting a post of the clip with the message: ‘Nope. 5K a day. Love to my brother @OfficialSting!’
In a follow-up post, he added: ‘I want y’all to understand I was joking! It’s called being Facetious! Me and @OfficialSting have been friends for a long time!
‘He never charged me $3K or $5K a day for Missing You. He probably makes more than $5K a day from one of the biggest songs in history. LOVE.’
Sting later shared that he earned a fortune from the incident, explaining that he was able to send his children to university just from the funds alone.
‘Those guys just take your s**t, put it on a record and deal with the legality later,’ he told Rolling Stone in 2003, six years after Combs released the track.
‘Elton John told me, “You’ve got to hear [I’ll Be Missing You], you’re going to be a millionaire!”
‘I said, “I am a millionaire!” He said, “You’re going to be a millionaire twice over!” I put a couple of my kids through college with the proceeds, and me and P. Diddy are good pals still.’