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A former associate of Diddy", who is currently in a Miami prison, is suing the
hip-hop mogul for more than $19 million. The inmate says Diddy never paid him
for money he spent to fly Biggie to Miami
and record music and record video footage.
According to the Associated Press, former Bad Boy consultant, James Sabatino,
said he flew B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, to Miami in 1994 to perform
a show and record music. The rapper recorded about 17 minutes of vocals with
about 90 minutes of accompanying video footage.
It was understood that both belonged to Sabatino because he paid for the rapper's travel expenses and studio time, although a contract was never signed, according to the lawsuit.
Three years later, in the wake of B.I.G.'s still unsolved murder, Combs agreed to buy the music and video footage from Sabatino for $200,000. Combs reportedly gave Sabatino a check for $25,000 and promised the balance in 60 days, but never delivered.
Combs said the payment was delayed because once the Los Angeles police named Sabatino as a person of interest in B.I.G.'s death, the mogul didn't want his payment to Sabatino to be misconstrued. The night of the rapper's murder, Sabatino was scheduled to meet with B.I.G., but he never showed up.
Sabatino said he feared retribution from the hip-hop mogul if he talked about the lawsuit. Though Combs apparently told police he did not feel Sabatino was involved in the slaying, Sabatino says he was concerned Combs would falsely implicate him.
The $19 million is being sought for both actual and punitive damages, the lawsuit said.
Sabatino is currently incarcerated for an unrelated charge.
In other Diddy news, the president of Bad Boy Entertainment recently admitted to New York's Daily News that he did in fact father the child the gossip mills have been linking him to for a year now.
After repeatedly denying that he fathered the child, Combs told the news outlet recently, "At first, I wasn't sure if this was my child ... Now that it has become clear she is, I will take care of her for the rest of her life."
He told the news website, he's "committed to being a good father" and according to sources, has already worked out visitation and support terms with the child's mother, Sarah Chapman of Atlanta.
Diddy and once long-term girlfriend Kim Porter welcomed twins, Jessie James and D'Lila Star last December. But the mogul's affair with Chapman was apparently a factor in the couple's highly publicized break-up earlier this year. Porter and Diddy also share an 8-year-old son, Christian. The on-again-off-again relationship has been markedly rocky, as the two called it quits a few years back when Diddy took up with pop star Jennifer Lopez. Sources say he's actively working to repair his relationship with Porter.
With his 13-year old son Justin, from a previous relationship, Diddy's newest addition brings his grand total of little ones to five biological children and six including Porter's son Quincy, whom the mogul has also been a father to.
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