Model and actress Kim Porter died Thursday at age 47.
Porter dated Sean “Diddy” Combs on and off for over a decade. The hip-hop mogul’s representative confirmed the devastating news to Yahoo in a statement: “Sadly, I can confirm the passing of Kim Porter. I ask that you give the families privacy at this time.”
Diddy and Porter had three children together: twin girls Jessie James and D’Lila, 11, and son Christian, 20.
According to emergency dispatch audio obtained by TMZ, the call came in around noon about a patient in cardiac arrest. Police are at Porter’s Toluca Lake, Calif., home. A source told TMZ that the model had been suffering flulike symptoms, and possibly pneumonia, for several weeks. A second source said she had contacted her doctor just yesterday complaining she wasn’t feeling any better. Her cause of death is unclear at this time.
Porter and Diddy, 49, met when he was an A&R executive at Uptown Records and began dating in 1994. “She’s my muse,” he told Essence in a 2009 interview. “You know how they say it in the movies? It’s corny but beautiful: She completes me.”
After a few breakups and reconciliations, Porter ended their relationship for good in 2007 amid reports of his infidelity.
“He’s not ready to get married,” she told Essence at the time. “When I get married, I want to stay married. I want both parties to be on the same page at the same time, and to leave a certain type of behavior behind. That’s a commitment I don’t think he’s ready for.”
Porter vowed the two would remain friends. “You know how when two people go their separate ways, most of the time there’s animosity? It’s not like that with us,” she said. “Sean and I have this bond, this friendship. It’s not about ‘if you’re faithful to me, if I’m being faithful to you.’ We’re friends. I’m the person he can tell his innermost thoughts to, and he’s that person for me. He still calls me every day and we talk.”
She added, “There’s no ill feeling or ‘I can’t stand you, I hate you, don’t call.’ There’s none of that. We have three children together so that’s just not an option. We’re committed to our children, even if we couldn’t commit to each other.”
They did just that for 11 years.
Porter also leaves behind son, Quincy, from her relationship with R&B crooner Al B. Sure. Diddy is also father to 24-year-old Justin with ex-girlfriend, Misa Hylton-Brim. Porter, Diddy and their kids stepped out to support Quincy at the premiere of his film The Holiday Calendar just two weeks ago.
