Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs allegedly made Biggie Smalls pay for his own funeral following his death in 1997.
The Notorious B.I.G. was a huge success for Combs’ Bad Boy Records label, proving himself as one of the greatest MCs of all time.
However, it wasn’t enough for Combs to cover his funeral costs. During an episode of the new Netflix docuseries, Sean Combs: The Reckoning, Bad Boy founder Kirk Burrowes claimed that he made Biggie’s estate pay for the ceremony.
Combs allegedly wanted it to be a momentous occasion to celebrate his life, but after finding out the total cost, Burrowes said Puffy closed his chequebook. At the time, his net worth was an estimated $40 million, according to SuperMoney.
“Sean said, ‘We’re gonna do the biggest funeral for Biggie that New York has ever seen,’” Burrowes recalled. “We start to put that together, he starts to see the price. He says, ‘We’re gonna do the biggest funeral, but Biggie’s gonna have to pay for this funeral.’”
Biggie was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9th, 1997, at the age of 24. His funeral took place at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in New York City on March 18th.
Burrowes added, “He was gonna make the funeral be a recoupable charge to Biggie in death. Sean doing a big show looks good on him. But he’s not gonna tell the world that Biggie was gonna pay for it.”
Biggie was the first artist to sign to Bad Boy in 1993. He released his debut album, Ready to Die, on the label in 1994, which included singles like ‘Juicy’, ‘Big Poppa’, and ‘One More Chance’. His second album, Life After Death, arrived 16 days after his murder.
Combs is currently serving four years and two months in prison on prostitution charges. Produced by 50 Cent, Sean Combs: The Reckoning aims to “unpack the shocking allegations behind Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and his Bad Boy empire, spanning decades of his life and career.”
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