Diddy Denies Paying Sting $5K a Day in Royalties: 'I Was Joking!'

Diddy Denies Paying Sting $5K a Day in Royalties: 'I Was Joking!' The hip-hop mogul went viral after tweeting that he pays a daily wage to Sting — which it turns out was just a joke

By Brandon Livesay Brandon Livesay Brandon Livesay is a former freelance reporter at PEOPLE. He left PEOPLE in 2023.People Editorial GuidelinesPublished on April 7, 2023 03:05PM EDT Sting

and Diddy in 2018.Credit : Kevin Mazur/Getty Sean "Diddy" Combs has denied he pays Sting $5,000 a day in royalties for sampling the songwriter's hit track "Every Breath You Take" and said

his initial tweet was just a joke.

"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," the hip-hop icon said in a new tweet on Friday.

Diddy's 1997 "I'll Be Missing You" was a tribute to rapper Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, who was murdered two months prior to the song's release. Faith Evans, the widow of

Notorious B.I.G., featured in the track, which heavily sampled The Police's 1983 single "Every Breath You Take."

Diddy Pays Sting $5,000 a Day for Using Sample Without Permission: 'Love to My Brother' The confusion over the non-existent royalties all started in 2018 when Sting was interviewed by The

Breakfast Club. The 71-year-old rocker aloofly said he gets $2,000 a day from Diddy for sampling his song. He also says permission to use the sample was only asked after "I'll Be Missing

You" was released. "We're very good friends now," Sting added. "It was a beautiful version of that song."