Diddy: I Was Just Kidding About That New Name

The artist who has been known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, Diddy, and so forth appeared to have given himself yet another name change for his 48th birthday—but he's since revealed it was just a joke. The rapper and media mogul, who was born Sean Combs, tweeted Saturday that his "new name is LOVE aka Brother Love," Page Six reports. "I'm just not who I am before. I'm something different," he said, per the New York Daily News. He said he had been "praying" on the "very serious decision," which he admitted "could come off as corny to some people."

He added: "I will not be answering to Puffy, Diddy, Puff Daddy, or any of my other monikers but Love or Brother Love." But after what Diddy calls an "overwhelming response from the media" to his announcement, the rapper clarified in a video Sunday that he was not actually being serious, Mashable reports. "Today I've come to the conclusion that you cannot play with the internet," he said. "Just due to there not wanting to be any confusion ... I was only joking. OK? I didn’t change my name. It’s just part of one of my alter egos. One of my alter egos is Love.” But, he assured fans, "You can address me by any of my older name. But, if you still wanna call me Love, you can call me Love, baby." (Vodka helped make Brother Love the highest-paid celebrity of 2017.)