Sting Defends Classic Hit ‘Every Breath You Take’ After Diddy’s Arrest – ‘It’s Still My Song’

On September 16, the music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, 54, was arrested and charged with human trafficking and racketeering. He was then denied bail and remanded to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. Diddy remains there this day.

Now, the singer Sting is speaking out to defend his legendary song “Every Breath You Take,” saying that Diddy’s arrest doesn’t “taint” it.

Diddy, 55, famously sampled the 1983 Police hit for his and Faith Evans’ 1997 hit song “I’ll Be Missing You”, in memory of the legendary rapper Notorious BIG. He also performed the song with Sting at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards.

Sting Sounds Off

When asked by the Los Angeles Times how Diddy’s current situation has impacted how he looks at “Every Breath You Take,” Sting defended his song.

“I mean, I don’t know what went on [with Diddy],” continued Sting, 73. “But it doesn’t taint the song at all for me. It’s still my song.”

When told that fans still love to hear “Every Breath You Take,” Sting responded, “Absolutely.”

In this same interview, Sting was asked why he thinks young artists keep drawing from his music.

“I have no idea, but when somebody wants to interpolate or whatever it’s called, I never object because I always learn something about the song that I hadn’t known or anticipated,” he explained. “And I get paid, so why not? It keeps them current.”

“Songs are living organisms — you have to keep breathing life into them or giving them new bedfellows,” Sting concluded.

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Diddy’s Prison Life

Sting’s comments come nearly two months after Diddy was arrested. The authorities think that Diddy ran a criminal enterprise through his businesses. These businesses include Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs Enterprises, and Combs Global, among others. An unsealed indictment alleges that Diddy used “firearms, threats of violence, coercion, and verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse” to fulfill his desires.

Diddy has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ever since his arrest. Due to the seriousness of the charges against him, Diddy has been denied bail. He is reportedly being held in the 4 North unit of the prison. This is a dorm facility that boasts around 20 inmates and has looser rules than general population.

Related: Here’s How Diddy Is Celebrating His 55th Birthday In Jail Today

Diddy Has More Freedom In This Facility

This facility is reserved for high-profile criminals such as Sam Bankman-Fried, who is there now with Diddy.

A positive bit of news for Diddy is that he has more freedom than inmates in other parts of the jail. “They are not in cells,” said Tiffany Fong, a friend of Bankman-Fried’s who still corresponds with him often. 

“You envision them in small cells but they are actually in a unit that is set up like a dorm and designed for high-profile individuals,” she added. “The president of Honduras was there.”

If convicted on all charges, Diddy is facing a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison. Diddy has pled not guilty, and his trial date has been set for May 5.