Sometimes, the dominoes fall in such a way where they knock a hip-hop mogul out of their comfort zone and into the New York City Marathon. The tale holds true for Sean “Diddy” Combs when he and his very odd mohawk ran the feat in 2003. The presentation was lavish with an MTV special Diddy Runs The City to match. But as close friend Ashton Kutcher recalls, he’s the reason behind Diddy taking on the city.
During an interview with Complex’s Hot Ones, the actor and businessman failed to disclose any stories about Diddy’s epic party era but shared how close the two were. During a casual 5K run, Ashton says paparazzi started to tail the pails which also happened to be the same moment where Diddy began to gas out.
“We had paparazzi all around us at the time and he was like, ‘You gotta slow down, but make it look like you’re not slowing down because I don’t wanna look like I’m not gonna be able to finish this thing,'” he said. “He was so upset over the fact he got skunked on this run, that year he decided to run the New York Marathon,” he added. “He just can’t lose, even when he’s that close to humility, it becomes a driver.”
At the time, both men had successful TV shows on MTV–Punk’d and Making The Band. Their friendship formed after Diddy rejected the idea of him getting Punk’d. “He was like, ‘Not me, I’m off the table,'” said Kutcher.
Parts of this tale have been told before. In 2018, the longtime friends appeared on The Late Late Show With James Corden where Diddy shared how the infamous Kanye West episode of Punk’d made him wary of appearing on the show. If you can remember, Kutcher’s prank against a young ‘Ye was centered around stealing the footage of his video “Jesus Walks (Version Two).”
In the end, Diddy never appeared on the show but completed the marathon. He also raised upwards of $3 million for the Children’s Hope Foundation (for HIV-positive kids), Daddy’s House Social Programs and New York’s public school system.
Watch Kutcher’s interview with the Hot Ones crew below.