P. Diddy’s Legal Woes Seemingly Got Diddy Kong Canceled, Too
P. Diddy’s trial for sex trafficking and racketeering charges begins next month, but Nintendo fans are already contending with their own drama. Despite the fact that the heroic little monkey never did anything wrong beyond throwing the occasional banana during a round of Mario Kart, it seems Diddy Kong, the dedicated sidekick of Donkey Kong, is being quietly canceled by Nintendo.
His alleged crime? Sharing a name with the embattled rap mogul.
Diddy Kong first appeared in 1994 on the Super Nintendo game Donkey Kong Country, a breakthrough hit that turned a defunct Mario villain into the star of his own franchise. Following that appearance, Diddy Kong became Donkey Kong’s loyal, energetic simian sidekick in nearly every game Donkey Kong has been in since — including Nintendo staples like Mario Kart, Mario Party and Super Smash Bros. He’s even starred in a few games himself, like Diddy Kong Racing.
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However, many Nintendo fans have noticed that we haven’t seen much of Diddy Kong over the past 18 months, especially since P. Diddy’s legal woes began to mount in November 2023. Diddy Kong was notably absent from 2024’s Mario Party Jamboree, and so far there’s no sign of Diddy Kong in the trailers for the upcoming Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bonanza.
The irony is Diddy Kong came into existence well before P. Diddy used the “Diddy” name. In 1994, P. Diddy was still going by Puff Daddy. It wasn’t until 2001, looking for a fresh start after being cleared of charges for gun possession and bribery, that he changed to P. Diddy, a moniker given to him by the late Notorious B.I.G.
But according to P. Diddy’s former bodyguard Gene Deal, the nickname wasn’t an affectionate one. “B.I.G. was laughing when he gave him that name, and somehow B.I.G knew that giving him that name was going to make him the laughingstock of hip hop. Because we know it came from Donkey Kong. I’ve said this a thousand times, Donkey Kong Jr., on that video game, was Diddy Kong, so B.I.G. was calling him a little monkey back then, he just didn’t know it,” Deal explained in an interview with The Art of the Dialogue.
Even if P. Diddy’s name was meant to be a joke, fans aren’t laughing at the idea that Nintendo is burying an innocent monkey just because of his name. The real test as to whether or not Diddy Kong is truly canceled will be in July when Donkey Kong Bonanza — a game in which his absence would be truly shocking — comes out.
Given that he hasn’t appeared in any trailers or gameplay and instead a new Donkey Kong sidekick — a talking rock named Odd Rock — has appeared on the scene, it’s not looking good for Diddy Kong. That said, once Nintendo finds out what an asshole Kid Rock is, surely Odd Rock will be canceled too.
