In Harm's Way; Hey, Diddy
WALLACE: Looks like it will be a beautiful day here in New York City. Well remember the days when a certain rap impresario was known as Puff Daddy? Well his name has come a long way since then, and the other day it got even less puffy, which got CNN's Jeanne Moos thinking about celebrity name dropping.</s>JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Never has the 16th letter of the alphabet been so insulted.</s>DIDDY, MUSICIAN: Enough is enough with the P getting in the way. You know, just call me Diddy.</s>MOOS: Easy for him to say. (on camera): Who is this guy? What's his name?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: P. Diddy.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: P. Diddy.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Diddy</s>P. MOOS: And what was his next oldest name?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Puff Daddy.</s>MOOS: And then he became?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: P. Diddy.</s>MOOS: And now he's?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Puff P. Combs.</s>MOOS (voice-over): Looks like the P isn't going gently into the night. It's tough, keeping up with celebrity name dropping. First, Jennifer Lopez opted for J.Lo, then backed off it. And what about Snoop Dogg?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't like rap, and I don't like him, and I forget his name.</s>MOOS: His mom supposedly nicknamed him after the Peanuts character, because of his long, snoopy-shaped face. First, it was Snoop Doggy Dogg.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Snoop Doggy Dogg, you need to get a jobby- job!</s>MOOS: Then Doggy became plain old Dogg, always with two G's. Seems like G is getting better treatment than</s>P. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: P. Diddy.</s>MOOS (on camera): Diddy?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Diddy. Just Diddy that's it.</s>MOOS: Did he?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he?</s>MOOS (voice-over): He did.</s>DIDDY: Diddy. It's simple. You know what I'm saying?</s>MOOS (on camera): It's just Diddy.</s>DIDDY: Five letters. One word. Period.</s>MOOS (voice-over): Lately, another one-word wonder has been using her Kabbalah name, Esther. Perhaps the king of name changers is Prince. When he recorded this song, he was known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that a guy or a woman?</s>MOOS: He adopted this unpronounceable symbol, combining the male and female signs, to get around a contract dispute. And when the contract was no longer a problem...</s>PRINCE, MUSICIAN: I will now go back to using my name instead of the symbol I adopted as a means to free myself.</s>MOOS: So he's back to Prince, though not everyone recognized him.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said that she thought Michael Jackson.</s>MOOS (on camera): Michael -- do you think this is Michael Jackson? No, that's close. Well, it's not really. He wouldn't -- Prince wouldn't like us to call him Michael Jackson. (voice-over): And we wouldn't want to short-change this guy.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 50 Cent!</s>MOOS: You're over excited. (voice-over): It's not that he's changed his nickname, it's just that the way some folks pronounce 50 Cent is an automatic laugh inducer.</s>AMY POHLERT, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Members of 50 Cent's entourage -- is that funny -- maybe I should just stop the joke right here. Actually, Tina, you know, I think I know how this fight started. Hey, that seat is 50 Cent's!</s>TINA FEY, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": I only have a dollar.</s>MOOS: These French guys weren't up on Diddy's name change.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: P. Diddy.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Puff Daddy.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: P. Diddy.</s>MOOS (on camera): Hey, you know why he dropped the P?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?</s>MOOS: So I could get closer to his fans. Are you feeling closer?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.</s>MOOS (voice-over): But the French guy named Rafael (ph) followed Diddy's lead with his own nickname.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raffy (ph).</s>MOOS (on camera): Raffy?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raffy.</s>MOOS: See I can't tell...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I drops the R, because -- to get closer to the fans.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And happy (ph).</s>MOOS (voice-over): Diddy will learn that there are worse things than being called by the wrong nickname.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you're this international Mongol (sic) now. I mean, you have so much...</s>DIDDY: Mongol? Mogul.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't believe...</s>DIDDY: Mongol.</s>MOOS: Serves you right for diddling with your P, Diddy. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.</s>WALLACE: Who knew a name could be so complicated? We thank Jeanne Moos for that fabulous report. The next hour of DAYBREAK begins in just 60 seconds. Don't go away.