Diddy

The state's highest court declined Tuesday to hear Sean "Diddy" Combs' appeal of a lower court decision ordering him to pay more than $19,000 a month in child support payments.

Diddy was ordered last year to pay ex-girlfriend Misa Hylton-Brim child support for their 12-year-old son Justin.

The order issued by the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division in 2005 came after Combs appealed a Westchester Family Court ruling that he should pay $35,000 a month.

Hylton-Brim had sued for higher monthly payments and about $398,000 in back support.

The appellate court judge awarded a lower, undisclosed amount in back support and ordered Combs to pay Hylton-Brim's legal fees. The judge initially set monthly support payments at $21,782, but later reduced the amount.

"We're pleased the original order was reduced but we thought there were issues applicable for the Court of Appeals to entertain," said Combs' attorney, Stephen Gassman.

In 1996, Combs was initially ordered to pay $2,795 a month in child support, according to court documents.

Combs, 36, also pays child support to model Kim Porter for their son, Christian.

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Diddy is stripping his lifestyle back to the bare essentials for his upcoming movie A Raisin In The Sun. The hitmaker starred in the Broadway run of the show in 2004, and is thrilled to be back on board for the big screen version. But Combs, who will play struggling WALTER LEE YOUNGER, will be trying 'Method' acting to get into the role. He tells MTV, "I'm going to do it differently than anybody can expect me to do it. "I'm going to get raw and ready, do some hard work for this. I'm really stripping myself down. "I'm moving out of my house and into a studio apartment, and I'm not going to have a Blackberry or a cell phone." A Raisin In The Sun was originally adapted for cinemas in 1961 and starred movie legend SIDNEY POITIER as struggling Younger.