What does "Nice Try Diddy" mean? Viral comment spam trend explained

Instagram's comments sections are being filled with the phrase "Nice Try Diddy" leaving many users scratching their heads. The latest comments spam, which rose to prominence in June after originating in May, is a play on disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean Combs allegedly trying to involve himself in everything.

Although its exact purpose is still unknown, as the spam mostly appears underneath ads, it is a different version of the "Nice Try Feds" spam, which has been a popular phrase in meme culture. Hip-hop mogul Sean Combs was on the receiving end of many lawsuits and online backlash after many people, including his former girlfriend Cassie, accused him of various serious allegations, many involving s*xual assault and trafficking.

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"Nice Try Diddy" is taking over social media

The "Nice Try Diddy" spam is taking over social media. After the under-fire hip-hop mogul scrubbed his Instagram clean following an ill-received apology video to 2016 footage of himself assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie in a hotel hallway, social media users were quick to criticize the rapper in various contexts.

The spam usually appears in advertisements for various products including low-budget mobile games. As per Know Your Meme, the earliest recorded instance of spam was from an ad for Newsbreak's Safety Map, which details all the dangerous incidents that occurred around a person's region.

The map also specified the locations of nearby registered s*x offenders. This was pointed out by X user @raccoon2u2 on May 14, 2024. The similar allegations Sean Combs was facing only made it easy to equate the advertisement to the hip-hop mogul.

However, as the weeks went by, this spam started appearing in the comments section for all kinds of advertisements. Staggeringly, most of these Instagram ads had nothing in common with Sean Combs. This included an ad for Pharrell Williams' upcoming Lego movie, Piece by Piece, an ad for Apple Intelligence, and an ad for the video game Call of Duty.

Know Your Meme speculated two explanations for the spam based on a Reddit thread from r/OutOfTheLoop. A confused Redditor saw the "Nice Try Diddy" spam under a Call of Duty advertisement and wanted to know where it came from. The most upvoted answer was from a Redditor who went by u/xInfinity962.

The Reddit user explained,

"Answer: The "nice try Diddy" comments on things are part of a meme where people joke about P. Diddy trying to be involved in everything, following raids on his homes. It's a silly internet joke implying he's trying to sneak into unrelated situations, like the game's release. It's just a dumb joke lol."

A redditor who went by u/OddVariation6063 additionally explained in response to the answer,

"Actually it has more context than that : since Kanye accused Diddy of being feds. Before the meme was Nice Try Feds now it’s nice try diddy."

The quite popular "Nice Try Feds" spam appeared on ads for cheap mobile games, in response to the conspiracy theory that federal agents use ads for such games to help catch criminals. "Nice Try Feds" also appears under posts and reels by what users think are suspiciously good-looking people hired by law enforcement to feign their interest and eventually trap them.

During his October 2023 Drink Champs interview, Kanye West claimed Diddy was a "fed". In the interview, the rapper insinuated that Sean Combs made a deal with law enforcement to keep himself out of prison, in exchange for information about the people surrounding him.

Kanye said,

"The reason why you gotta talk is because you did a deal, you f*cking fed!"

Despite the multiple interpretations of the "Nice Try Diddy" spam, the specific purpose of the spam has not yet been verified.