The 29-year-old, whose real name is Sean Combs, was arrested in April along with an assistant for allegedly attacking Steven Stoute of Universal Records with a chair, a champagne bottle and a telephone.

Combs faced second-degree assault charges, with a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

Puff Daddy faced up to seven years in jail

But after pleading guilty to the lesser charge of harrassment, he was sentenced to the "anger management program" by Manhattan criminal court judge Martin Murphy.

Stoute decided not to press further charges.

Stoute claimed that Combs attacked him after the two men fell out over a music video in which the rap star is nailed to a cross and says, "I think I like this."

After the taping, Combs was reported to have changed his mind and wanted the scene cut from the final version.

But when the video premiered on MTV, the scene was still there and Combs blamed Stoute.

"This is a case that is much ado about nothing. He shouldn't have lost his temper and he wants to put all of this behind him. It was an unfortunate incident," Combs' lawyer, Harvey Slovis, said after the hearing.

The rapper - who also runs his own record record label, Bad Boy Entertainment - had a worldwide hit with I'll Be Missing You, a tribute to murdered friend The Notorious B.I.G., in 1997.

Puff Daddy is one of the stars due to appear in the NetAid fund-raising concerts taking place in New York, London and Geneva on 9 October.