Ellen DeGeneres pranked Sean “Diddy” Combs on Thursday with a frightening clown scare – moments after the rapper adamantly insisted his clown fear is only a rumor. 

“Impossible,” he told the comedian during an interview on Ellen. “Because I’m a black man. I have so many other things to be fearful of – a clown’s not gonna scare me.” A person wearing a clown costume then popped up next to Combs’ chair, prompting him to wildly scream, karate kick and – in a hilarious move – break into some Michael Jackson-styled dancing.

Combs played off the embarrassing moment with class, even after DeGeneres replayed the footage – much to the audience’s delight. “You know, I woke up this morning, and I said, ‘I want my life to be full of surprises,” he said. “Ellen, I thank you.” He did, however, note that the host “really affected [his] street cred.”