Did our first lady diss the reigning king of New York’s hip-hop world? The New York tabs are all in a tizzy over reports that Sean “P. Diddy” Combs snubbed the dedication show Monday night at Cincinnati’s National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, because Laura Bush refused to be in a photo with him.

According to the New York Post, His Diddyness was supposed to join Bush, Angela Bassett, Bono, and other dignitaries for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, but Bush’s office said no to the photo-op with Combs.

An unidentified Combs aide told the New York Daily News: “We don’t understand why she wouldn’t want to stand with him. He hasn’t been partisan at all.” A White House rep said the whole thing is wacky silliness: “I attribute any of this stuff to rumor or hearsay,” said the gossip-loathing rep, perhaps not realizing he was maligning not only our livelihood but the only thing that gives meaning to our otherwise empty existence.

“We don’t have anything to do with who is in the show or not. Mrs. Bush is happy to be here and be part of a historic occasion.”

Cher’s chicken soup

Cher’s rep gets all cheeky in the New York Post when asked if the fabulous singer, still on her never-ending farewell tour, is dating much younger hunkeloid model types. The 58-year-old Cher “has a chicken coop backstage,” the famed rep, Liz Rosenberg, says. “And her manager gives out passes to the cutest guys, and Cher makes her selection from the coop.” Where do we sign up?

Kravitz gets sexual

Words you might associate with Lenny Kravitz: Sexy stud. Derivative musical hack. Musical genius. Nose ring. How about devoted dad?

Yep, the man who defiled, um, dated Nicole Kidman for a spell, says he is very solicitous of his 15-year-old daughter Zoe: “I’m strict when it comes to boys. … Any male except me has to stay away!”

It’s a shame the father of one Sandi, a 21-year-old blond party girl, did not make her obey strict rules. According to the New York Post, she’s Kravitz’s latest “carnal conquest.” The “randy rocker” (we love the alliteration), the tab says, partied with her at a South Beach hot spot last weekend. Sit down for this salacious image: The couple “smooched at a corner table.” The horror!

-Knight Ridder Newspapers