The White House has firmly denied recent media reports claiming that former President Donald Trump is contemplating commuting Sean “Diddy” Combs’ prison sentence this week.
On October 20, TMZ cited an anonymous “White House official” suggesting that Trump was “vacillating” over the decision, despite resistance from some staff members. The report claimed that if Trump moved forward, the hip-hop mogul could avoid serving his 50-month prison term.
A White House spokesperson dismissed the claims, telling the Daily Mail, “There is zero truth to the TMZ report, which we would’ve gladly explained had they reached out before running their fake news. The president, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations.”
Diddy’s Legal Situation
Combs, founder of Bad Boy Records, was sentenced on October 3 after being convicted on two federal charges of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was cleared of three other counts, including sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. In addition to the prison term, he was fined $500,000 and ordered to serve five years of supervised releasefollowing his sentence.
Rumors of a possible pardon circulated after reports that Combs’ legal team contacted a high-ranking White House official. Trump later confirmed that the rapper — whom he occasionally refers to as “Puff Daddy” — had formally requested a federal pardon.
Trump’s Past Comments on Diddy
Trump has recently granted presidential pardons to former US Congressman George Santos and reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley. Regarding Combs, he told Newsmax in August that it was “more likely a no” but noted that the rapper was “essentially, sort of, half-innocent.”
Despite Combs endorsing Joe Biden over Trump in 2020, the former president has spoken of their relationship positively: “I was very friendly with him, get along with him great, seemed like a nice guy, didn’t know him well.”
For now, the White House insists that any decision regarding Diddy’s potential pardon or commutation remains strictly at the discretion of the president.
