Recommendations of the Editorial team
Sean Combs personally wrote a letter to President Donald Trump asking for a pardon after the Bad Boy Entertainment founder was sentenced to just over four years in prison, as the New York Times reports.
The content of the letter remains unclear
Trump – who was friendly with Combs in New York City social life in the 1990s and 2000s – appeared little moved by the 56-year-old’s fate. r stated that he was not considering granting the request.
It’s unclear exactly what Combs wrote in the letter or when it was sent. However, Trump floated the idea of showing the letter to a room full of reporters on Wednesday. A spokesman for Combs declined to comment.
Combs’ direct appeal to Trump is the latest escalation in the music mogul’s attempt to win his freedom after he was convicted in July on two counts of transportation for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. The charges grew out of a wide-ranging sex trafficking and organized crime trial in which Combs was ultimately acquitted of the most serious charges.
Conviction despite acquittal on serious charges
However, a jury found him guilty of paying male sex workers to travel across state lines to perform so-called “freak-offs” with his girlfriends.
Last month, Combs appealed the ruling. He accused U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian of acting like a “thirteenth juror” during the October verdict. Combs’ legal team argued that defendants convicted under the Mann Act “typically receive sentences of less than 15 months for these offenses. Even if there was duress, which the jury did not find here.”
Judge points to massive burden of proof
However, Subramanian said he took into account the “massive” amount of evidence relating to “the abuse associated with freak-offs and hotel nights” when setting the 50-month sentence.
“The court rejects the defense’s attempt to portray what happened here as merely an intimate, consensual experience or as a simple sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll story,” Subramanian said in announcing the verdict. “A history of good deeds cannot wash away the record in this case. You abused the power and control you had over the lives of women you supposedly loved deeply. You abused them physically, emotionally and psychologically. And you used that abuse to get your way. Especially during freak-offs and hotel nights. The defense’s argument that none of this had anything to do with the crime in this case does not hold water.”
Preparations for pardon since 2024
ROLLING STONE reported back in May that Combs began laying the groundwork for a pardon shortly after his arrest in September 2024. Shortly after the presidential election in November, his inner circle specifically sought proximity to people in Trump’s environment.
When Combs was acquitted of the most serious charges over the summer, his team intensified those efforts. They contacted political actors in Trump’s environment, lobbyists and key people in order to gain their support for a pardon by Trump. According to Washington sources, they promised sums in the mid-six-figure range. If they would provide help.
“He’ll do anything to get out of prison.”
“He’s willing to do anything to get out of prison,” a source who has known Combs for a decade previously told ROLLING STONE. “He’s always been like that. He’ll always do what it takes to get out of a situation.”