Judge says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs must stay in jail until he is sentenced
[August 05, 2025]
By JENNIFER PELTZ
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs can't go home from jail to await
sentencing on his prostitution-related conviction, a judge said Monday,
denying the rap and style mogul's latest bid for bail.
Combs has been behind bars since his September arrest. He faced federal
charges of coercing girlfriends into having drug-fueled sex marathons
with male sex workers while he watched and filmed them.
He was acquitted last month of the top charges — racketeering and sex
trafficking — while being convicted of two counts of a
prostitution-related offense.
In denying Combs' $50 million bond proposal, Judge Arun Subramanian said
the hip hop impresario hadn't proven that he did not pose a flight risk
or danger, nor shown an “exceptional circumstance” that would justify
his release after a conviction that otherwise requires detention.
Combs’ arguments “might have traction in a case that didn’t involve
evidence of violence, coercion or subjugation in connection with the
acts of prostitution at issue, but the record here contains evidence of
all three,” the judge wrote.
Prosecutors declined to comment on the ruling. Messages seeking comment
were sent to Combs' lawyers.
The conviction carries the potential for up to 10 years in prison. But
there are complicated federal guidelines for calculating sentences in
any given case, and prosecutors and Combs’ lawyers disagree
substantially on how the guidelines come out for his case.
The guidelines aren’t mandatory, and Subramanian will have wide latitude
in deciding Combs’ punishment.
The Bad Boy Records founder, now 55, was for decades a protean figure in
pop culture. A Grammy-winning hip hop artist and entrepreneur with a
flair for finding and launching big talents, he presided over a business
empire that ranged from fashion to reality TV.
Prosecutors claimed he used his fame, wealth and violence to force and
manipulate two now-ex-girlfriends into days-long, drugged-up sexual
performances he called “freak-offs” or “hotel nights.”
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 During the trial, four women
testified that Combs had beaten or sexually assaulted them. Jurors
also watched video of Combs hurling one of his former girlfriends,
R&B singer Cassie, to the floor, repeatedly kicking her and then and
dragging her down a hotel hallway.
His lawyers argued that the government tried to
criminalize consensual, if unconventional, sexual tastes that played
out in complicated relationships. The defense acknowledged that
Combs had violent outbursts but said nothing he did came amounted to
the crimes with which he was charged.
Since the verdict, his lawyers have repeatedly renewed their efforts
to get him out on bail until his sentencing, set for October. They
have argued that the acquittals undercut the rationale for holding
him, and they have pointed to other people who were released before
sentencing on similar convictions.
Defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo suggested in a court filing that Combs
was the United States’ “only person in jail for hiring adult male
escorts for him and his girlfriend.”
Agnifilo also raised concerns about squalor and danger at the
Metropolitan Detention Center, the notorious federal lockup where
Combs is being held. The judge wrote Monday that those conditions
were a “serious” consideration, but he said Combs hadn't shown that
unique circumstances –- such as advanced age or medical issues –-
would warrant his release.
The defense’s most recent proposal included the $50 million bond,
plus travel restrictions, and expressed openness to adding on house
arrest at his Miami home, electronic monitoring, private security
guards and other requirements.
Prosecutors opposed releasing Combs. They wrote that his “extensive
history of violence — and his continued attempt to minimize his
recent violent conduct — demonstrates his dangerousness."
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Associated Press writer Jake Offenhartz contributed from Los
Angeles.
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