The morning of November 22 Sean “Diddy” combs entered a New York courtroom for a pretrial hearing. Dressed in khaki prison pants, the rapper’s face “lighted up” when he saw his family members sitting in the second row, a witness says. Led by his mom, janicesix of his seven children had arrived a few minutes earlier and were sitting together holding hands when their father appeared. “He smiled, waved, blew them kisses and told them ‘I love you,'” the witness says. Us weeklyadding that the music mogul seemed to be in good spirits.
Not for long. Five days later, Diddy’s bail application was denied for the third time. He spent Thanksgiving behind bars and will now celebrate Christmas while incarcerated at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center. The rapper, 55, was arrested and charged accused of sex trafficking and extortion on September 16, and pleaded not guilty the next day. (His trial is scheduled will begin in May 2025.) Since his arrest, more than 20 civil lawsuits have been filed against him and he has denied all charges.
It will be a Christmas like no other for Diddy, marked by loneliness and without his usual luxuries. “He’s trying to stay positive,” says a source in the latest Us weekly cover story. In years past, the Sean John founder has been surrounded by famous friends and loved ones, including his mother and children (he’s father to Quincy, 33, Justin, 30, Christian, 26, Chance, 18, the D’Lila twins and Jessie, who will turn 18 on December 21, and Love, 2). Adds the source: “The holidays will be especially hard for the family without their father.”
Mixed emotions
The concrete halls of the MDC are not very festive this time of year. “There are no decorations,” says federal prison consultant Sam Mangelnoting that contraband and anything with sharp edges or pins are prohibited on the premises. Visitors are welcome during the holidays, but stays are brief (Mangel says they typically last 30 minutes to an hour) and limited to four people at a time. Phone calls are limited to 15 minutes. “When their family leaves, the inmates become very solemn,” Mangel says. “It gets very depressing.” former inmate Brad Rousewho spent time at the MDC between 2008 and 2009 and now works as a mentor helping criminal defendants and their families, says Us That Christmas was especially hard for parents with young children at home. “The holidays were more painful for them,” he says, adding: “It’s a very hard, difficult place.”
Inmates get some breaks. Mangel says the staff gives prisoners time in the closed recreation yard to play sports tournaments, and they are free to enjoy games of dominoes, chess and cards. Religious services are usually offered and the televisions are on and tuned to major sporting events. There can be a sense of camaraderie. “It wasn’t easy being in jail over the holidays,” Rouse says, “but we were all in this together.” (He remembers one inmate who drew personalized Christmas greeting cards with drawings of Santa Claus or his children for his fellow inmates to send to their families in exchange for cans of mackerel.) Another former inmate who was incarcerated in the 1990s and early 2000s agrees that the atmosphere is lighter, at least for a while. “Everyone gives a pass that day,” he says. Us. “If someone is going to get hurt, don’t do it on Christmas. Wait until tomorrow, you know?
Sean “Diddy” Combs entered 2023 with a bang, celebrating the new year with his then-girlfriend Yung Miami and famous friends aboard a 278-foot, $117 million superyacht while cruising the Caribbean waters of St. Barts. At midnight, the hip-hop mogul exploded golden bottles of Ace of Spades champagne on the deck of the luxurious (…)
The inmate remembers receiving a gift bag on Christmas Day, filled with things like candy, coffee and Reese’s powdered drink mixes. “When everyone was locked in their cells, they brought bags on a cart and handed them out,” he says, adding, “It was great. “It really felt like a gift.” For about 10 days before and after Christmas, the prison commissary carried special items, including pepperoni and provolone cheese, that inmates attempted to collect as currency. Mangel says inmates do something called “FOGU” with the candy they receive. “It’s like a hodgepodge of candy and cookies, and then they put a little bit of water or milk in it, crush it into a ball, and it’s their version of a little Christmas gift.”
Mangel predicts Diddy might eat his Christmas meal with a famous inmate Sam Bankman-Fried, the cryptocurrency magnate who was convicted of fraud and is housed in the same unit. “I think they’ll probably eat together and talk to their families about where in the world they were last year,” he says. “They are from higher socioeconomic backgrounds before they got there. So they can remember which island they were on last year.”
hanging
On the outside, Diddy’s family is doing everything they can to stay strong. On November 4, Quincy, Justin, Christian, Jesse, D’Lila, and Chance posted a video to their Instagram accounts showing them all on a call with their father, who could be heard on speakerphone as Love. He sang “Happy Birthday.” The source says the older children have been babysitting the younger ones and that the family “believes in Diddy’s innocence and that he will be exonerated.”
Janice, the source notes, has been emotionally there for her grandchildren, who are in the care of a close family friend in Florida. “Diddy’s mom lives in Los Angeles, but he’s been visiting back and forth.” He’s also been a part of the holiday planning, trying to keep things festive for the kids. “The family will honor (Diddy) at Christmas,” the source adds, “they’re trying to talk to him as much as they can.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs was seen blowing kisses and smiling at his family during his final bail hearing on Friday, November 22. Us Weekly was in the New York City courtroom when the rapper, 55, showed affection to his mother, Janice Combs, and six children: Justin, 30, Christian, 26, Quincy Brown, 33, Chance, 18 and twins (…)
Diddy is focused on his defense, but the blows keep coming. During his Nov. 22 hearing, prosecutors claimed he had been attempting to obstruct their case by orchestrating social media campaigns aimed at tainting the jury pool; They included redacted notes that had been found during a sweep of the jail and alleged that he “contacted witnesses through third parties” and used phone accounts of other inmates. Diddy denied the allegations and his attorneys argued that confiscating the bills violated attorney-client privilege.
At the end of November, the fashion designer Bryan Bongolan filed a lawsuit alleging he hung up on her from a 17th floor balcony while threatening to kill her in 2016. And on December 8, her old friend jay-z was named in an October lawsuit in which a woman alleges that both rappers raped her in 2000. Diddy denied all allegations. “He’s been gathering witnesses and people who can speak on his side,” the source says. “This is the hardest time of Diddy’s life, but he’s not giving up.”
For more on Diddy, watch the exclusive video above and get the last number of Us weekly – now on newsstands.
With reporting by Travis Cronin, Molly McGuigan, Andrea Simpson and Amanda Williams
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