After teasing a possible pardon for the disgraced music mogul, Donald Trump has confirmed that he won’t be getting Sean “Diddy” Combs out of jail early.
During a lengthy sit-down with New York Times reporters on Jan. 7, the president was given the names of multiple high-profile people who are imprisoned, including the Bad Boy founder, and asked whether he would consider pardons for them. Combs allegedly wrote a letter seeking clemency, though Trump confirmed he is not considering granting Diddy’s request.
After revealing to reporters that Combs “Asked me for a pardon… through a letter,” he was asked when the alleged communication was sent. Trump replied, “Oh, would you like to see that letter?” but did not bring it forth, per USA Today.
Back in October, Trump previously revealed to reporters in the Oval Office that the rapper and producer, who is appealing both his sentence and conviction as he serves a 50-month prison sentence in New Jersey, had asked for a pardon. It’s not clear whether Combs has sent the president any new communication since those comments.
In an Oct. 21 statement to USA Today, a White House spokesperson said there is “zero truth” to a report that the president was deliberating commuting Combs’ sentence.
“The president, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations,” the official said.
In a previous interview, Trump opened up about having a soured relationship with Diddy, telling Newsmax host Rob Finnerty in an Aug. 1 interview that Combs’ “hostile” comments during Trump’s first presidential term made it “more difficult” to consider a pardon.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of folks were happy to hear that Diddy will be remaining in jail, especially his longtime nemesis, 50 Cent. The rapper—who executive-produced the four-part Netflix docuseries, Sean Combs: The Reckoning—even took credit for Trump’s unwillingness to pardon him in a triumphant post on Instagram.
Posting a screenshot of a headline about Trump “not considering” a pardon, 50 gloated in his caption: “What part of no don’t you understand…I told him what ya said…he was surprised, you said some very nasty things about him.”
50 went on to delete the post, though it’s unclear why.
