‘Diddy’ Combs could spend second Christmas behind barsStaff WritersAAPMon, 29 September 2025 8:01AM
Sean “Diddy” Combs is reportedly anxiously waiting to learn whether he will spend a second Christmas behind bars.
The rapper, 55, is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday in Manhattan after his conviction on two counts of arranging interstate travel for people engaged in prostitution, and his legal team are now said to be urging a federal judge to release him before the holiday as his sentencing approaches, according to the Daily Mirror.
The charges against Combs, brought under the Mann Act, carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.
He was acquitted in July of more serious racketeering and sex trafficking offences following an eight-week trial.
The question of whether he will spend the festive season at home with his seven children or remain in custody has become central to the arguments before Judge Arun Subramanian.
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Last December, Combs spent Christmas at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where he has been held since his arrest in September 2024.
A source told the Daily Mail: “Spending the holidays behind bars was a nightmare for him.”
Another insider close to Combs said he stayed strong despite missing his family.
His 2024 prison Christmas contrasted sharply with his previous years in luxury.
The year before, he shared his first holiday picture including his youngest daughter, Love, born in October 2022.
In court last week, defence lawyer Alexandra Shapiro pressed Judge Subramanian to throw out the Mann Act convictions.
She said: “The whole history of the statute is really, I would submit, an embarrassment to the United States of America.”
The lawyer argued the law had “racist and sexist origins” that were “well documented and beyond dispute”.
Prosecutors have not yet filed their sentencing recommendation but are expected to push for several years in prison.
Defence lawyers have asked for no more than 14 months, which with good behaviour would mean Combs’ immediate release.
Judge Subramanian has twice denied bail since July, citing Combs’ history of violence, and has indicated he is leaning toward a substantial sentence.
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