Sean "Diddy" Combs is reportedly seeking a presidential pardon from Donald Trump as the former music mogul faces a looming trial and mounting legal troubles, including sex trafficking and racketeering charges. Sources close to Combs say he's counting on his long-standing personal relationship with the former president to help avoid a potential decades-long prison sentence.
Combs, 54, is currently detained at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center after being denied bail three times. He is facing a federal trial in May on multiple counts, including racketeering conspiracy, transportation for prostitution, fraud or coercion, and sex trafficking by force between 2021 and 2024.
"Donald was always invited to Diddy's legendary parties," celebrity journalist Rob Shuter told RadarOnline.com, citing sources familiar with Combs' legal strategy. "They've known each other forever. Diddy admired Trump's swagger-the bravado, the flash. He built part of his brand around that energy."
The insider added, "Diddy thinks Donald owes him one. He's counting on their history to keep him out of an orange jumpsuit."
The pair's public history dates back to Trump's time on NBC's The Apprentice, where he praised Combs in a 2012 episode. When contestant Aubrey O'Day cited her experience working for Combs as a strength, Trump responded, "I love Diddy... You know he is a good friend of mine. He's a good guy. Is he a good guy?"
That clip resurfaced recently on social media, sparking backlash. "He's an idiot, a terrible judge of character, and a liar," one user wrote. Another commented, "Birds of a feather."
Combs' legal issues have escalated rapidly since the fall of 2024. His former partner, Cassie Ventura, filed a lawsuit accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse. Since then, additional lawsuits and allegations have emerged, including claims that he recruited and coerced women into prostitution.
Most recently, Combs has been accused of organizing and financing a trafficking network using force and fraud. His legal team maintains that all activities were consensual. "These are not new allegations or new accusers," his attorneys told CBS News. "These are the same individuals, former long-term girlfriends, who were involved in consensual relationships. This was their private sex life, defined by consent, not coercion."
The accusations were further inflamed when O'Day appeared in TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy, where she claimed Combs offered her "a couple hundred dollars" in exchange for silence. "It asked me specifically to stay silent and never speak poorly about a human," she said. "So then I realized something really bad is coming because this isn't a man that was reformed."
