Sean "Diddy" Combs spent Thanksgiving inside the federal correctional institution at Fort Dix, N.J., marking his first major holiday in custody as he serves a 50-month sentence following his conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. The hip-hop mogul, long associated with luxury branding and high-profile philanthropy, is confronting the stark transition from a decades-long public image built on celebrity visibility to life in one of the nation's largest federal prisons. His incarceration continues to draw scrutiny as his legal team pursues an expedited appeal.
Combs, 56, whose high-profile trial concluded in July 2025, has been detained since his September 2024 arrest. While he was acquitted of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges, the conviction carried a multiyear federal sentence. His attorneys successfully petitioned for a transfer from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to Fort Dix, arguing the move was necessary "to maximise family visitation and rehabilitative efforts."
Holiday routines at the New Jersey facility, according to federal officials, offered an unusual degree of structure and activity. A spokesperson told Page Six that the institution arranged "sports tournaments, holiday concerts, and card games," alongside the standard Thanksgiving visitation schedule. The Federal Bureau of Prisons also provided a special lunch menu that included turkey roast, a soy-based alternative for vegetarians, vegetable corn bread stuffing, baked sweet potato, mashed potatoes, corn, chicken gravy, whole wheat bread, fruit and a holiday dessert.
Combs' holiday experience inside Fort Dix also highlighted the contrast between the institution's modest accommodations and his decades as an entertainment executive. Former inmate Joe Giudice, who served 17 months at the facility, described the environment in blunt terms.
Speaking to Us Weekly, Giudice said, "There's one bathroom per floor with toilets and showers and everything is broken. A lot of the food is expired. It's horrible. They don't care." He added, "I was there a day-and-a-half, and I [told a] kid [I just met], 'This isn't a jail, this is an insane asylum!' and he agreed. It was a zoo."
Giudice further alleged that misconduct was widespread due to lack of supervision. "I got up at, like, three or four in the morning to go to the bathroom, and you would see the craziest things in there, people you would never imagine," he said, adding that guards would "hear the shower going at night, and they just look the other way."
Combs' team maintains he is using his time to pursue self-improvement and prepare for legal challenges. A representative told the Irish Star, "Sean Combs and his legal team are thoroughly focused on his expedited appeal. That is, and remains, his and their primary efforts. Sean is taking his incarceration seriously. He is working, counselling and mentoring, and trying to be the best version of himself and get back to his family quickly."
