With Sean “Diddy” Combs facing sentencing in October on his prostitution convictions, a slew of people have filed letters with the judge asking for lenience — including some big names.
Diddy is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 3 following his criminal trial earlier this year, which ended with a verdict acquitting him of more serious sex-trafficking and racketeering charges, but convicting him of two lesser counts of interstate prostitution.
His lawyers themselves asked the judge Monday (Sept. 22) to go easy on the star, saying he deserves just 14 months in prison — a sentence that would see him released almost immediately on time served. Prosecutors want a much stiffer sentence, but Diddy’s lawyers said such “draconian” punishments should be rejected because “the jury has spoken” and it’s “time for Mr. Combs to go home.”
To help make that argument to the judge, Diddy’s lawyers filed dozens of letters from supporters, ranging from family members to former employees to other star artists and producers. They made a variety of arguments, including sentimental pleas for leniency and arguments for rehabilitation rather than incarceration.
One notable absence? Ye, the hip-hop superstar formerly known as Kanye West. The star made a high-profile appearance at the trial in May to show his public support for Diddy, but his name was not signed to any of the letters filed at the court on Monday.
To get you up to speed, here’s a breakdown of all the key names of those who are supporting Diddy — and a quick look at what they told the judge.
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Diddy’s Mom & Kids
Image Credit: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images Diddy’s entire family came out to support the embattled star, including his mother, Janice Combs; his sister Keisha Combs; his children Justin, Chance, Christian, D’Lila and Jessie Combs; and Quincy Brown, son of the late Kim Porter and an adopted son of Diddy.
In several of the letters, they admitted that Combs had done wrong, often under the influence of drugs. “Yes, Sean has made mistakes — serious ones,” Keisha wrote in her letter. “His struggles with addiction clouded his judgment and led him away from his true path.”
His mother wrote, “Unfortunately, my son has made some terrible mistakes in his life.”
But the family pleaded with the judge to let him go free, arguing that they need the star in their lives. D’Lila and Jessie, daughters of the late Porter, said Diddy has “had to play the role of both parents.” Janice even noted that her health has “deteriorated” in recent years: “I don’t know how much longer I will be around but I would love to be able to see him and his children together again.”
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Yung Miami
Image Credit: Prince Williams/WireImage The rapper born Caresha Brownlee, one half of the hip-hop duo City Girls, was in a romance with Diddy from 2021 to 2023, but she’s apparently not a bitter ex. In her own letter of support, she said he was “not a danger or a threat to the community” and that his children “need him.”
Though she explicitly stated that she could not defend any conduct that happened before they dated and would not “condone any wrongdoing,” Miami described a different person than the one portrayed by prosecutors in the criminal case against the star.
“Behind the scenes, he was loving, genuine, supportive and always encouraging,” Yung Miami wrote. “He motivated me, believed in me and helped me grow both personally and professionally.”
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Music Producers Stevie J & Dallas Austin
Image Credit: Thaddaeus McAdams/Getty Images More letters of support came from those that had collaborated musically with Diddy over the course of his long career, including a pair of prominent producers
One came from Stevie J (born Steven Aaron Jordan), a Bad Boy Records producer who won a Grammy for his work Diddy’s 1997 debut studio album No Way Out, and also worked with Mariah Carey, Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and many others. He later rose to prominence again in 2012 as a cast member on VH1’s reality show Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta.
Like others, Stevie cited Diddy’s financial generosity, claiming the star paid for his father’s entire funeral several years ago. He also pointed to the star’s “personal challenges with anger and drugs,” but praised him for trying to “become a better person.”
Another letter came from Dallas Austin, who produced music for Boyz II Men, TLC, Madonna and other stars. He said he had known Combs for decades, and pleaded with the judge to take it easy on his “brother”: “I am hoping for leniency so he can heal, pray and seek needed counseling.”
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Stephen Hill
Image Credit: Leon Bennett/Getty Images Unlike many other letters of support, the former longtime BET executive made an unusual pitch to the judge by offering an inside perspective on a legendary moment in hip-hop lore: the 1995 Source Awards, when East Coast-West Coast rivalry was at its peak.
The events of that night — when Death Row Records boss Suge Knight dissed Diddy on stage — are well-known, but Hill offered his unique perspective as an attendee. “I was there and I describe it as the only room I was in where I could feel the air change in the moment,” he told the judge. Hill then cited Diddy’s response, in which he said the East Coast-West Coast battling “needs to stop.”
“Many in hip-hop talk about Suge’s words,” Hill told the judge. “Puff deserves more recognition for quelling all the angst in the room. NO incidents. NO tragedy.”
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Label Exec, Staffers & More
Image Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images More than 60 people total sent letters to the judge on Monday, many of whom don’t rise to the same high profile as those highlighted above.
They came from folks as varied as Chris Hicks, the chief information officer at the parent company of hip-hop record label Quality Control Music, who said he was “one of many successful music executives
who came up under the influence of Sean Combs”; Claudine De Niro, Robert De Niro’s ex-daughter-in-law, who says Diddy supported her when a family member was missing after the 9/11 attacks; Sass Smith, a longtime Bad Boy employee in the 1990s; Robert Celestin, an attorney who worked at Uptown Records when Diddy got his start; and Karla Lemos, the star’s longtime personal chef.
