Convicted rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has made a final appeal for leniency just hours before his sentencing, submitting a handwritten plea that detailed regret, drug addiction, and his effort to turn his life around. The 54-year-old music star, who was found guilty in July on two prostitution charges, faces up to 20 years in prison, with prosecutors pushing for at least 11 years while his defence team argues for release later this month. His sentencing is scheduled for Friday at 10:00 ET (15:00 GMT).
In a four-page letter sent to Judge Arun Subramanian on Thursday, Combs apologized for “all of the hurt and pain” he has caused, admitting that his violent past stemmed from substance abuse and reckless excess. He cited a notorious assault on his former girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, acknowledging he had “literally lost my mind” and admitting his history of domestic violence remains a weight he will “forever carry.” He also addressed another accuser identified in court as “Jane,” conceding he had become “lost in the drugs and the excess.”
“I lost my way,” he wrote. “My downfall was rooted in my selfishness. I have been humbled and broken to my core.” Combs argued he has since changed, explaining that after spending 13 months in a Brooklyn jail, he has embraced sobriety “for the first time in 25 years” and now teaches inmates about business. “The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn,” he added, asking for leniency not only for himself but also for his children and his 84-year-old mother, who recently underwent brain surgery.
While Combs portrays himself as reformed, his accusers have urged the judge to impose a long prison term. Ventura warned she fears swift retaliation if he is released, insisting that “he has no interest in changing or becoming better” and remains “the same cruel, power-hungry, manipulative man that he is.” Prosecutors echoed this stance in a September filing, accusing Combs of attempting to reframe years of abuse as toxic relationships, stressing that “there is nothing mutual about a relationship where one person holds all the power and the other ends up bloodied and bruised.”
Combs’s lawyers are expected to present a 15-minute video during the hearing, although its contents remain undisclosed, and he is also set to address the court directly before sentencing. Despite being cleared of more serious charges, including racketeering and sex trafficking that carried potential life imprisonment, prosecutors insist he has shown little remorse. The high-profile sentencing has drawn widespread attention, as the court weighs his plea for mercy against the calls for accountability from his victims.
