The White House has shot down a report saying Sean “Diddy” Combs will soon be headed home.
This comes after TMZ reported on Monday, Oct. 20, that President Trump is “vacillating” on “commuting Diddy’s sentence as early as this week.” The outlet cited a “high-ranking White House official” as its anonymous source.
But a White House official told NBC News the report is false and slammed the outlet.
“There is zero truth to the TMZ report, which we would’ve gladly explained had they reached out before running their fake news,” the official said. “The President, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations.”
Relate: More Bad News for Diddy as Court Reveals Restrictive Probation Terms
TMZ did not back down and responded with an article on Oct. 21, insisting its reporting was “accurate.”
“The White House Communications Office is saying our story is not true. We stand by our story. Our story is accurate,” the outlet said in a statement.
Casey Carver, a spokesperson for TMZ, reiterated the website’s stance in a brief statement to NBC News, saying: “We stand by our story.”
A commutation would not erase the mogul’s conviction on two prostitution-related counts. Instead, it would reduce the punishment, allowing him to be freed.
Combs’ legal team has not commented publicly about the dueling narratives . However, they’ve previously confirmed there had been “active conversations” between the music mogul’s lawyers and the Trump administration.
As previously reported, Trump addressed the possibility of a pardon during an August interview with conservative outlet, Newsmax, saying it was unlikely because of past comments the Bad Boy Records founder made about him.
“I was very friendly with him, I got along with him great and he seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t know him well. But when I ran for office, he was very hostile,” Trump said.
But he continues to face backlash for granting pardons and commutations in his second term to Republican loyalists, including his decision last week to free convicted ex-Congressman George Santos, who was serving a seven-year term for fraud.
On July 2, a Manhattan jury acquitted Combs of racketeering and sex trafficking charges but convicted him on two lesser counts of transporting people to engage in prostitution involving his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and another woman identified as “Jane Doe.”
On Oct. 3, he was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison, roughly four years and two months, and ordered to pay a $500,000 fine, the maximum allowed by law.
If not pardoned, Combs will be credited for the nearly 13 months he has already served since his September 2024 arrest.
He is expected to serve between two and three years in prison. Court documents obtained by Urban Hollywood 411 show that he must also follow restrictive probation terms, including staying away from his victims, avoiding drugs and weapons, and steering clear of anyone involved in criminal activity.
Meanwhile, Combs has filed a notice of appeal. His attorney submitted a two-page filing on Monday, Oct. 20, notifying the Manhattan federal court that the mogul is appealing both his conviction and his sentence.
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