The White House on Tuesday denied claims that President Donald Trump was considering commuting Sean “Diddy” Combs’ prison sentence as early as this week.
The administration accused TMZ of making up the story.
“There is zero truth to TMZ’s report, which we would have liked to have explained if they had contacted us before publishing their fake news,” the White House reportedly said in a statement.
“The final decision on pardons and commutations rests with the president, not anonymous sources,” the statement added.
The entertainment news site, which originally reported the story Monday citing a “senior White House official,” stood by its reporting, saying, “The White House communications office says our story is not true. We stand by our story. Our story is accurate.”
Diddy’s plea for mercy
Combs’ representatives informally expressed interest in a presidential pardon following his conviction earlier this month.
Trump acknowledged Combs’ request during an Oct. 6 press briefing. “A lot of people have asked me for clemency,” Trump said. “I call him Puff Daddy; he asked for my forgiveness.”
Combs’ belief
Arrested in September 2024 on charges including sex trafficking, extortion and transportation for the purpose of prostitution, Combs was acquitted in July of the most serious charges but convicted of two counts of prostitution.
On October 3, he was sentenced to 50 months in prison, fined $500,000 and ordered to serve five years of supervised release. Combs was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
