Sean “Diddy” Combs is claiming to have become a “new version” of himself in prison, and is asking a judge for “mercy” ahead of Friday’s sentencing.
Combs, who was convicted on two prostitution-related charges in July, on Thursday sent a four-page letter to Judge Arun Subramanian expressing remorse.
“First and foremost, I want to apologize and say how sincerely sorry I am for all of the hurt and pain that I have caused others by my conduct,” Combs began. “I take full responsibility and accountability for my past wrongs.”
Combs apologized to ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura for his abuse.
“The scene and images of me assaulting Cassie play over and over in my head daily,” he said of the graphic 2016 incident. “I literally lost my mind. I was dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved. I’m sorry for that and always will be. My domestic violence will always be a heavy burden that I will have to forever carry.”
Combs also apologized to the woman identified during the trial only as Jane.
“Your honor, I thought I was providing for Jane concerning her and her child, but after hearing her testimony, I realized that I hurt her. For this I am deeply sorry,” he wrote.
The music producer said “selfishness” caused his “downfall.”
“I have been humbled and broken to my core,” he claimed. “Jail is designed to break you mentally, physically and spiritually. Over the past year there have been so many times that I wanted to give up. There have been some days I thought I would be better off dead. The old me died in jail and a new version was reborn. Prison will change you or kill you—I choose to live.”
Combs went on to describe prison conditions as “inhumane,” but said he wasn’t aiming to get pity or sympathy. Rather, his daily life in the Brooklyn jail since his Sept. 2024 arrest has served as a “deterrence.”
“Between of all of my losses and lessons, I can state for a fact that I will never be in another criminal courtroom again and I do not believe any other person would do anything similar from fear of similar punishment,” wrote Combs, who asked for “mercy” not only for him but for his seven children.
“I am their only parent. I have failed my children as a father,” he wrote, adding that he also has long been his 84-year-old mother’s primary caregiver.
“I no longer care about the money or the fame. There is nothing more important to me than my family,” he wrote.
Combs was acquitted in July of three of the most serious charges against him: one of racketeering conspiracy and two of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. But he was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
His lawyers have requested a sentence of 14 months, which more or less equates to time served.
Prosecutors are looking to get an 11-year sentence, claiming it is warranted by Combs’ “decades of unchecked violence” and “decades of psychological, emotional and physical damage he has inflicted.”
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