Sean “Diddy” Combs lost his second bid to be released from jail pending sentencing when a federal judge ruled today that the hip-hop mogul failed to prove he wasn’t a flight risk or a danger to the community.
“Increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn’t change the calculus given the circumstances and heavy burden of proof that Combs bears,” U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian wrote in his two-page ruling obtained by Rolling Stone. The judge said Combs and his lawyers “conceded” during Combs’ recent criminal trial that the music mogul has a history of violence in his personal relationships. “This type of violence, which happens behind closed doors … is impossible to police with conditions,” Subramanian wrote, reiterating comments he made in court on July 2. “On this basis alone, Combs’ application is denied.”
Combs, 55, has been trying to secure his release from Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) since his arrest last September. He renewed his effort last month, when a jury in Manhattan acquitted him on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. Although the Bad Boy founder was cleared of the most serious charges leveled against him, which carried up to life in prison, he was found guilty on two lesser counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. On the same day the jury returned its verdict, Subramanian heard arguments regarding possible release and ruled Combs should remain in custody until his sentencing on Oct. 3.
For their part, Combs’ attorneys have argued the father ofvseven should be with his family in the interim. Last week, they once again renewed their request for bail, saying “exceptional” circumstances warranted release. In a kitchen sink-style approach, the defense team offered a $50 million bail package, raised issues about dire conditions at MDC, and argued Combs was inappropriately charged with the Mann Act. In a separate motion, they asked the judge to set aside Combs’ conviction as a matter of law or rule that he be retried on the prostitution charges alone.
Subramanian flatly rejected Combs’ arguments in the new decision. “While Combs may contend at sentencing that this evidence should be discounted and that what happened was nothing more than a case of willing ‘swingers’ utilizing the voluntary services of escorts for their mutual pleasure, the Government takes the opposite view: that Cassie Ventura and Jane were beaten, coerced, threatened, lied to, and victimized by Combs as part of their participation in these events,” Subramanian wrote. “That makes this case unlike any of the cases Combs points to and places it outside the narrow exception to detention that Congress otherwise deemed mandatory.”
Subramanian also noted that Combs’ attorneys have admitted MDC officials have kept Combs “safe and attend[ed] to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate.” (Rolling Stone has reached out to Combs’ representatives for more information on the incident.)
Over the weekend, before the judge’s ruling, Combs’ attorneys filed more paperwork trying to reassure Subramanian over his stated concerns regarding Combs’ admitted temper. Apart from a lone, isolated incident with Combs’ ex-girlfriend “Jane” in June 2024, the attorneys claimed Combs has not been violent with anyone following the end of his relationship with Ventura in 2018.
Prosecutors rebutted that assertion in their own filing, saying the claim was “simply not true.” Though their filing was redacted, they claimed Combs “did engage in several acts of violence between 2018 and 2024.” It wasn’t clear precisely what alleged incidents prosecutors were referring to, but as Rolling Stone previously reported, Combs’ ex-girlfriend Gina Huynh previously told gossip vlogger Tasha K that Combs shoved her to the ground and dragged her by her hair in 2018. She said he also “stomped” on her stomach in a jealous rage.
Over the weekend, Huynh submitted a letter to the judge advocating for Combs’ release. She confirmed she was listed as Victim-3 in Combs’ indictment. Huynh, who has been in an on-off relationship with Combs since 2014, was not called as a witness. Weeks before opening statements started May 12, prosecutors admitted they were having trouble getting in touch with Huynh. They ultimately conceded she was “out” of the trial.
Still, Huynh’s name continually popped up in testimony. Both Ventura and Jane acknowledged Combs’ not-so-secret dalliance with Huynh, saying it caused problems in their respective relationships. Jurors also heard accusations Combs was violent with Huynh. Combs’ assistant George Kaplan testified he once saw Combs hurling decorative apples at Huynh. And in October 2015, Combs’ former head of security warned Combs that he could go to jail if word leaked about an apparent violent incident between the pair.
Huynh’s letter to the judge didn’t get specific about her previous claims about violence in the relationship. She simply acknowledged they “experienced ups and downs.”
“Mistakes were made, but he was willing to acknowledge his mistakes and make better decisions in the future,” Huynh wrote to the court. “Over the years that followed, he made visible efforts to become a better person and to address the harm he had caused. By the time our relationship ended, he embodied an energy of love, patience, and gentleness that was markedly different from his past behavior. To my knowledge, he has not been violent for many years, and he has been committed to being a father first.”
The judge’s rejection of Combs’ bail request comes as the hip-hop mogul is hoping for a minimum sentence, no more than 27 months with credit for the 11 months that he’s already served. Prosecutors claim Combs should face at least 51 months behind bars, per their interpretation of sentencing guidelines.
There’s also speculation Combs might have another avenue to avoid a possible prison sentence. His team is exploring all options, including appeals and even a presidential pardon. Last week, Rolling Stone reported that Combs’ allies have ramped up their efforts in lobbying President Donald Trump for a pardon, feeling emboldened by his partial acquittal. Members of Combs’ camp have approached people close to the Trump administration and floated paying large sums of money if they agreed to help with a potential Trump pardon, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.
