Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ family, friends and exes are coming to his defense ahead of his sentencing.
Combs’ team released letters on Tuesday, Sept. 23, in support of the rap mogul as he awaits sentencing in his federal sex-crimes trial. On July 2, the embattled music mogul was acquitted of his most serious racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges – and convicted of the lesser counts of the transportation to engage in prostitution charges in a bombshell split decision.
Combs’ mother and children, former employees, ex-girlfriends including City Girls rapper Yung Miami and record producers Dallas Austin and Stevie J, have all issued letters backing the Bad Boy Records founder and requesting “leniency” from the judge.
Here’s what Combs’ family and friends are saying in his defense.
When is Diddy’s sentencing date?
Combs’ team recommended Judge Arun Subramanian hand down 14 months of prison time when he is sentenced on Oct. 3.
Prosecutors’ recommendation is likely to follow. U.S. attorneys have said Combs could face 51 months to 63 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, while the defense has said the same guidelines instead suggest a two-year sentence.
Yung Miami recalls Diddy relationship, him ‘opening doors for Black people’
Caresha Brownlee, known as rapper Yung Miami, wrote her letter in support of Combs after the couple dated from 2021 to 2024. Though she emphasized she “cannot speak on or defend anything that may have happened before I met” Combs, she said the rap producer is “loving, genuine” and motivating. The City Girls MC added he “helped me grow both personally and professionally.” Brownlee has a podcast, “Caresha Please,” on the Combs-founded network Revolt.
She noted the producer also took her to her first Met Gala, saying the event showed that Combs “made it a priority to open doors for Black people, to make sure we are seen, heard, and valued in spaces where we’ve historically been excluded.”
Diddy could have ruled Met Gala 2025. Instead, he’s awaiting his sex-crimes trial.
Yung Miami and Sean Diddy Combs pose at the Met Gala, an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute with this year’s theme “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” in New York City, May 1, 2023.
She also cited his generosity, including when the former couple fed the homeless on Thanksgiving 2022, and the “inner work” he has done. “He made the choice to check himself into anger management, start therapy, and commit to physical healing through therapy,” she said. “That takes strength, humility, and self-awareness.”
Diddy’s ex-girlfriend requests his release on bail: ‘Mistakes were made’
Dallas Austin touts Diddy’s ‘positive influences’ in music
Dallas Austin – a producer who has worked with Madonna, TLC, Lionel Richie and Boyz II Men – voiced his support of his “brother” Combs, telling Subramanian of his contributions to music and helping “shape the careers of many.”
“As a friend, I look at the positive influences that he has had” on the music business, he said. “I think back on our conversations of how to become better men. He specifically asked me how he could become a better person. How he can give back and get involved with community.”
Britney Spears, Michael B. Jordan, Rihanna: All the celebs mentioned during the Diddy trial
Stevie J recalls mutual ‘challenges with anger and drugs’
Stevie Jordan is Combs’ long-time collaborator and former Bad Boy Records producer who has worked with artists including Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, The Notorious B.I.G., Jodeci, Faith Evans and Jay-Z.
Jordan said Combs “changed my life ever since” meeting at a recording studio in the 1990s. He said aside from Combs’ professional influence, personally, the businessman became a close friend. He cited Combs paying for nearly all of his father’s funeral expenses as an example of “the type of heart that he possesses.”
“Being in this entertainment business for 30 years and being friends with Sean we’ve both endured personal challenges with anger and drugs,” he continued. “I’m proud of Sean, I’ve read in the press that he’s clean and sober and also taking anger management therapy to become a better person because we all fall short as long as we correct ourselves and never revert to our old ways.”
Janice Combs, Diddy’s mom, says she doesn’t ‘know how much longer I will be around’
Combs’ 84-year-old mother, Janice Combs, told the judge in her letter that she wants to “spend the last few years of my life with my son.” She added: “Unfortunately, my son has made some terrible mistakes in his life, which I know he recognizes.”
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ mother defends him amid legal troubles: ‘A public lynching of my son’
She later cited her grandchildren’s “sleepless nights” without their father and her various health issues, saying: “I don’t know how much longer I will be around but I would love to be able to see him and his children together again.”
Diddy and his mother Janice Combs attend the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, Sept. 12, 2023.
Sarah Chapman, Dana Tran, Quincy Brown, more plead for ‘leniency’
Businesswoman Sarah Chapman, the mother of Combs’ oldest daughter Chance Combs, made her case for the music mogul, highlighting his generosity and how much family means to him, including acting as his mother’s primary caretaker. She also said that due to being incarcerated since September, the Bad Boy Records founder has a much clearer mind.
“Speaking with Sean, while he’s been incarcerated, I’ve recognized someone who is much calmer and drug free with a clear mind,” she noted. “I believe that after this year in prison, it has been the only time that he has had a break from his past lifestyle and is now focused on what truly matters.”
Model Dana Tran, the mother of Combs’ seventh child, 2-year-old daughter Love Sean Combs, said their daughter is “at a critical stage of development” and that his absence has taken “a noticeable toll.”
“I do not seek to excuse past mistakes, but I wholeheartedly believe that allowing Sean the chance to be present for his child will not only strengthen their bond but also inspire him to continue making positive choices in the future,” she added.
Quincy Brown, the son of the late model Kim Porter and singer Al B. Sure (whom Brown refers to as his “biological father”), noted Combs stepped in as the “only father figure in my life for as long as I can remember” and “in a way that no one else could have.” Combs adopted Brown as a child.
“Having never experienced the love of a father before then, it was all so foreign to me,” he continued. “I didn’t know that I was the recipient of a man’s love. That is, until I began to witness the love that he had for my mother.”
Brown reflected on the death of his mother and how much closer her children and Combs have grown in her absence. “My Pops isn’t a perfect man, but he is a dedicated father with a heart that we’re lucky to know,” he said. “He loves his children and would do anything for us.”
Claudine De Niro, the ex-wife of Robert De Niro’s son Raphael De Niro, put forth her support as his former personal concierge. The travel agent and real estate broker, who is dating Cuba Gooding Jr., said Combs “has been a mentor” and is “a man whose actions toward me and others have always been grounded in kindness, generosity, and care.”
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: P Diddy sentencing support comes from Yung Miami, Dallas Austin
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source ca.news.yahoo.com ’
