Just hours before his sentence was handed down, Sean “Diddy” Combs made one last appeal to be free. He pleaded with Judge Arun Subramanian for mercy, according to RadarOnline.com. Combs faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail, while the prosecution wants the disgraced rapper to serve the next 11 years.
The music mogul begins his appeal by expressing regret for his behavior in a recent letter dated Thursday, October 2, which RadarOnline.com was able to get. He even apologised “for all of the hurt and pain that I have caused others by my conduct. I take full responsibility and accountability for my past wrongs. This has been the hardest 2 years of my life, and I have no one to blame for my current reality and situation but myself.”
Then, Diddy talks about how cameras caught his assault on his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, in 2016. “The scene and images of me assaulting Cassie play over and over in my head daily,” Combs says in his letter.
“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,” he concluded.
The I’ll Be Missing You singer then discusses the time he spent at Brooklyn, New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center. A place where he has reportedly “not breathed fresh air in nearly 13 months.”
A day before he is set to be sentenced for two prostitution-related convictions, Sean “Diddy” Combs is apologizing for his actions in a letter to the judge overseeing his case.
ABC News’ Brian Buckmire joins us to break down what to expect at tomorrow’s sentencing. pic.twitter.com/3DL0DWl3p2
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) October 3, 2025
Diddy writes in the letter: “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 of me was reborn. Prison will change you or kill you – I choose to live.”
He is now “sober for the first time in 25 years,” though, and Diddy says he has changed. He now spends his time “reading books, writing, working out, or in therapy obtaining the tools and knowledge to deal with my past drug abuse and anger issues.”
“One of the most beautiful things I have experienced is being asked by my fellow inmates to teach and mentor them,” he added.
Sean Diddy Combs writes, mentioning his kids, “I ask you for mercy today, not only for my sake, but for the sake of my children…. As I write you this letter, I am scared to death. Scared to spend another second away from my mother and my children. I no longer care about the money or the fame. There is nothing more important to me than my family.”
In addition, he writes to the judge about all the significant events he has missed while incarcerated. He writes that he has missed the proms and graduations of his three daughters. He has even missed going to college with one of his daughters. He can no longer teach his two-year-old to talk, dance, play, or be there to comfort her when she has a nightmare or falls.
Diddy pleaded for a second chance as he concluded his letter. He writes: “I would ask Your Honor to make me an example of what a person can do if afforded a second chance. If you allow me to go home to my family, I promise I will not let you down and I will make you proud.”
