Nearly eight months have passed since Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested and sent to New York’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center to await trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges via Yahoo. And while the formerly high-flying Bad Boy Records CEO and billionaire entrepreneur was used to the finest things in his former life, as per to the New York Times, his life in the communal, dorm-style unit segregated from the rest of the inmates is a study in contrasts from his previous life.
The typically dapper MC’s hair and beard have gone grey, since hair dye is not allowed in the Brooklyn jail that has long been the source of complaints over its decrepit state, including reports of mold and vermin, extended lockdowns and understaffing.
As part of his daily routine, Combs gets up for breakfast at 7 a.m. and has time to exercise in a room with yoga mats and a small basketball hoop, or to hang in a communal space with a ping-pong table and a TV.
Combs’ lawyers have tried, and failed, three times to get their client released on bail on the charges that, if he’s found guilty of, could land Diddy in prison for the rest of his life. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges he awaits opening statements in the trail slated to begin on May 5th over allegations that the rap impresario oversaw a violent criminal conspiracy that allegedly included kidnapping, arson and drug crimes in service of his alleged sexual abuse of multiple men and women to satisfy his need for “sexual gratification.”
Combs is currently in an area of the jail called 4 North, a fourth floor space where around 20 men are housed. Fellow high-profile inmates on the unit included, until recently, crypto boss Sam Bankman-Fried, along with government informants, including former gang members who have been segregated for their safety from the general jail population; accused United Health Care CEO murderer Luigi Mangione who shares a lawyer with Combs, is housed in the same jail, but in a different unit.
While Combs’ lawyers at first thought their A-list client would be housed in the restrictive Special Housing Unit where inmates spend 23 hours a day inside their cell, he was instead sent to the less harsh 4 North Unit.
Inmates, who are issued brown jail clothes, can eat their meals in a common area and use a bathroom that has stalls, as well as listen to music or watch movies on a tablet for sale at the commissary, though they do not have any internet or wi-fi access.
While Diddy dined on the finest meals provided by private chefs in his former life, the menu in lock-up is decidedly less glamorous, with a rotating menu that includes lasagna or “pasta fazool” for vegetarians on the second Friday of each month. There are also Snickers bars and bags of Cheez-Its for sale in the commissary, along with toiletries, radios and watches. Inmates can spend up to $180 at the commissary every two weeks from funds provided by friends and family, with one crucial item, $1 packets of mackerel (“macks”) serving as a key bartering tool among the incarcerated.
Combs is allowed to have visitors on Tuesdays and while he can make phone calls — such as a recent one to rapper Ye — the conversations are capped at 15 minutes and they are subject to monitoring by authorities.
While the current accommodations are, as expected, spare and somewhat harsh, they likely pale in comparison to the federal prison Combs could be sent to convicted on the charges in the eight-week trial.
