An attorney for Sean “Diddy” Combs has confirmed his team have reached out to the White House about a potential pardon from US President Donald Trump.
The disgraced music mogul was found guilty on two counts of transportation for engaging in prostitution, but was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking in July, and pleaded not guilty to all five charges.
Late last month (July 29), he asked a judge to release him on a $50million (£37.4million) bond as he waits to be sentenced in October, but was denied bail after US District Judge Arun Subramanian said that he had failed to prove there were any “exceptional” reasons as to why he should be released ahead sentencing.
Speaking to CNN, lawyer Nicole Westmoreland said: “It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon.”
No further details surrounding who Combs’ team had approached were given, but Westmoreland added that her client is “a very hopeful person, and I believe that he remains hopeful.”
When contacted by CNN, a White House official then said they would not “comment on the existence or nonexistence of any clemency request.” Trump, however, has speculated openly about a potential pardon. Back in June, he said that he would look into a potential pardon for Combs, and that he would “certainly look at the facts”.
Last week, though, he weighed in again, calling Combs “half-innocent” and saying it’s “more likely a no” that he would be pardoned.
“Well, he was essentially, I guess, sort of half-innocent,” Trump told Newsmax host Rob Finnerty last Friday (August 1). “[He’s] still in jail or something, but he was celebrating a victory. But I guess it wasn’t as good of a victory.”
Trump went on to recall that he was “very friendly with him” previously and they had gotten along “great”, although he added that he “didn’t know him well”.
He continued: “When I ran for office, he was very hostile. It’s hard, you know? We’re human beings. And we don’t like to have things cloud our judgment, right? But when you knew someone and you were fine, and then you run for office, and he made some terrible statements. So I don’t know …. it makes it more difficult to do.”
Donald Trump gets asked if he would pardon Diddy.
— Pop Base (@PopBase) August 2, 2025
He’s likely referencing comments Combs made to Charlamagne tha God in 2020, when he said, “White men like Trump need to be banished. That way of thinking is real dangerous. This man literally threatened the lives of us and our families about going to vote … The number one priority is to get Trump out of office.”
Trump’s second term has already seen him issue a slew on controversial pardons, including to over a thousand January 6 rioters, former chief strategist Steve Bannon and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
As noted by Billboard, he has also issued pardons or commutations for a number of rappers including NBA YoungBoy, Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris, and in his first term, Lil Wayne and Kodak Black.
