Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyers urge judge to release him from prison

In a surprise move late on Tuesday, the disgraced star’s legal team urged an appeals court to order his immediate release from prison and reverse his conviction on prostitution-related charges or direct his trial judge to lighten his four-year sentence.

The lawyers have alleged that the rapper was “treated harshly at sentencing by a federal judge who let evidence surrounding charges he was acquitted of unjustly influence the punishment”.

Combs, 56, is currently not due for release until May 2028.

He was convicted of two counts of transportation for prostitution but acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking at a trial that ended in July.

Lawyers for Combs said Judge Arun Subramanian acted like a “thirteenth juror” in October when he sentenced Combs to four years and two months in prison.

They said he let evidence surrounding the acquitted charges influence the sentence he imposed.

“Defendants typically get sentenced to less than 15 months for these offences — even when coercion, which the jury didn’t find here, is involved,” the lawyers wrote.

“The judge defied the jury’s verdict and found Combs ‘coerced,’ ‘exploited,’ and ‘forced’ his girlfriends to have sex and led a criminal conspiracy. These judicial findings trumped the verdict and led to the highest sentence ever imposed for any remotely similar defendant,” the lawyers wrote.

Meanwhile, it comes after the disgraced media mogul called the new Netflix doco “a shameful hit piece” from his longtime rival 50 Cent, who is an executive producer on the four-part series.

As per the Netflix synopsis, the docu-series is “a staggering examination of the media mogul, music legend and convicted offender”, who is currently serving a four-year prison sentence for his conviction on federal prostitution charges.

In allegedly “stolen footage” filmed six days before his September 2024 arrest, Diddy could be seen fuming inside a hotel room as he appears to talk to his legal team.“We need to find someone who will work with us, who has worked in the dirtiest of dirty businesses. We are losing,” a panicked Diddy could be heard saying.

Diddy and his team are also livid that Netflix gave the reins to 50 Cent, who has been a longtime nemesis of Diddy’s.

“It is equally staggering that Netflix handed creative control to Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson – a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta who has spent too much time slandering Mr. Combs,” said a rep in a furious statement.

“Beyond the legal issues, this is a personal breach of trust. Mr Combs has long respected [Netflix boss] Ted Sarandos and admired the legacy of [music executive] Clarence Avant.

“For Netflix to give his life story to someone who has publicly attacked him for decades feels like an unnecessary and deeply personal affront. At minimum, he expected fairness from people he respected.”