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So, Which Celebrities Will Donald Trump Pardon This Time?

The likelihood of one of them being a sexual abuser is not zero.

Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty Images (Heidi Gutman/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank, Rebecca Noble, Shareif Ziyadat)

Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty Images (Heidi Gutman/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank, Rebecca Noble, Shareif Ziyadat)

Processing Donald Trump’s shocking win over Kamala Harris will take some time, but one thing is for certain: He’ll soon have presidential pardon power. This means that Trump, a recently minted convicted felon who’s facing additional serious charges, can grant clemency as he sees fit for federal prosecutions — maybe even for himself.

While many convicted in the deadly January 6 riot are already angling for pardons, there’s another group of high-profile defendants who could be interested in Trump’s leniency. Trump has already shown willingness to reprieve celebrity defendants, pardoning Lil Wayne over his weapon conviction and commuting Kodak Black’s sentence for falsifying records just before leaving office in 2021. In announcing Weezy’s pardon, Trump’s office said the performer had “exhibited this generosity through commitment to a variety of charities, including donations to research hospitals and a host of food banks. He similarly noted that he was “deeply involved in numerous philanthropic efforts.” Presidential pardons are overwhelmingly granted for people who ask for them and receive an outpouring of support; Trump granted 237 acts of clemency during his time in the White House, which Pew Research Center notes is on the very low end; his predecessor, Barack Obama, signed off on 1,927 acts of clemency.

Sure, presidents generally grant pardons as their time in office winds down, but Trump is unpredictable if anything, so there’s no reason to think he’d wait. Let’s speculate which celebrities Trump could pardon this time.

Sean “Diddy” Combs

As startling as that sounds, Trump could pardon Combs before he even goes to trial. Manhattan federal prosecutors charged the Bad Boy Records founder with sex trafficking in relation to alleged sex parties where, they maintain, Combs abused women and forced them to perform elaborate sex acts, often with male sex workers, known as “Freak Offs.” He has pleaded not guilty. While Combs has not been tried yet, pardon power isn’t limited to cases that have concluded. “The president can pardon someone as soon as a federal offense has been committed. He does not need to wait for the offender to be charged, stand trial, or be sentenced first,” Jeffrey Crouch, an assistant professor of American politics at American University and author of The Presidential Pardon Power, said of pardons. Diddy’s press team didn’t provide an on-record comment on pardon questions.

Trump was first publicly tied to Diddy in 1998 “when the real-estate mogul was one of the high-profile celebrity attendees at the singer’s 29th birthday party,” USA Today notes. The two clearly got along, as seen in a recently resurfaced clip from Celebrity Apprentice in 2012, where Trump tells Aubrey O’Day, “I love Diddy. You know, he’s a good friend of mine, he’s a good guy.” (Since O’Day competed on the reality-TV show, she’s gone on to claim she had an affair with Donald Trump Jr. and alleged she was groomed by Diddy.) The rapper has been involved with a variety of political causes, largely Democratic ones, per the newspaper. Their worlds have overlapped at various points but considering Trump is the king of bravado, his claim of being a “good friend” feels quite iffy. And while Trump has indeed pardoned some of his allies, there appears to be only one example of a sex-crimes-related pardon — and that related to legendary Black boxer Jack Johnson’s baseless, racist conviction some 110 years ago for traveling with a white girlfriend.

Jen Shah

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City starlette is serving a four-year federal sentence for her role in a multimillion-dollar telemarketing scam that targeted senior citizens. We don’t know why she’s getting out so soon when the sentence was originally six and a half years, but no matter: Trump could pardon her if he so chooses.

Shah’s prior political proclamations might not buy her any sympathy with Trump. In an October 23, 2020 Instagram post, Shah donned a structured corset-dress apparently made of Joe Biden signs. The caption read: “Fight for what you believe in. Scream and shout it from the rooftops! Use that voice!! Alone we may be just one, but together we are MILLIONS. VOTE! #Biden2020.” It’s unclear whether Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, Shah’s famous neighbor at the federal prison camp in Bryant, Texas, would fare any better. Holmes held a fundraising event for Hillary Clinton during her 2016 run against Trump. However, the internet really wants this to happen.

R. Kelly

The fallen R&B legend was convicted in New York and Chicago federal trials on numerous sex-crimes charges. He faces a total of some three decades in prison for both convictions. In Chicago, Kelly was convicted on child-pornography and child sex-abuse charges. In Brooklyn, Kelly was convicted of racketeering, with underlying counts related to transporting victims for unlawful sexual activity.

Justice Department records indicate that Trump has issued racketeering-related pardons, but none that really seem applicable to these sex crimes. And while part of Kelly’s racketeering was for Mann Act violations — with this law being the same one Johnson was unjustly convicted of — the musician was found to have committed sex crimes. In short: Johnson was punished for having relationships with white women NPR explains. A jury found Kelly guilty in relation to non-consensual and violent relationships. These are completely different things. Kelly did live in Chicago’s Trump Tower, though.

Tekashi 6ix9ine

Daniel Hernandez in December 2019 was sentenced to 24 months in prison and five years of supervised release for crimes related to his former gang. He was subsequently released in April 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic permitted compassionate release for some inmates with health conditions, but was arrested on October 29 for failing drug tests and traveling without his probation officer’s okay. Tekashi is expected to plead guilty on November 12 to violating supervised release and agree to serve a one-month jail sentence, and another year of supervision, according to the Associated Press.

Unless something else completely unexpected happens, Tekashi will be out of lockup by the time Trump takes office. Trump could still pardon him or commute the supervised release part of his sentence.

Lil Durk

The Grammy-winning Chicago rapper, legal name Durk Banks, was arrested on October 24 for allegedly plotting with others to murder a rival rapper. The Feds identified this other rapper as “T.B.,” who WGN-9 said was a Georgia rapper named Quando Rondo. Their feud stemmed from the November 6, 2020 murder of King Von, a close friend of Lil Durk. The alleged conspiracy ultimately descended into a shooting and murder in Los Angeles some two years ago that left his rival’s family member dead, authorities said.

Similar to other federal defendants who haven’t finished criminal court proceedings, Trump could still free Durk. The musician wouldn’t even have to ask. “There is a formal application process for pardon or commutation through the pardon attorney’s office. But there is no requirement for the president to wait for the pardon attorney to review a petitioner’s application before acting,” Jeffrey Couch said. “The president can act on their own as soon as the petitioner commits their federal offense, application or no application.”

Jay Johnston (The Bob’s Burgers guy! It’s okay, we keep forgetting who he is, too.)

Jay Johnston was sentenced on October 28 to one year and one day in prison for his involvement in January 6. At one point, he “made a series of hand gestures, including pounding his fists together and pointing, appearing to encourage rioters to enter the tunnel.” He also joined a “group push” against police inside the tunnel, causing a Washington, D.C., cop to be crushed between the rioters and a door.

His chances of a pardon are, honestly, pretty good. We don’t know whether Johnston wants a pardon, but Trump has said that he would pardon January 6 rioters, so that bodes well if Johnstone decided to ask. Sorry, we mean Johnston. Johnston. We just keep forgetting this guy’s name!

Author: Editors Desk, Victoria Bekiempis, who writes about courts and crime for Vulture and other outlets

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