Diddy Placed on ‘Procedural’ Suicide Watch While Awaiting Trial in Federal Custody: Reports

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been placed on a suicide watch as he awaits trial in federal custody on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, NBC News and People reported on Friday (Sept. 20). 

The move is “procedural with high-profile clients,” the insider told NBC News. Sources also told People that the move was a preventative measure.

Billboard has reached out to Combs’ rep and lawyer for comment, as well as the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he is currently being held. 

The hip-hop titan was denied bail at his Sept. 17 arraignment for an alleged decades-long racketeering streak that the indictment indicates involved forced labor, kidnapping, arson and bribery. The U.S Department of Justice National Institute of Corrections defines “suicide watch”

as “supervisory precautions taken for suicidal inmates that require frequent observation” carried out by staff “trained in recognizing suicidal behavior.” 

The Bad Boy Records founder is currently facing up to life in prison for three felony charges following his grand jury indictment Sept. 16, after which he was arrested and placed in custody. The following day, Combs pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his lawyers requested that he be released on a $50 million bond, but Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky ruled that the mogul needed to stay behind bars, as he posed a flight risk and had the resources to intimidate witnesses if released. He was denied bail a second time on Wednesday (Sept. 18). 

The next step for Combs will be an initial pretrial conference next week before Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr., the federal district judge who will oversee his trial. According to reports, the mogul’s attorneys have requested that their client be transferred to a facility in Essex County in New Jersey, arguing he might be unsafe at the hands of other inmates in the Metropolitan Detention Center. 

If you or anyone you know is in crisis, call 988 or visit the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s website for free, confidential emotional support and resources 24/7.