What Life Is Like in Jail for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: Grey Hair, No Wi-Fi, Bed Checks, Monitored Phone Calls

It has been nearly eight months since disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested and sent to New York’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center to await trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. And while the formerly high-flying Bad Boy Records CEO and billionaire entrepreneur was used to the finest things in his former life, according 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.

For starters, the typically dapper MCs 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, 55, is woken up for breakfast at 7 a.m. and afterwords 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. While Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges he awaits opening statements in the trail slated to begin on May 5 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.”

For now, Combs is 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.

A former Mafia informant, Gene Borrello, told the paper that compared to other units in the jail “you have nothing to worry about” on 4 North. As described by the Times, inmates in Combs’ unit are free to move around the space decked out with rows of bunk beds, TVs and a microwave where they are subject to repeated mandatory check-ins of their bunks by correction officers every day.

Inmates, who are issued brown jail clothes, are able to 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. Diddy meets often with his team of lawyers in a conference room off the common area and has a non-wi-fi enabled laptop to pore over evidence in the case that he can use between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. each day in one of the unit’s visiting rooms.

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. The story noted that during a pre-planned sweep of the jail in search of contraband last year, prosecutors claim an investigator took photos of some of Combs’ personal notes. The pictures allegedly included birthday reminders, as well as notes the government claims were evidence that Diddy was trying to obstruct the prosecution, including one in which he allegedly directed a staffer to find “dirt” on two of his alleged victims.

The rapper’s lawyers claimed that was proof the government was trying to “spy” on their client and eavesdrop on confidential communications with counsel. Prosecutors denied that claim and said none of the notes would be used in their case and a judge agreed that Combs’ rights had not been violated.

But according to the Times, the incident revealed that Combs had engaged in the widespread practice of buying other inmates’ phone time by having his team put money in their commissary accounts, with prosecutors claiming that on some of the calls he talked about using public statements to help influence the jury pool’s perception of him. He also allegedly used three-way calling to try and contact potential witnesses to avoid blocks on calling people outside of his approved contact list.

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. Even as he awaits his upcoming trial, Combs was hit with an updated indictment earlier this month that added new charges to the sweeping case against him. The superseding indictment added a new sex trafficking count, accusing Combs of using force, fraud or coercion to compel a woman to engage in commercial sex acts as recently as last year. It also added a new count of transporting that victim and others to engage in prostitution. The updated charges increased the total counts against Diddy from three to five.

Combs is also facing dozens of civil lawsuits from a number of men and women who claim the rap impresario allegedly sexually abused, sex trafficked and threatened them with violence.