Sean "Diddy" Combs was denied bail by two different judges this week who claimed the Bad Boy For Life singer is a flight risk and danger to the community.
Combs is being held in the Special Housing Unit, removed from the general population, at the notoriously rough Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The jail was previously a temporary home for other celeb criminals, including R. Kelly, Michael Cohen, Allison Mack, and Ghislaine Maxwell.
This new normal way of living is a far cry from the $50 million bond package Combs' lawyers put together in an attempt to have him await trial on home detention in Miami.
Correctional officers deliver SHU inmates' three daily meals to their cells. Combs was served either Swedish meatballs or a black bean burger for dinner following his arraignment, according to MDC Brooklyn's food menu obtained by The New York Post.
His sides included egg noodles, green beans, a garden salad with dressing, and a 16-ounce beverage.
Another menu from the Federal Bureau of Prisons shows what meals Combs can look forward to in the 2025 fiscal year. Reoccurring breakfast items include fruit, cereal, breakfast cake, skim milk, and coffee.
Lunch items include scrambled eggs, hamburger or black bean burgers, baked chicken, beef tacos, and cheese pizza. Vegetable side dishes include peas and carrots, black-eyed peas, whole-kernel corn, and pinto beans.
For dinner, BBQ beef, chicken fried rice, baked ziti, chili, and hot dogs are all on the menu. Each meal includes a beverage.
Combs, 54, was arrested late Monday night at the Park Hyatt New York hotel and pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
Combs' lawyers cited several concerns while staying there, claiming the conditions at MDC Brooklyn "are not fit for pretrial detention."
Four suicides have taken place in the last three years. An electrical fire once left inmates without heat for several days.
A lawyer for detainee Edwin Corder, who died there from injuries sustained in a fight, told The New York Times that the facility is "an overcrowded, understaffed, and neglected federal jail that is hell on earth."
While a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) could not comment on the specific security practices or conditions of confinement for any individual, including former billionaire Combs, they told Newsweek, "As a general matter, the FBOP takes seriously our duty to protect all individuals entrusted in our custody, as well as maintain the safety of correctional employees and the community."
"As part of that obligation, we review safety protocols and implement corrective actions when identified as necessary in those reviews to ensure that our mission of operating safe, secure, and humane facilities is fulfilled," the spokesperson added.
Life For Sean 'Diddy' Combs in Jail
Daily life behind bars will surely be a shocking change from Combs' years of lavish mansions, grand parties, and designer clothes.
Generally, individuals in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) are in a cell with one other person.
Combs will be allowed a minimum of one hour per day in the recreation area in addition to time spent outside his cell for various programming functions. He is permitted three showers per week.
SHU inmates also receive daily visits from members of their Unit Team and Medical and Psychology Services, as well as regular visits from various other departments such as Education and Religious Services.
SHU inmates may send and receive mail daily, Monday through Friday, and can make phone calls. They are also allowed visitors.
It is unknown whether Combs has made any phone calls or received any visitors during his first few days in jail.
A review of the MDC Brooklyn Commissary List shows additional food, ingredients, and snack items available to inmates. This includes a six-pack of Hershey's Bars for $7.05, a seasoned pork pouch for $4.45, and peanut butter for $3.15.
Domestic stamps could set Combs back $0.55, and he's limited to 40 of them. A two-pack of BIC pens is $1.10 and a pack of six blank greeting cards is $2.15.
Combs may also be interested in a radio with headphones for $15.60, a 16 GB Sandisk mp3 player for $88.40, or a Casio digital watch for $40.30.
In 2022, the prison had a population of 1,712 inmates, accommodating both male and female individuals across various security levels. It primarily houses those awaiting trial, as well as some serving short sentences.
Following the closure of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in 2021 — where Jeffrey Epstein died — this facility became New York's main federal detention center.
Last month, the Federal Bureau of Prisons paused the intake of new arrivals to the Metropolitan Detention Center.
The announcement followed Judge Gary Brown of the Long Island Federal Court stating that he would replace a nine-month sentence for a 75-year-old convicted of tax fraud with house arrest, provided the inmate was sent to the Metropolitan Detention Center. He described the conditions at the facility as "dangerous" and "barbaric."
Diddy's $50M Bond Package Denied
The proposed $50 million bail, signed by Combs, his mother, and several family members, included conditions that he be released to home detention with GPS monitoring to ensure he's not a flight risk.
He would have agreed to weekly drug testing and the keeping of a visit log to be submitted nightly to pretrial services. The defense also said Combs would not have access to a cell phone or internet.
Before making his decision Wednesday, District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. heard from prosecutors who alleged Combs has a "long history of intimidating both accusers and witnesses to his alleged abuse." This included text messages from women who claimed Combs threatened to leak videos of them engaging in "Freak Offs," sexual performances Combs allegedly orchestrated.
His defense argued that Combs flew from Miami to NYC to turn himself in and that he had done everything he could have done to show the court that he could be trusted to await trial at home. However, Carter determined that Combs was a dangerous flight risk and that the $50 million bond package was "insufficient."
"I obviously would much prefer to fight this case with him out of jail, and we're going to try to bring that about through additional legal process, but wherever he is, his resolve is the same," Marc Agnifilo, Combs' attorney, told reporters outside of the courthouse Wednesday.
"He believes he's innocent. I believe he's innocent, and we're going to fight this case with all of our might until we don't have to fight any longer."
A status hearing is set for October 9. The defense would not agree Wednesday to try the case in October.
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About the writer
Erin Keller is a reporter based in Ohio. Her focus is live and trending news, as well as pop culture. ... Read more
