Sean “Diddy” Combs turns 55 on Monday but long are the disgraced mogul’s lavish birthday bashes as he remains incarcerated awaiting his sex trafficking trial.
Instead of Ciroc and caviar, Combs’ birthday meals at the MDC Brooklyn, the notoriously rough jail investigated by the feds last week, start with biscuits and gravy, oven-browned potatoes, bread, and oatmeal for breakfast, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
On the menu for lunch is cheese pizza, Italian pasta salad, and green beans. Combs can choose between chicken or tofu fried rice with black beans and carrots for dinner.
Combs’ former birthday parties included red carpet entrances, extravagant cakes, and an A-list guest list including the Kardashian/Jenner family, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Pharrell, Usher, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, and Ivana Trump.
He made a YouTube video of his 50th birthday party, described as “a night to remember… you have to see it to believe it!”
A stark difference to his past celebrations, this year Combs will be spending his birthday at MDC Brooklyn.
The “Bad Boy For Life” singer has been charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and denied bail on multiple occasions. Several John or Jane Does have filed lawsuits against Combs accusing him of drugging them and raping them between 2000 and 2022.
On October 28, personnel from multiple agencies, including the Bureau of Prisons and the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General, launched an “interagency operation” at the troubled facility.
The Bureau told Newsweek that the operation was pre-planned and there was “no active threat.”
The operation was “designed to achieve our shared goal of maintaining a safe environment for both our employees and the incarcerated individuals housed at MDC Brooklyn,” the agency said.
The MDC Brooklyn, New York City’s only federal detention center, has come under fire for what critics describe as “horrific conditions.”
Inmates at the facility have voiced serious complaints about the situation, describing overcrowding, inadequate staff, and rampant drug and contraband smuggling—some allegedly facilitated by employees. The facility has been under near-constant lockdowns, leaving detainees confined to their cells for extended periods without access to visits, phone calls, showers, or recreation.
A notice on the MDC Brooklyn’s website states Visiting has been suspended until further notice.
Newsweek has contacted MDC Brooklyn for comment.
There are currently 1,176 inmates at MDC Brooklyn, including Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
Combs is in the Special Housing Unit, removed from the general population, where he awaits his sex trafficking trial to start on May 5, 2025.
He was arrested in September and pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking by force, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
At the time of publication, at least 27 civil lawsuits have been filed against the “Bad Boy For Life” rapper from Jane and John Does – the youngest claiming he was 10 at the time – alleging rape and sexual misconduct by Combs and his associates over two decades.
Gag Order
Combs’ high-profile legal team filed paperwork in the Southern District of New York on Sunday asking the judge to order potential witnesses in his criminal case quiet.
The request comes after grand jury witness Courtney Burgess and his attorney Ariel Mitchell gave multiple interviews, including one in which Burgess claimed he once had alleged sex tapes of Combs and eight celebrities.
“These stories have spread rapidly through the media and created the impression that such videos exist, which is false, and that the government is actually crediting his sensational claims, which is profoundly prejudicial,” the letter from Combs’ lawyers reads.
“While the witness and his attorney eagerly spread false and unchecked claims in the media, they have avoided subjecting their claims to verification through the legal process.”
“By treating these ridiculous claims as anything but a pathetic extortion scheme, the government is fueling the fire of online conspiracy theories and making it impossible for Mr. Combs to have a fair trial,” they added.
Newsweek has contacted representatives for Combs for further comment.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to https://www.rainn.org/
Do you have a story Newsweek should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com
Read the full article here
