The White House has pushed back against a TMZ report that claimed President Donald Trump was preparing to commute the sentence of Sean “Diddy” Combs.

On October 20, 2025, TMZ published a story quoting an unnamed “high‑ranking White House official” who said the president might grant a commutation “as early as this week.” In a statement issued Tuesday, October 21, the White House Communications Office called the account false and faulted TMZ for not seeking comment before publishing.

A White House spokesperson reiterated to NBC News that decisions about pardons and commutations rest with the president rather than anonymous sources.

Billboard has reached out to Diddy’s representatives for comment.

TMZ, for its part, has stood by its reporting, updating the story to affirm its accuracy despite the White House denial.

The Bad Boy Records founder was sentenced to four years in federal prison earlier this month after a July trial that lasted roughly two months. He was convicted on two felony counts of transporting a person to engage in prostitution and acquitted on separate charges of sex‑trafficking and racketeering, which he has consistently denied.

Shortly after the sentencing, President Trump acknowledged that Diddy’s legal team had requested a presidential pardon, saying, “A lot of people have asked me for pardons… I call him Puff Daddy. He has asked me for a pardon.” In May, Trump told Fox News he would “look at the facts” of the case and that personal history with the individual would not dictate his decision.

On Monday, October 20, Diddy’s attorneys filed paperwork to appeal the conviction.

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