LAWYERS for Sean “Diddy” Combs have urged a US appeals court to overturn the hip-hop mogul’s prison sentence of more than four years for prostitution-related offences, arguing that the punishment was excessive and based in part on evidence linked to charges he was acquitted of.
Combs, 56, was sentenced in October following a high-profile trial that included testimony about so-called “freak-offs”, described in court as sexual encounters involving hired male escorts, his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, and another unnamed woman.
AFP, on Friday, cited that although a jury acquitted him of the most serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, he was convicted on two counts of transporting individuals across state lines for prostitution.
He was not present at the Manhattan appeals hearing on Thursday, where his defence lawyer Alexandra Shapiro told a three-judge panel that the sentence of four years and two months was “unfairly long” given the convictions.
“The evidence the judge was relying on was totally separate and in fact was acquitted conduct,” Shapiro said, arguing that District Judge Arun Subramanian should not have taken into account allegations that Combs had made threats against Ventura and the other woman, as these related to charges of which he was cleared.
Prosecutors, however, pushed back against the appeal, pointing to evidence they said directly supported the convictions, including an incident in which Combs allegedly showed Ventura videos of sex parties hours before another “freak-off”, which they argued was intended to secure her continued participation.
“These incidents are specifically tied to transportation,” prosecutor Christy Slavik told the court.
At one point during the hearing, Slavik used a pizza analogy to explain how different “slices” of evidence could still be relevant to sentencing considerations, underscoring the complexity of the legal arguments before the court.
The judges did not issue an immediate ruling. Judge William Nardini described the matter as an “exceptionally difficult case.”
Combs is separately appealing his conviction, although that aspect was not addressed in detail during Thursday’s proceedings.
He is currently held at the low-security Fort Dix prison in New Jersey and is scheduled for release in spring 2028. - April 10, 2026
