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Crime News Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy

Where Is P. Diddy Now? Inside His Life in a Prison Described as "Hell on Earth"

Sean Combs is the subject of the Peacock special Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy, streaming January 14.

By Joe Dziemianowicz

Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has gone from living in the lap of luxury to a federal lock-up in New York City where conditions have been called “hell on earth,"

Combs, 55, was arrested on September 16, 2024, for sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation for prostitution, according to NBC NewsThe accused rapper has pleaded not guilty to all charges but has been denied bail on various occasions. Since his arrest, Combs has been incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center – known as MDC Brooklyn. His current residence is a forbidding jail run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, CNN has reported.

The Peacock documentary special “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy,” streaming January 14, takes a deep dive into Combs’ rise to fame and shocking downfall amid the criminal allegations. Before watching the documentary, learn more about where he is today.

What Is Diddy’s Prison Like?

MDC Brooklyn houses male and female inmates awaiting trials in Brooklyn or Manhattan. It has about 1,121 total inmates, according to a USA Today report.

“It’s a very difficult place to be an inmate,” Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo said in court in December, per the CNN report. “He’s waking up on a steel bed with a one-and-a-half-inch mattress, no pillow, in an 8-by-10-foot cell that I can assure you is disgusting.” 

Combs’ jailhouse residence is a stark contrast to his deluxe lifestyle at his mansions in Los Angeles and Miami. Instead, MDC Brooklyn is notorious for "dreadful conditions," severe staff shortages, and inmate violence, the Associated Press has reported

p.diddy poses red carpet

In operation since the 1990s, the facility is now the only federal correction center serving New York City. The Federal Bureau of Prisons closed its Manhattan complex not long after multimillionaire financier and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in 2019, CNN reported.

MDC Brooklyn has also housed singer R. Kelly, “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, and rapper Fetty Wap, according to the Associated Press.

Luigi Mangione, 26, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has been an MDC inmate since his arrest in December. Combs has allegedly been “throwing tantrums” because Mangione has drawn more attention from their fellow inmates, thereby dimming the rapper’s star-profile status, the New York Post reported

p.diddy sean combs red carpet

There are bigger — and graver — issues than being eclipsed in terms of popularity at the prison. Detainees have long complained about rampant violence, according to the Associated Press. In June 2024, Uriel Whyte, 37, was stabbed to death at the jail. A month later, Edwin Cordero, 36, died after he was hurt in a brawl, CNN reported.

Combs is being held in MDC Brooklyn’s Special Housing Unit, which adds a layer of protection. But that extra security can make trial preparation more onerous according to his lawyer.

To learn more about Combs and the charges against him, watch the Peacock documentary special Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy, streaming January 14.