Rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has filed an appeal asking to be released immediately from his 50-month prison sentence, saying it was too harsh in his federal trial. The 84-page appeal, submitted on December
24, 2025, challenges the court’s decision and argues that Judge Aran Subramanian gave a sentence much longer than usual for similar crimes, according to Variety.
Combs’ lawyer, Alexandra AE Shapiro, says the 50-month sentence was unfair and claims Judge Subramanian acted like a “thirteenth juror,” ignoring the jury’s verdict and giving a tougher punishment. The appeal criticises the judge for saying Combs forced, exploited, and pressured his former girlfriends into sex, which goes against what the jury decided.
It also points out that people in similar cases usually get less than 15 months, even when coercion is involved, which was not proven in Combs’ case. Combs was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution but was cleared of the more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
At his sentencing in October 2025, Judge Subramanian mentioned a 2016 incident where Combs attacked his former girlfriend, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, saying that his violence against women would be a big factor in his sentence. “The same power you used to hurt women, you can use to help them,” Subramanian said, according to Variety.
In his appeal, Combs argues that his actions and filming of sexual encounters should be protected by the First Amendment, but Judge Subramanian had already rejected this idea. Combs is now serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, New Jersey, and is expected to be released in May 2028, according to Variety.
