Yesterday afternoon, Sean Combs was sentenced to four years in prison. But let’s be honest he’ll probably end up serving about two years with “good behaviour and credit.”
At the start of the day, the judge said he was going to consider everything even the things Diddy had been acquitted for. He also mentioned that he originally thought about sentencing him to six or seven years, which honestly, I expected, given the domestic violence and everything else.
Now, I don’t think Diddy should’ve gotten the full eleven years the government was suggesting, since the actual conviction was for a transportation offence. But still four years feels light.
Before sentencing, the judge said, “A significant sentencing and the evidence the court has seen against Combs is massive,” and that “a significant sentence is required in order to be a deterrence and to send a message.”
Then he gave him four years. Make it make sense.
Diddy also wrote a four-page letter to the judge — and honestly, I don’t buy what he’s saying.
A few lines stood out:
“Your honour, I thought I was providing for Jane concerning her and her child, but after hearing her testimony, I realised that I hurt her.”
He was super violent at her house, and I was gobsmacked when I read that part.
Then there’s this:
“I have made the best of my time reading books, writing, working out or in therapy.”
Of course that’s all you can do in prison.
Even Sean Combs’ former publicist, Rob Shuter, said in his statement:
“I have known the man who, for all his bravado, has always carried shadows, and that man has never changed.”
He also added,
“Let’s be honest, if there was no conviction, no headline, no video evidence burned into public consciousness, would Diddy be penning apologies? The only thing that has changed is that he got caught.”
And finally,
“He wants to be an example of second chances. I don’t buy it. True change comes long before the spotlight of accountability, and in all the years I have known him, I have never seen it.”
Oh, and don’t even get me started on how Diddy was supposedly planning to launch a teaching tour in October if he got out. The irony is just too much.
If this is what accountability looks like for powerful men, we’ve still got a long way to go.