Sean “Diddy” Combs helped spread some holiday cheer to his fellow inmates for Thanksgiving.
Diddy, 56, who is behind bars at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey, helped organize and fund an inmate-led meal for the Thursday, November 27, holiday. More than 1,000 men were fed in the federal facility.
“Thanksgiving, to me, is about making sure other people eat,” Diddy exclusively told Us Weekly through his spokesperson. “Everybody misses their family. People get depressed during the holidays. We just wanted to come together as a family and do our own thing.”
Diddy teamed up with an internal group called Bankroll Bosses to help make the meal happen. The music producer and others volunteered to buy food from the commissary. On top of purchasing the items, the group spent two days preparing before distributing the meals to each housing unit.
Due to the holiday season, there are staffing shortages at the prison facility. Rather than have the typical minimal “in-and-out service,” the inmates wanted to create a more personal and communal experience for each other.
“We cooked the food and sent it to all the buildings,” inmate B.I., who is a former gang leader, explained to Us. “Enough for about 200 people [in] each building. It took two days to prep everything.”
The men had to improvise since they don’t have access to everyday kitchen necessities like stoves, microwaves and knives.
“We have to boil water for everything,” B.I. said, adding they had to use their “ID cards” to chop up the food. “The ‘chefs’ here make it taste like grandma cooked it.”
Because many inmates are far away from home or don’t have loved ones, B.I. and the others wanted to give them something to celebrate.
“A lot of people don’t have anything,” B.I. said. “Some don’t have family. People here are from Texas, California — far away. This was a way we give back.”
Diddy echoed similar sentiments, explaining that the gesture brought “a little bit of home in a dark place,” adding, “True giving is making sure others are cared for even when you don’t have much to share.”
The rapper noted that most people outside don’t realize how spending time in prison brings inmates together.
“There’s a lot of misinterpretations about prison. There is a strong brotherhood,” he told Us. “We all look out for each other. It’s nothing but a positive thing.”
Diddy has been behind bars since his September 2024 arrest on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied all the allegations against him.
In July, a jury found Diddy guilty on two counts of transportation and acquitted him of the other charges. Three months later, Judge Arun Subramanian sentenced him to 50 months in prison plus five years of supervised release and a $500,000 fine. The 13 months he spent behind bars before and during his trial will count toward his sentence.
Diddy’s release date is set for June 4, 2028, per the Bureau of Prisons website.
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