Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs appeared ‘astonishingly thinner’ and ‘grayer’ at new court hearing: eyewitness

Sean “Diddy” Combs has reportedly lost a lot of weight while behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center, according to a journalist who attended a hearing in his federal sex trafficking case Wednesday.

“He appeared just astonishingly thinner, which you can expect [from him being] inside a federal detention center for a couple of months now,” Law & Crime reporter Elizabeth Millner said after the hearing.

“A lot different from the luxury lifestyle that he was living before, but [he] appeared very noticeably thinner and maybe being locked up in detention is starting to weigh on him.”

She noted that Combs’ appearance was starkly different from how he looked in a video that surfaced online of him playing hacky sack in Central Park just days before he was arrested on Sept. 16.

Millner also noted a change in the disgraced rapper’s hair color, adding, “He appeared grayer a little bit.”

Cameras were not allowed inside the courtroom Wednesday, so Page Six is unable to verify that account.

We also reached out to the embattled musician’s lawyers for comment but did not immediately hear back.

However, a source close to Combs exclusively tells Page Six that the “Bad Boy for Life” rapper is “fit, healthy and fully focused on his defense.”

“He has been very active, remains in good spirits, and, as always, he was happy to see his children,” the insider adds. We’re also told he has been working out regularly.

Combs has been in federal custody for three months and has been denied bail three times.

He has been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution following a months-long federal probe, and a trial date has been set for May 5, 2025.

Although the Bad Boy Records founder, 55, was initially placed on suicide watch, he was taken off of it just a week after his arrest, with his lawyer claiming at the time that his client was “focused and very strong.”

However, attorney Marc Agnifilo previously admitted food is the “roughest part” of Combs’ imprisonment.

The “Coming Home” rapper’s typical meal in prison reportedly consists of cereal, fruit or pastries for breakfast, hamburgers, fish or beef tacos for lunch and chicken fajitas, pasta or roast beef for dinner.

For Thanksgiving, Combs enjoyed a usual holiday spread, including turkey roast, mashed potatoes with gravy, mixed vegetables, cranberry sauce and dinner rolls.

According to TMZ, his Christmas meal will consist of a special lunch menu that includes baked Cornish hen, macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls and a holiday dessert.

A former inmate at MDC in Brooklyn, NY, said in October that Combs’ celebrity status won’t help him get special treatment or perks.

“His money and wealth won’t get him any benefits,” Timothy Smith told Daily Mail Australia at the time.

“People think there are TVs and radios, but where he’s at, there’s nothing, not even a radio. You get a Bible and one book per week. That’s all.”

An attorney for Edwin Cordero, an inmate who was killed at MDC due to an injury he sustained in a fight, described the facility as “an overcrowded, understaffed and neglected federal jail that is hell on Earth.”

Millner also shared Wednesday that Combs appeared in better spirits when he saw his sons Christian Combs and Justin Combs enter the courtroom. His other five kids were reportedly not present.

She noted that the “Last Night” rapper “smiled,” “beamed up” and waved at his two sons.

Aside from his federal case, Combs, who has pleaded not guilty and denied all wrongdoing, is also facing several civil lawsuits for sexual assault claims.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.