A witness at Sean Combs’ pretrial hearing in Manhattan on Wednesday said the rap mogul looked “astonishingly thinner” and “grayer” in person.
“He appeared just astonishingly thinner… he appeared very noticeably thinner and maybe being locked up in detention is starting to wear on him,” Law & Crime reporter Elizabeth Millner said after the hearing.
Millner noted that Combs’ appearance was considerably different from how he looked in the days before he was arrested on Sept. 16.
Combs reportedly went on a hunger strike in the weeks after his incarceration in a Brooklyn federal jail. It isn’t clear if he is still on a hunger strike.
Combs’ children haven’t visited their father in jail in weeks — since the prosecution accused him of using his kids to sway a potential jury pool.
The rap mogul recently withdrew his appeal for bail after Judge Arun Subramanian denied his third request for bond.
On Wednesday, Subramanian told Combs’ legal team he didn’t want a “last-minute surprise” before Combs’ upcoming criminal trial in May 2025.
Judge Subramanian requested that Combs and his defense team submit updates in the motion schedule by Jan. 3, “to avoid any kind of surprise at the last minute.”
Combs’ next hearing is scheduled for March 17.
Meanwhile, a source claims Combs is “trying to stay positive” during his first Christmas behind bars.
He spent Thanksgiving behind bars, and he is set to celebrate Christmas with his fellow inmates — including rapper Tekashi69 and crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried.
“There are no decorations,” says federal prison consultant Sam Mangel, referring to the lack of holiday festivities at the jail.
Mangel said inmates try to stay positive for their families during the holidays. He says visitations usually last 30 minutes to an hour — and are limited to four people at a time. “When their family leaves, inmates become very solemn,” says Mangel. “It becomes very depressing.”
Former inmate Brad Rouse, who spent time at MDC between 2008 and 2009, tells Us Weekly that Christmas was especially tough on fathers with young kids at home. “The holidays were more painful for them,” he says, adding, “It’s a very hard, difficult place.”
