Disgraced rapper and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs reportedly asked former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to deliver a handwritten pardon request to U.S. President Donald Trump, according to sources quoted by The Sun. Tyson is said to have handed the letter to Trump during a visit to the White House in November.
Last week President Trump confirmed that Combs, 56, had “asked me for a pardon” in a letter, though he did not elaborate on how the message reached him. Combs is currently serving a four-year federal sentence after he was convicted in 2025 on two counts of transportation to engage in pr0stitution.
Sources close to Tyson claimed that he visited with one of Combs’ confidantes before the White House trip and was given the letter to pass on. “Mike had a meeting with one of Diddy’s closest confidantes and he handed him a letter from Diddy,” a source said, adding that Tyson asked what the letter contained and was told it was a plea for a presidential pardon. The source said Tyson admitted he was nervous about the request but agreed to take it and later confirmed that he “handed the letter to Trump and did exactly what Diddy’s lot had asked of him.”
The White House was contacted regarding the reports on December 9. An official spokesperson did not deny the account involving Tyson but insisted that the president’s position on a pardon had not changed. “Any media reports on a Diddy pardon are not accurate. The President, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on all pardons,” the spokesperson said. Trump later reiterated to the New York Times that while Combs had indeed reached out, he was “not considering” a pardon.
Tyson, 59, previously said in a 2024 interview that he wished Combs “all the best” before the rapper’s conviction. After Combs entered federal custody, further legal troubles emerged. His legal team filed an appeal shortly after sentencing, during which the rapper reportedly begged the judge for leniency in court.
At the end of 2025, Combs was also informed of new s3xual assault allegations. The latest report came from a man who claimed Combs assaulted him in 2020 and identified himself online as music producer Jonathan Hay, saying he was one of the John Does behind a civil lawsuit filed against Combs in July. The posts were later deleted.
Combs is currently being held at a federal prison facility in New Jersey. Trump has confirmed publicly that he is not considering clemency for the embattled music mogul.