WASHINGTON — The White House accused TMZ Tuesday of fabricating a story that claimed President Trump could release disgraced rapper and producer Diddy from prison later this week.
“There is zero truth to the TMZ report, which we would’ve gladly explained had they reached out before running their fake news,” the administration said in a statement.
“The President, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations.”
TMZ claimed in the Monday report that it had heard from sources that “a high-ranking White House official” said that Trump “is considering commuting Diddy’s sentence as early as this week.”
Diddy, whose legal name is Sean Combs, has not officially applied for clemency with the Justice Department, The Post understands, but his reps have informally expressed interest in him receiving early release after he was sentenced earlier this month to four years and two months in prison on two counts of transporting women for prostitution.
“I have a lot of people who have asked me for pardons,” Trump told reporters on Oct. 6 as he batted away a question about freeing sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, adding: “I call him Puff Daddy has asked me.”
The president on Friday commuted former GOP Rep. George Santos‘ seven-year sentence for identity theft and wire fraud after publicly hinting at his sympathy for the lying ex-Long Island congressman.
The president has previously granted clemency to a number of boldface names — including pardoning Lil Wayne in a gun posession case days before the end of Trump’s first term in 2021 after the rapper had praised the Republican’s campaign platform for black voters.
Diddy did not support Trump in that year’s election, explaining in a video: “White men like Trump need to be banished… We are in a war of love versus hate. The number one priority is to get Trump out of office.”
