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OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
6:30 PM – Tuesday, October 21, 2025
The White House has denied a sensational TMZ report that claimed President Donald Trump was considering commuting or pardoning Sean “Diddy” Combs — calling the story “completely fabricated” while slamming the entertainment outlet for running “fake news.”
The controversy erupted this week after TMZ published a report citing what it described as a “high-ranking White House official.” The report claimed that Trump was considering clemency for the disgraced music mogul as early as “this week.”
As the report ricocheted across social media platforms, it provoked equal parts outrage and disbelief — galvanizing Diddy’s fans, inflaming his critics, and bewildering many Trump loyalists.
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“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.”
The rebuke represents one of the sharpest public confrontations between the Trump administration and TMZ, a celebrity news giant renowned for breaking entertainment stories, often based on insider sources. While TMZ staunchly defends its reporting, the White House’s response was unequivocal, dismissing the report as “completely fabricated.”
Combs, 55, was sentenced earlier this year to serve multiple years in federal prison after a sprawling investigation into sex trafficking, assault, and racketeering allegations.
Once one of hip-hop’s most powerful figures, Diddy’s fall from grace has been both swift and public, following a string of lawsuits and viral videos that have tarnished his image.
Rumors about a potential presidential pardon began circulating online shortly after Trump publicly mused about “over-sentencing in celebrity cases” during a campaign rally last month — comments that some interpreted as a sign of sympathy toward Combs. However, despite TMZ’s report suggesting that Diddy’s name had come up in internal White House discussions, the GOP administration reiterated that the claim was preposterous.
Despite the blowback, TMZ has not retracted its story, and in a brief follow-up post, the outlet affirmed that it “stands by” its “reporting” while maintaining that “our source remains confident that discussions about Diddy’s possible commutation took place.”
The popular tabloid has faced multiple high-profile reporting errors over the years. In September 2008, TMZ falsely reported that singer and actress Miley Cyrus had died in a car accident, and in 2022, the outlet prematurely reported the death of rock legend Jerry Lee Lewis, issuing a retraction hours later despite Lewis dying two days later.
Meanwhile, as tensions between the White House and TMZ show no signs of easing, Diddy’s legal team has remained silent on the matter. For now, the once-mighty music mogul remains behind bars.
Combs was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison on October 3rd, following his conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Although Combs was acquitted of more severe charges, including racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, prosecutors had initially sought a sentence of over 11 years, citing the seriousness of the offenses and a history of abuse.
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