Did Trump pardon Diddy? Viral post debunked
Recently, a claim surfaced online that Donald Trump has pardoned Sean “Diddy” Combs. It first emerged on the Instagram page of Adam Padilla (@adam.the.creator) on November 14. The post featured an image of the hip-hop mogul alongside that of a baby oil truck parked outside the White House.
“Breaking News: Trump pardons Diddy, appoints him the White House chief party planner,” the post was headlined.
Meanwhile, Adam Padilla captioned it, “Thank you Diddy, very cool!” The post garnered severe online traction and earned over 34,102 likes in less than 24 hours.
However, the now-viral rumor has turned out to be fake. Donald Trump has not pardoned Diddy, as there are no official or verifiable reports of the same.
Not only that but the post creator Adam Padilla is widely known as a popular Instagram meme maker, whose bio clearly states: “Memes generated by my puny human brain.”
Donald Trump has not pardoned Sean “Diddy” Combs
Sean Combs is currently facing multiple federal felony charges including racketeering conspiracy, s*x trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
In the wake of his ongoing legal troubles and Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, a meme was circulated on social media recently.
He claimed that the President-elect had pardoned the Bad Boy Records founder and made him the chief party planner of the White House.
First shared by popular meme creator Adam Padilla on Instagram, it was later reshared on the platform by another meme maker @tank.sinatra.
He captioned his post, “My boy is back in business (@adam.the.creator).” This post too became viral with over 57,568 likes in less than a day. Notably, the @tank.sinatra account too has in its description, “The Michael Jordan of memes,” written on it.
Thus, the claim has turned out to be fabricated for the purpose of virality and parody/ sarcasm. No official or substantiated source has also reported on the same.
Donald Trump issued 237 pardons during his last presidency
Towards the end of his first term in January 2021, Donald Trump issued 143 pardons according to the Department of Justice, and a total of 237 during his presidency between 2017 and 2021.
From lobbyists to businessmen to celebrities, the politician pardoned individuals from different fields.
Among them were A-list rappers Lil Wayne who had pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a gun, and Kodak Black who was behind federal bars for giving a false statement while purchasing a firearm.
While Trump has previously pardoned people with racketeering charges, he did not pardon anybody with s*x trafficking or similar s*xual misconduct charges as are being faced by Diddy.
Moreover, earlier, Trump pardoned only those who were both charged and convicted.
Combs is yet to be found guilty as his trial begins on May 5, 2025.
As explained by American politics expert Jeffrey Crouch to Vulture, “The president can pardon someone as soon as a federal offense has been committed. He does not need to wait for the offender to be charged, stand trial, or be sentenced first.”
Notably, both the President-elect and Diddy have had prior connections, such as in the aftermath of the latter’s close friend, associate, and rapper The Notorious B.I.G.’s March 1997 death.
The following year, during the 29th birthday of the Love Album maker, Trump was present at his party. During a chat with Aubrey O’Day for Celebrity Apprentice in 2012, the real estate magnate also shared, “I love Diddy. You know, he’s a good friend of mine, he’s a good guy.”
For the unversed, the U.S. Constitution allows Presidents to offer reprieves or pardons as a means of “justice” or “mercy” for public interests only. However, state criminal offenses, civil liability, and impeachment are some of the cases that can’t be pardoned.
Presidential pardons are only offered when they are asked for or when there’s a huge amount of public support.