How Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Will Spend Christmas Behind Bars: ‘Nobody Wants to Be Here But He’s Doing Just Fine’

For Sean “Diddy” Combs, this Christmas will be anything but merry. At 6 a.m. he’ll start his day in a white cinder-block dormitory-style detention unit in New York City, far from the Miami Beach and Los Angeles mansions he called home before he was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and other criminal offenses on Sept. 16. “He’s doing fine,” says a jail employee about the embattled Bad Boy mogul. “Nobody wants to be here.”

For lunch he will be served Cornish hen, macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce and rolls, and for Christmas dinner, two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Otherwise, the holiday behind bars will be no different from any other day at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where, sources say, Combs, 55, has remained upbeat since his arrest last fall.

In this week’s print issue, PEOPLE asked inmates and those close to Combs what he’s been up to around the holidays. PEOPLE learns he plays card games with other inmates and shoots hoops during recreational hours, and family members visit on weekdays — either on Tuesday or Wednesday. “He’s well-liked inside prison,” says a former inmate. “People are getting along with him.”

On Dec. 25, Diddy has an option to play Spades card games, dominos, three-on-three basketball or a soccer tournament. “He’ll probably play some basketball,” says another inmate at MDC. “He likes it.”

While Combs may also receive funds in his commissary account, one thing he won’t have any time soon is his freedom. Currently awaiting a trial scheduled to begin on May 5,2025, Combs — who has pleaded not guilty to charges against him — dropped his appeal of a request for bail on Dec. 13 after judges denied it for a third time.

Appearing in Manhattan federal court last month, Diddy entered the courtroom unshackled and sporting tan jail attire, smiling and mouthing “love you” to his mother and six of his children.

“The defendant, simply put, can’t be trusted,” said prosecutor Christy Slavik in court. Combs also stands accused of running a criminal enterprise “through violence, use of firearms, threats, coercion, and verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse,” according to the indictment against him.

District Judge Arun Subramanian said that “no conditions” would mitigate the risk of witness tampering or obstruction in his case. He denied Combs bail on Nov. 27.

Now resigned to living behind bars until his day in court arrives next May, Combs did score a legal win when a judge granted him access to a laptop computer pre-loaded with discovery documents that will allow him to prepare for trial. “A lot of inmates have access to their discovery laptops,” says a person who works with MDC inmates. “That’s nothing special.”

Despite Combs’ optimistic outlook, on top of the criminal charges he now faces more than 30 civil sexual assault lawsuits filed since last year. In November 2023 R&B singer Cassie Ventura filed a suit accusing Diddy of rape, physical abuse and forcing her to participate in sexual performances called “freak offs” over the course of a decade. He denied the allegations.

The two settled the lawsuit the day after it was filed without disclosing the terms. Six months later, CNN aired a disturbing 2016 video of Combs assaulting Ventura in the hallway of a hotel, kicking, dragging her by her sweatshirt and hurling a glass vase.

Since Ventura’s suit, dozens of women and men have stepped forward with abuse accusations
against Combs, all of which he has denied. In the latest lawsuits, three men sued Combs anonymously on Dec. 12, all alleging they were served drinks that made them lose consciousness and that when they awoke, Combs was raping them.

One of the John Does, a former Combs employee who says he worked with the rapper for 14 years, exclusively tells PEOPLE he was allegedly raped by the rapper during a business meeting in Combs’ InterContinental hotel room in 2020. He contends the two were meeting to discuss payments the John Doe said he was owed.

The man alleges Combs made him a cocktail as they were discussing the payments, and he soon fell unconscious on a couch. When he woke up, he alleges that Combs was assaulting him.

“I had a drink with him and immediately felt drowsy like something had been put in the drink,” the man says. “I went to lay down and the next thing I know is that I feel him humping me and penetrating me. I protested.”

But when John Doe attempted to resist his advances, Combs allegedly told him to “stop” and that he was “almost done,” per the suit.

“After the assault, Combs dismissed me and I left,” the man tells PEOPLE. “I was assaulted by this man. It was non-consensual sex. I am still suffering the consequences of this.”

The three men are each seeking a jury trial and have asked to be awarded unspecified damages from Combs. Sony Music Holdings and Bad Boy Entertainment have also been named as defendants in each of the suits.

Attorneys for Combs said in a statement that the men’s claims were “full of lies,” adding, “We will prove them false and seek sanctions against every unethical lawyer who filed fictional claims against him.”

The accusers’ attorney Thomas Giuffra says they, like others, are simply pursuing justice: “Our role is to advocate for these men who were [allegedly] attacked and abused by Sean Combs. The assaults occurred because he is a rich, powerful public figure who was able to take advantage by drugging these men. After the assaults, Combs ensured their silence by threatening them and relying on their fear of his power.”

Giuffra adds: “This is a long overdue opportunity for the victims to take the power back after carrying the burden of the assaults in silence for several years. While a lawsuit will not undo the wrongs done to them, it enables the survivors to regain the power and dignity that was stripped from them.”