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Prosecutors want Sean “Diddy” Combs to get more than 11 years in prison

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Prosecutors want Sean “Diddy” Combs to get more than 11 years in prison


New York — Prosecutors urged a New York federal judge Tuesday to send Sean “Diddy” Combs to prison for over 11 years following his conviction on prostitution-related charges, citing one of his accusers who said she lives in fear of the music mogul’s release from detention.

“His crimes of conviction are serious and have warranted sentences over ten years in multiple cases for defendants who, like Sean Combs, engaged in violence and put others in fear,” they wrote in a presentence submission requesting at least 11 years and three months in prison.

They filed their sentencing recommendation shortly after midnight, including letters from some of his accusers describing how his violence and demands had impacted their lives.

Prosecutors called Combs “unrepentant” and said Combs had conceded his acts of violence and abuse throughout his trial but “incredibly … he now argues that his victims should shoulder the blame.”

Combs, 55, has remained jailed since his July conviction on charges related to arranging male sex workers to travel to hotels or residences where he directed them to have sex with his girlfriends.

The elaborate dayslong, drug-fueled sexual events were often filmed by Combs. Defense attorneys have asked that he be sentenced to no more than 14 months in prison. Sentencing is set for Friday. The music mogul had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges brought against him.

In July, Combs was convicted of two charges for violating the Mann Act, which outlaws interstate commerce related to prostitution, for arranging the paid sexual encounters between his girlfriends and male sex workers. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

The same jury acquitted the Bad Boy Records founder of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that could have resulted in a life sentence.

Last week, the defense submitted its presentence arguments, saying Combs has suffered enough during his nearly 13 months behind bars and that he should be freed soon.

Sean “Diddy” Combs listens during a hearing over his bid to overturn his conviction on charges of transportation to engage in prostitution, at a courtroom in New York on Sept. 25, 2025, in this courtroom sketch.

Jane Rosenberg / REUTERS


They wrote that he became a changed man in a Brooklyn federal lockup, where he has been under constant suicide watch and learned to react calmly rather than violently to threats, even when a fellow inmate confronted him with a shiv.

They said Combs has realized that his overuse of drugs, including some prescribed by doctors, had contributed to violent acts he participated in.

Prosecutors said Combs was now trying to cast himself as a victim.

“He is not the victim,” they wrote. “The Court should focus on the very real effects that the defendant’s conduct had on the lives of the actual victims, his victims.”

At trial, two of Combs’ former girlfriends testified that they felt forced to participate in the drug-fueled sex marathons with male sex workers as Combs watched and sometimes filmed.

Ex-girlfriends tell court about treatment by Coombs

R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura described being beaten by Combs when she displeased him during their decadelong relationship. Another ex-girlfriend, testifying under the pseudonym “Jane,” said she felt pressured to perform sexually with male sex workers. She testified that an enraged Combs once put her in a chokehold and punched her in the face.

In a letter accompanying the prosecutors’ submission, Cassie wrote that she testified while nine months pregnant during Combs’ trial “in front of a packed courtroom about the most traumatic and horrifying chapter in my life. I testified that from age nineteen, Sean Combs used violence, threats, substances, and control over my career to trap me in over a decade of abuse.”

Cassie wrote that Combs controlled her like a puppet.

“These events were degrading and disgusting, leaving me with infections, illnesses, and days of physical and emotional exhaustion before he demanded it all again. Sex acts became my full-time job, used as the only way to stay in his good graces,” she said.

Cassie said she still has nightmares and flashbacks on an everyday basis and requires psychological care to cope.

“My worries that Sean Combs or his associates will come after me and my family is my reality. I have in fact moved my family out of the New York area and am keeping as private and quiet as I possibly can because I am so scared that if he walks free, his first actions will be swift retribution towards me and others who spoke up about his abuse at trial,” Cassie said.

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has.

In an indictment, prosecutors asserted that Combs used his fame, wealth and violence to force and manipulate Cassie and Jane, now-ex-girlfriends, into the sexual performances he called “freak-offs” or “hotel nights.”

Judge Arun Subramanian has signaled that he is leaning toward a substantial amount of prison time, twice refusing to grant bail since the jury returned its verdict, citing Combs’ history of violence.



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When We Were Young Festival announces 2026 hiatus: ‘See you in 2027’

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When We Were Young Festival announces 2026 hiatus: ‘See you in 2027’


When We Were Young Festival takes place each October in Las Vegas

When We Were Young Festival is hitting pause this year.

Organizers of the Las Vegas-based emo and pop-punk fest announced via Instagram on February 27 that the event will take 2026 off — but emphasised the break is only temporary.

“To our When We Were Young Family,” the statement began. “The songs, the memories, the moments – none of it exists without you. After an unforgettable run in Las Vegas, we’ve decided to take 2026 off to give this festival the care it deserves and to make sure what comes next feels just as special as what came before.”

While no specific reason was given for the hiatus, fans were reassured the festival isn’t going anywhere. “When We Were Young Festival will return to Las Vegas in October 2027… This isn’t goodbye – it’s just a pause. We’ll see you in 2027.”

Since launching in 2022, the Live Nation-produced event has become a nostalgic pilgrimage for millennial music lovers, taking over the Las Vegas Festival Grounds each October. Past headliners have included Green Day, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance and the Killers.

The 2025 edition featured Blink-182 and a reunited Panic! at the Disco, marking a rare return following the band’s 2023 split. In 2024, My Chemical Romance delivered a full performance of The Black Parade, alongside a stacked lineup of scene favourites.





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NAACP Image Award host Deon Cole issues Tourette warning after BAFTAs

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NAACP Image Award host Deon Cole issues Tourette warning after BAFTAs


NAACP Image Award host Deon Cole issues Tourette warning after BAFTAs 

Deon Cole hosted the NAACP Image Award at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Saturday, February 28, and opened his monologue with a joke about the racial slur mishap at the BAFTAs recently.

The 54-year-old comedian and actor jokingly prayed to God, saying, “Lord, before we go, if there are any white men out here in the audience with Tourette’s, I advise you to tell them they better read the room tonight, Lord. It might not go the way they thinketh. Whatever medicine they’re on, they better double up on it, Lord.

Cole referred to the controversy about Tourette’s activist John Davidson shouting a racial slur while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presented an award on stage.

The Average Joe star also joked about Nicki Minaj and her recent political alliance with the MAGA movement, saying, “Lord, we want you to bless our sister Nicki Minaj. She’s been going through a lot lately and hasn’t been herself, Lord,” joking that her cosmetic injections have been “affecting her brain.”

NAACP Awards stand for National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and celebrate the arts across different mediums including films, theatre, music, and literature, created every year.





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Maggie Gyllenhaal details emotional reunion with brother Jake Gyllenhaal

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Maggie Gyllenhaal details emotional reunion with brother Jake Gyllenhaal


The famous siblings are sharing the screen together for the first time in 25 years

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jake Gyllenhaal are one of the most famous Hollywood siblings, yet fans are still surprised to learn they’re related.

In a new interview with The New York Times published February 28, the Oscar-nominated actress opened up about reuniting with her younger brother on-screen for her upcoming second directorial project, The Bride — marking their first time sharing the screen in over two decades.

“I remember asking him and tearing up alone in this hotel room I was in, because it meant so much to me. It meant so much for me to interact with him,” Maggie, 48, recalled, noting that for years, she had been focused on carving her own path “separate” from her famous family.

“We’ve never been estranged,” Maggie said of the Marvel star, “but we’ve never been as close as we are now. We’re finally, maybe in the last five years, more and more and more, even each day, really interacting…”

Both siblings began acting as children in the early ’90s with supporting roles in their dad’s films, and the last time they worked together was on the 2001 thriller Donnie Darko. Jake, now 45, quickly landed leading roles in films like October Sky — something Maggie now admits evoked feelings of “envy” towards her brother.

Hence, reaching out to him after all these years felt “honest” and “vulnerable.” The Dark Knight actress told NYT, “I waited until I was absolutely sure that asking him to do this part was the right thing to do.” 





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