Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, the embattled rapper, has reportedly been placed on suicide watch at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The 54-year-old music mogul who was arrested at a hotel in Manhattan on Monday is currently facing federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
On Tuesday, Robyn Tarnofsky, the US magistrate judge, ordered that the hitmaker be sent to jail to await trial in his case. The Bad Boy Records founder was also denied bail.
Tarnofsky’s order followed after Diddy pleaded not guilty to the 14-page federal indictment against him.
On Thursday, People quoted sources at the prison as saying that the rapper has been placed on suicide watch for “preventative measures”.
It added that “Combs is in shock and his mental state is unclear”.
Photo credit: AP
Prison occupants are placed on suicide watch as “supervisory precautions taken for suicidal inmates that require frequent observation,” according to the US Department of Justice National Institute of Corrections.
The news outlet did not reveal how long Diddy will remain under suicide watch, or if he is suicidal.
The rapper is expected to remain at the Metropolitan Detention Center ahead of trial — although the date has yet to be revealed.
The New York Times reports that the detention facility, which holds more than 1,200 people, has a reputation for violence, filthy conditions, food contamination, and suicides.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors charged Diddy with sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.
They alleged the rapper, with help from Combs Enterprise associates, ran an “enterprise that he engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor or, kidnapping, arson and other crimes”.
Combs was said to have “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct” from 2008 to now.
Diddy is the highest-profile musician to face sexual misconduct charges since Robert Sylvester Kelly, the R&B singer popularly known as R. Kelly.
Kelly was sentenced in 2022 to more than 30 years in prison for sexually abusing fans, some of them children, racketeering, and sex trafficking.
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