"He clearly needs help" — TMZ podcaster claims Diddy has allegedly enrolled into domestic violence and drug treatment programs behind bars

After a weeks-long federal trial, the jury found Sean "Diddy" Combs guilty on two counts of prostitution-related charges. However, the rapper was acquitted of the three more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. Presiding judge Arun Subramanian denied him bail while awaiting sentencing, and the rapper was sent back to prison.

Recently, the entertainment media house TMZ provided some updates on the music mogul from behind bars. In the July 15 YouTube episode of the TMZ podcast, Harvey Levin made some unverified claims about Diddy enrolling in a domestic violence and drug treatment program in prison. Levin said that although the news was "not fully confirmed," he had heard that the rapper had joined these two programs.

"Diddy is enrolled in a domestic violence and a drug treatment program—two separate ones—while behind bars. This is a common program offered to most all inmates. We have not been able to confirm. We're getting some conflicting information on it, but we are hearing that he is participating in those two programs. To me, and by the way, for two reasons. One, he clearly needs help," the podcaster said.

Levin continued on to talk about the other reason the rapper might have been enrolled in the two programs.

"The second reason is that he's going to be sentenced. And one of the things judges look at is, you know, is this person rehabilitated or trying to rehabilitate themselves?" he claimed.

The TMZ founder speculated that one could argue that Diddy's rehabilitation should be "don't hire prostitutes" because that's all the rapper has been convicted of. He also added that while Combs was never tried for domestic violence, it was "probably a good idea" to join the rehabilitation program anyway.

"So, it's not so much the domestic violence and everything else because he was never tried for that... But optics matter, and there was testimony about his violence. So, I think if he's doing this, which we're hearing he is, it's probably a good idea," the podcaster said.

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TMZ host Harvey Levin predicts Diddy's jail time

On the July 15 podcast episode titled The Diddy Trial Update Nobody Was Expecting, host Harvey Levin reported on another major alleged update. Levin said that the judge had reportedly asked the prosecution for a list of cases where Johns—a person availing the services of a prostitute—were prosecuted and sent to jail under the Mann Act.

Levin claimed that he heard from sources that the prosecution might face a challenge in finding such a list.

"I am hearing from some people inside this case that prosecutors may have trouble coming up with that list because typically it's not the Johns that are prosecuted under the Mann Act," he said.

He added that the defense could possibly use the leverage if the prosecution failed to present such a list.

"That makes this very, very interesting in terms of sentencing, that if, yeah, he was convicted, but they can't find any other cases where the Johns face serious jail time, the defense is going to say, 'This is selective prosecution,'" the host stated.

Levin said that although the rapper "could get" a 10-year sentence, it was unlikely to happen. He added that Diddy would probably be sentenced to between one and two years and could receive an even shorter sentence if the prosecution failed to produce the list. He also noted that by the time sentencing took place, the rapper would have already served a year in prison.

"I know this sounds kind of crazy, but depending on what happens, Diddy could be out by Christmas, and I think that's a real possibility. This is not a serious prison time case. It's just not... So, could he be out by Christmas? I think he could. Could he be out by Thanksgiving? I actually think that's a possibility," Levin claimed.

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Sean Combs was convicted on July 2, 2025, and his sentencing date is set for October 3, 2025. The rapper was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges, which could have resulted in life imprisonment.

Edited by Ankita Barat