Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has written a lengthy letter to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian just hours before his sentencing on October 3, offering a remorseful plea for leniency and reflecting on what he described as the darkest chapter of his life.

The letter, dated October 2, came only days after singer Cassie Ventura, his former partner, addressed the court in her own statement, recounting the abuse she endured. 

Diddy directly referenced the incident, admitting that the “scene and images of me assaulting Cassie play over and over in my head daily”. 

“I literally lost my mind. I was dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved. I’m sorry for that and always will be,” he said.

The 55-year-old music mogul, convicted earlier this year on federal charges linked to abuse and trafficking allegations, told the judge he has been humbled by prison life. 

He described his time behind bars as both mentally crushing and transformative.

“Jail is designed to break you mentally, physically and spiritually. Over the past year, there have been so many times that I wanted to give up. The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn,” he said.

Diddy also said he has spent his incarceration focusing on sobriety, therapy, and mentoring fellow inmates through a six-week program called Free Game, which he said has brought rival gangs together in one room.

“Being able to do something good for others has also given me much-needed hope,” he wrote.

Throughout the four-page letter, Diddy repeatedly asked the court for mercy, citing his role as the sole parent to his seven children following the death of their mother, Kim Porter, in 2018. 

He also mentioned his 84-year-old mother’s fragile health, saying, “As I write you this letter, I am scared to death. Scared to spend another second away from my mother and my children. I no longer care about the money or the fame. There is nothing more important to me than my family.”

The Bad Boy Records founder acknowledged that no amount of wealth or influence could alter his reality.

“I realise that I am in a situation where no amount of money, power, or fame can save me. Only God can save me,” he said. 

Diddy’s  letter arrived just hours before he is due to learn his fate in court. His sentencing follows more than two years of legal battles and public scrutiny, during which his former partner, Cassie, filed a high-profile lawsuit accusing him of years of abuse.

Judge Subramanian is expected to deliver Combs’ sentence later today in the Southern District of New York.