They are the most unlikely of cellmates: a rap tycoon with a penchant for “white parties” and a crypto king serving 25 years for a very white-collar crime.
But, according to reports, Sean “Diddy” Combs and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried are sharing the same “dormitory-style” room at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Both men are also in the same living space at the notoriously tough jail in what sources told NBC was a “barrack-style area,” housing around 18-20 inmates. Separated from the general prison population, the detainees tend to be men in need of some form of protection—be them high-profile or those sequestered after cooperating with authorities.
Combs has been in the jail since his Sept. 17 arrest on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, and a judge twice denied his request to be released on bail, offering a $50 million bond, on grounds that he could influence potential witnesses with violence and was a flight risk.
Bankman-Fried reportedly asked to remain at the center while pursuing his appeal after being sentenced to 25 years for masterminding a crypto fraud scheme in which he was accused of syphoning away millions of dollars in client money to finance his lavish lifestyle and investments.
According to the New York Times, Bankman-Fried’s laywers complained that the entrepreneur, a vegan, was surviving on a diet of bread, peanut butter and water in the lead up to his trial.
Combs’ attorneys also cited the jail’s “horrific” conditions in pleading his request for bail release pending trial. However, Marc Agnifilo, representing Combs, told the Times on Tuesday that the “dedicated professionals at the M.D.C. are doing everything possible to help him and his lawyers prepare his defense, and I personally thank them.”
Agnifilo said Diddy is “strong, focused and our meetings are very productive,” He added, “I can’t say enough good things about the M.D.C., which has been responsive to our and [Diddy’s] needs.”
Agnifilo further explained, “My view is if the government wants to arrest him and hold him in jail, despite a massive bail package and despite his repeated offers to turn himself in, we are all going to have to move this along with unprecedented urgency.”
A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons refused to comment on the sleeping arrangements, saying, “For privacy, safety, and security reasons the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) does not provide information about conditions of confinement, including housing assignments or internal security practices for any particular incarcerated individual.”
