Ben Williams
It’s not exactly champagne and lobster tails for Sean 'Diddy' Combs’ birthday this year.
The hip-hop mogul marked his 56th year miles away from the glitz and glamour he once personified: tucked inside a New Jersey correctional facility, where his dinner came with a side of green beans instead of gold bottles.
Combs, who once threw notorious all-white parties and dined on private jets, spent the day surrounded by other inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution Fort Dix. His new home, a dormitory-style setup around 40 miles outside Philadelphia, is a far cry from the lavish penthouses he’s used to.
Still, this is where the Bad Boy Records founder will be spending his birthdays for the foreseeable future, after being sentenced to 50 months behind bars.
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It’s in this prison where Combs had his birthday menu, including options like cheese pizza in place of caviar.
According to a food schedule obtained by People, breakfast was served at around 6:30am, featuring fruit, bran flakes or breakfast cake, or whole wheat bread with jelly, plus skimmed milk and margarine.
Lunch came with a choice of chicken parmesan or a chickpea burger alongside pasta with marinara sauce, spinach, and garlic bread or whole wheat bread.
Then came dinner: the aforementioned cheese pizza or navy beans with Italian pasta salad, green beans, and a garden salad, washed down with a drink and a choice of dressing.
The commissary list gave him a few sweeter options to mark the milestone, which could be purchased. Combs could choose from cheesecake squares for $1.07, honey buns for $1.30 and Pop-Tarts for $2.85. One of his favourites, applesauce, which his lawyer said he ‘loves and would put on his cheeseburgers’, was noticeably absent.
The rapper and entrepreneur, whose fortune once earned him a seat among hip-hop’s richest, was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, violations of the Mann Act. Judge Arun Subramanian handed down the sentence in October, rejecting the defence’s plea for no more than 14 months.
The ruling followed a turbulent trial that saw Diddy cleared of several other serious charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. As prosecutors put it: “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.”
Diddy was moved to Fort Dix on 30 October after his attorneys complained about conditions at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center and requested access to drug-rehab programmes. He remains hopeful of an early release date of 8 May 2028, pending good behaviour, with an appeal now granted and arguments scheduled for April 2026.