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Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York, as his high-profile trial on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering unfolds. The MDC, the only federal jail in New York City, has faced longstanding criticism for its harsh conditions. However, Combs might’ve been able to win over his fellow inmates with his status. Here’s what a former associate warden at the MDC said about Combs’ relationship with the others behind bars.

A former associate warden said the inmates might try to ‘exchange favors’ with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

Sean “Diddy” Combs seemed to keep a low profile inside the stark, echoing halls of the Metropolitan Detention Center. Despite his celebrity, he likely learned that fame held little currency among the other inmates. However, some sources claimed that Combs could likely receive special treatment due to his high-profile status. Dr. DeWayne Hendrix, a former associate warden at the MDC in Brooklyn and former senior warden with the US Department of Justice, spoke on Scandal by Law & Crime about Combs’ relationships with the other inmates.

“You always have a couple of individuals on the unit that are going to welcome inmates on the pod, or on the floor, or in the detention center, or wherever location that may be,” Hendrix said. “Again, inmates use their commissary as currency. … They don’t have cash, so they barter. And maybe some of the inmates have respect for him for his music, or the way he has business acumen. Maybe they’re trying to get up to him and say, ‘Hey, I’ll make your bed for you. If you can help, I got a cousin that wants to get into the music business.’ … Inmates are always trying to exchange favors.”

Hendrix added that jail serves as a microcosm of normal society. Additionally, “the confines” of where Combs stays “is a little bit more friendlier” than a “more traditional” detention unit.

A former inmate previously said Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs could receive special privileges from the prison guards

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Sean “Diddy” Combs might use his mogul status to get in good with the prison guards. A former inmate told Us Weekly that Combs could potentially receive extra goods from the guards because of his celebrity.

“If the guards take a liking to Diddy, he will get extra food, extra time out of his cell,” the former inmate said. “He’s rich … so they might not treat him so bad [as a] form of extortion.”

However, another former inmate says Combs’ fame might not mean anything to the guards. “People on the outside would view you as a 10, but you automatically become a 5 in prison,” they said. “It is a whole other world.”

Prison consultant Sam Mangel added, “Diddy’s charges are problematic in the Bureau of Prisons. It would not surprise me at all if other people were screaming and threatening him.”

Dr. DeWayne Hendrix said he wouldn’t be ‘surprised’ by the hip-hop mogul having a breakdown in prison

While speaking on Scandal, Dr. DeWayne Hendrix commented on how he wouldn’t be “surprised” to hear that Sean “Diddy” Combs had a breakdown behind bars. While Combs is in a more hospitable jail situation than many, it’s still a stark difference from how he previously lived.

“His first birthday without having a celebration, not being able to call on your chef, and you have a craving for your favorite food or your favorite dessert. And no one’s coming to your aid when you want them to come to your aid,” Hendrix explained. ” … Even when he’s dealing with staff, if staff aren’t sitting there trying to be compromising and bring certain things into the facility to make his accommodations a little bit more friendlier for him, I just think he wasn’t used to that type of structure. And most people aren’t. Nobody wants to be confined by bars.”

How to get help: In the U.S., call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to connect with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area. 

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