Diddy says SORRY to Cassie as he speaks for first time in 13 months at prostitution sentencing hearing

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs broke down in tears as he apologized to his ex-partner Cassie Ventura as he broke his silence for the first time since his arrest.

Diddy thanked the court for ‘allowing me the chance to finally speak for myself’ as he began his speech, and said the hardest part was ‘not being able to express how sorry I am for my actions.’

‘I want to personally apologize again to Cassie Ventura for any harm or hurt I’ve caused her emotionally or physically,’ he said. ‘I don’t take that lightly.’

The disgraced rap mogul also apologized to his unnamed victim, who only went by ‘Jane’ through his trial, as he said he ‘didn’t mean to hurt you.’

Combs referenced horrific footage that emerged shortly before his arrest in summer 2024, which showed him savagely beating Ventura in the lobby of a Los Angeles hotel.

‘Domestic viuolence will always be a heavy burden I will forever have to carry,’ he said. ‘My actions were disgusting, shameful, and sick.’

The producer said he was ‘sick from drugs’ at the time and was ‘out of control’, admitting he was ‘lost in excess… lost in my ego.’

The 55-year-old also addressed his mother in the gallery and said ‘mommy, I failed you as a son’ while beginning to weep in the courtroom.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs broke down in tears as he apologized to his ex-partner Cassie Ventura as he broke his silence for the first time since his arrest

Diddy appeared flustered as he begged the judge for ‘mercy’ in his speech, and said he was begging ‘for the chance to be a father again.’

‘I don’t want to let my family down, they need me,’ he continued. ‘They’re scared, I’m scared.’

‘I know I’ll never put my hands on another person again, I know I’ve learned my lesson… I’m willing to comply with any condition the court puts upon me.’

Prosecutors have asked for 11 years, but Judge Arun Subramanian has hinted the final sentence could be even longer. He has discretion to jail the rapper for up to 20 years.

He referenced the prosecution’s aggressive moves against him as he said he understood that they ‘want to make an example of me.’

‘I want you to think about making an example of what a person can do if they get another chance… if you give me another chance I won’t let you down.’

Combs spoke after a tumultuous sentencing hearing for him that led a courtroom sketch artist to draw him resembling Edvard Munch’s famed ‘The Scream’ that laid bare his growing distress.

The disgraced rap mogul, 55, clutched the sides of his face at Manhattan Federal Court on Tuesday as his children begged for him to receive a short sentence for prostitution offenses.

Diddy’s attorneys had requested he be sentenced to just 14 months with time served – meaning he would be freed by the end of the year.

Newly released courtroom sketches showed an anguished Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs mirroring the iconic ‘The Scream’ painting as his sentencing hearing went poorly

The disgraced rap mogul, 55, held his head in his hands and contorted his face in a double of the famous Edvard Munch painting (pictured)

Friday’s sentencing has been filled with gaffes and mistakes for the rapper.

Prosecutors told the judge Diddy had arrogantly arranged speaking arrangements for Monday in Miami, suggesting he didn’t believe he was going to spend any more time behind bars at all.

They said the move was the ‘height of hubris’ as it presumed he would be set free, and warned the judge it showed ‘the opposite of demonstrating respect for the law.’

His attorney then broke down in tears when his defense tried to argue for a light sentence, and lawyer Nicole Westmoreland said he deserved leniency because he was awarded Menswear Designer of the Year by the American Fashion Council in 2004.

‘It wasn’t just about an award, it was about breaking barriers,’ she said, as courtroom reporters said she appeared to start crying.

After Diddy’s attorneys finished their arguments, his six adult children took the stand to plead with the judge to show mercy.

The testimony grew emotional as the children, Diddy and his attorneys wept.

D’Lila Combs, 18, told of how she and her siblings are ‘scared of the thought of not having our dad and our mom present in our lives’.

Diddy’s attorney cited his 2004 award for menswear designer of the year from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (pictured) as a reason he should be freed

She shared how they are scared for their sister Love, who is only a toddler, growing up without a father.

‘We are scared for our two-year-old sister who runs to us every night asking us where daddy is and how much she missed him,’ she told the court.

‘We cannot watch our baby sister grow up fatherless the way way we had to grow up motherless. These are the years she will never get back. These are the memories she will never have.’

The rapper was also moved to tears when his defense played an 11-minute video about his life, which documented the death of his partner Kim Porter, the mother of four of his children.

Diddy, who has been in custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since September 2024, was seen bent over in the courtroom, moving forward and shaking his head, his hands covering his face.

Judge Subramanian’s decision during the hearing that he’ll still consider evidence from the crimes Diddy was cleared off when deciding how long to imprison him for saw the anxious-looking rapper bow his head, with one of Diddy’s lawyers also visibly perturbed by the news.

Diddy has been held in custody in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since September 2024, with a 14 month sentence that his attorneys are fighting for meaning he’d be a free man by 2026.

Diddy was convicted of two federal prostitution offenses but cleared of far more serious racketeering charges.

That means any unexpected additions to his final sentence could be lengthy ones.

Hours before the sentencing, Diddy’s attorneys released a bizarre promo video presenting himself as a saintly do-gooder on the morning of his sentencing.

Hours before the sentencing, Diddy’s attorneys released a bizarre promo video presenting himself as a saintly do-gooder on the morning of his sentencing

The 11-minute clip showed the 55-year-old with his children during their childhoods and portraying him as a loving father, seen playing with his young daughters in archival footage interspersed with Diddy meeting fans and recording music.

The clip appears to have been released in hopes of softening Diddy’s image ahead of his sentencing on Friday morning, showing him growing up from the streets of New York to celebrating lifetime achievement awards and living a life of luxury.

Much of the promotional documentary also focuses on Diddy’s charter school in Harlem, where he is seen speaking with young students alongside montages of them dancing and learning in class.

Diddy faces a maximum of 20 years behind bars for transportation to engage in prostitution of his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and another unnamed woman.