Diddy's Appeal Date Has Officially Been Set

BY Zachary Horvath
Link Copied to Clipboard!
USATSI_26012316 (1)
Sean “Diddy” Combs introduces a tribute to “The Godfather” during the 94th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on March 27, 2022. © Robert Hanashiro / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Add HNHH as a preferred source on Google
It was reported in October 2025 that Diddy was trying to speed up the appeal process. He succeeded and now he's going to be in court soon.

Diddy is going to be able to fight for his freedom in court within the next couple of months. The rap and business mogul will be appealing his prison sentence of roughly three to four years starting on April 9, 2026. This development comes via an exclusive report by AllHipHop's Grouchy Greg Watkins.

U.S. Circuit Court Judge Beth Robinson was the one to give the green light to this fast-track request. It's unclear if she was the one to okay this initially back in November 2025. TMZ reported back then that an unnamed judge allowed for this to happen.

So overall, the timeline and official behind this decision is a bit murky. Moreover, TMZ said in that article that the month of April was when oral arguments would begin.

But it seems now that was a rough estimate. It appears some extra deliberation needed to happen before everyone could settle on a date. It was revealed back in late October that Diddy's appellate attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, sent in the argument to get her client an expedited appeal.

When Is Diddy's Projected Release Date?

Syndication: Tallahassee
Sean "Diddy" Combs performs at the Bring It Home Midnight Rally held for Andrew Gillum at Florida A&M University's Lawson Center in Tallahassee, Fla. the night before the 2018 midterm election Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. Famu Gillum Rally 110518 Ts 004 © Tori Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat via Imagn Images

More challenging cases like the Bad Boy CEO's can take anywhere from 18 months to a couple of years to fight. But Diddy and his team have found a way to shorten it exponentially.

The plan for this to play out in his favor was laid out in October as well and it seems at least one of the steps are complete. "Dec. 23, 2025: Opening brief and appendix filed by Combs. Feb. 20, 2026: Government’s opposition brief due. Mar. 13, 2026: Combs’ reply brief due. April 2026: Oral argument before the Second Circuit."

Diddy's projected release date is still May 8, 2028, though. He's currently serving his bid at the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution in New Jersey. It's one he requested and is a low-security facility. He was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution in October 2025.

About The Author
Zachary Horvath is one of the Music Freelance News Writers at HotNewHipHop and has held that title since August 2023. Prior to this position, he held another freelance gig covering local high school football, girls and boys varsity basketball, in addition to recapping Cleveland Cavaliers games remotely. He's taken the previous experience and used it to become a jack of all trades at HotNewHipHop. Zach has thoroughly enjoyed tackling some of the trending topics in sports, with a larger focus on hip-hop and pop culture. Some of those include Bronny James's draft stock, a multitude of angles swirling around the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef, as well as Diddy's arrest and lawsuits. Separate from the headlines that everyone wants to hear about, he was fortunate enough to help spread Zaytoven's current thoughts at the time around mid-December in 2023. Even though being able to give his expertise on these stories is fulfilling, being able to share his passion for releases trumps that ever so slightly. Having the chance to express his excitement indirectly about what he thinks our readers should be checking out/revisiting grows his passion for writing that much more.

Comments 0