Yes, those Diddy images you may have come across on social media in recent days are fake.
Monday (Dec. 1), TMZ ran a warning alerting readers to several recent images bearing their watermark. While legitimate photos of Diddy behind bars do exist, the examples cited here have been flagged by the publication as fake.
A video is also mentioned in the report, purporting to show the 56-year-old holding a basketball and laughing with other incarcerated individuals. This too is fake, TMZ said Monday.
Juda Engelmayer, a rep for Diddy, also spoke out about the “doctored photos” making the rounds on social media.
When reached for comment by Complex on Monday, Engelmayer said the images in question are “not real” and were instead made using AI.
“These images are not real,” Engelmayer said in an email. “They are AI fabrications. Sean has always treated people with kindness and respect, but it’s disconcerting how often manipulated or AI-generated images are being pushed into the conversation while he is in a federal facility. Nothing in these doctored photos reflects reality.”
Diddy is currently serving a 50-month sentence at Fort Dix in New Jersey following a split-verdict conclusion to his trial over the summer. As Complex’s Shawn Setaro reported at the time, the Bad Boy Records founder was found guilty of two Mann Act violations. He’s currently set to be released in 2028.
This month, Netflix is releasing the four-part documentary Sean Combs: The Reckoning, from executive producer (and frequent Diddy commentator) 50 Cent. Already, the doc has spurred a response from Diddy’s team, who on Monday was quoted as saying that newly teased footage from the series was “never authorized for release.”