Video doesn’t show Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs speaking from prison

Music producer and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs is in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, following his Sept. 16 arrest on charges of racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. 

Combs pleaded not guilty, but a video that purportedly shows him speaking from prison is being mischaracterized on social media.

“I’m trying to figure out what’s even going on, like how is this happening, and sometimes it’s like I’ve got to turn the TV off because it’s so overwhelming,” Combs says in the video. 

“Diddy Combs speaks from prison,” a Sept. 26 Instagram post sharing the video said. 

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

This video is from Jan. 16, 2010, when Combs uploaded it to his YouTube channel after a Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti caused an estimated 300,000 deaths and displaced more than a million people.

Combs captioned the video, “Diddy Blog #1001 …. A message to Haiti.” This longer YouTube version makes clear that he’s talking about that disaster’s victims. 

Also, Combs is wearing civilian clothes in the video, not a jail uniform. 

We rate claims this video shows him speaking from prison False.