Mike Tyson just confirmed what months of anonymous sourcing could only suggest: he was the messenger who carried Sean "Diddy" Combs' pardon plea to the White House. Appearing Thursday on SiriusXM's Andy Cohen Live, the former heavyweight champion said he's "friendly with Puff" and that the two spoke once by phone since Combs' incarceration. During that call, Tyson said, Combs asked him to "give a letter to the president."
When Cohen asked whether he made the delivery, Tyson didn't dodge: "I did what he told me to do, yeah." The admission — reported by USA Today and Entertainment Weekly — is Tyson's first on-record confirmation of a story first reported by The Sun in January via unnamed sources, who said Tyson felt "nervous" about hand-delivering the letter during a White House visit.
The Pardon Ask
Trump has already acknowledged the letter exists. In a January interview with The New York Times, he said Combs "asked me for a pardon," which "came through a letter" — but added that he is "not considering" clemency. The White House, asked about the reports, did not deny Tyson made the delivery but said "any media reports on a Diddy pardon are not accurate" and that "the president, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on all pardons."
Combs, 56, is serving a 50-month sentence at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey after a July 2025 conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution under the 1910 Mann Act. A jury acquitted him of the heavier trafficking and racketeering charges. He has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct and is appealing. Bureau of Prisons records currently list his release date as March 2, 2028.
What Happens Next
Nothing about Thursday's admission changes Combs' legal position — the pardon remains Trump's call, and he's said he's not making it. But Tyson's confirmation turns the pardon push from whispered rumor into an on-the-record chapter of the Diddy saga, with the sport's most famous knockout artist as the courier. Filed under The Wire, MixShow Prime's music industry news desk.
