Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ prison inmate Sam Bankman-Fried reveals what people think of him behind bars
Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs is detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn alongside some famous names. They include Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, who is serving a 25-year sentence for fraud.
Bankman-Fried recently sat down for a 45-minute video interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. During their conversation, he opened up about what it’s like to be in prison with Combs and the overall perception of the rapper behind bars.
“He’s been kind,” Bankman-Fried said. “I’ve made some friends, it’s a weird environment. It’s a combination of a few other high-profile cases and a lot of alleged ex-gangsters. I’ve only seen one piece of him, which is Diddy in prison. He’s been kind to people in the unit, he’s been kind to me.”
He continued, “It’s kind of a soul-crushing place for the world in general, and what we see are just the people that are around us on the inside rather than who we are on the outside. Some of them, I think, are thinking, well this is sort of an opportunity to meet people they wouldn’t otherwise get to meet. It makes sense from their perspective, but boy is that not how I think about prison.”
Bankman-Fried also revealed his shock at the number of his prison inmates skilled at chess. “They’re good at chess,” he said. “Former armed robbers who don’t speak English, and probably didn’t graduate middle school, a surprising number of them are fairly good at chess. I’m not saying they’re grandmasters, but I lose games to them all the time.”
Combs, Mangione and Bankman-Fried are currently on lockdown at MDC following a “race riot” that reportedly took place on February 22nd. As a result, the jail is on “modified operation,” with friends and family not allowed to visit them for at least a month.
Speaking about Combs, federal prison consultant Sam Mangel said, “He’s locked down now, at least 23 out of 24 hours. I’m sure they allow him out at least three times a week for a shower, maybe to make a phone call, but that’s about it. So he’s being fed in his cell—it’s a six-by-nine cell with a little slat for a window.”