After Sean “Diddy” Combs’ partial acquittal on sex trafficking charges in a bombshell criminal trial earlier this summer, the music mogul’s legal team has been public about their efforts to secure a presidential pardon. But is that even possible? What would the process look like? And how might Combs’ reps try to win over President Donald Trump? 

Combs was acquitted on July 2 of racketeering and sex-trafficking, the most serious counts he faced in a trial over his drug-fueled, marathon sex-parties known as “freak-offs.” The rapper was convicted only of hiring sex workers for the orgies, significantly reducing his potential prison sentence from decades to likely just a few years.   

Though Combs’ team of lawyers celebrated the verdict as a major win, they’re not done fighting and will likely appeal Combs’ counts of conviction after his October sentencing hearing. And then there’s the possibility of a pardon; one member of Combs’ defense squad told CNN earlier this month that they have approached Trump about clemency.

There are actually two ways that Trump could free Combs: a pardon, which wipes a conviction from someone’s criminal record; or a commutation, which just erases a prison sentence while leaving the record intact. Trump has not said publicly yet whether he’d consider granting either type of clemency to Combs.

So what does the process look like for Combs’ attorneys to pursue a pardon? According to Mark Osler, a leading clemency attorney and law professor at the University of St. Thomas, there really isn’t any process under Trump’s presidency.

Osler says that in the past, clemency lawyers filed form applications to the Department of Justice’s Pardon Attorney, and these petitions would then go through several levels of review before making it to the White House. But Trump broke with tradition at the end of his first term by granting several pardons that hadn’t gone through this process, and then-President Joe Biden did the same this past December and January. Now, with Trump back in the White House, pardons are coming straight from his desk without review in large numbers — including a blanket grant of clemency to over 1,000 January 6 insurrection defendants.

“The mechanism is falling apart,” Osler tells Billboard. “It’s fair to say many people are confused about what the process is now. Some people are filling out the form, some people are trying to appeal directly to [Trump’s so-called pardon czar] Alice Marie Johnson, some people are trying to talk to Trump at Mar-a-Lago, some people are trying to get on Fox News to pitch their case. It’s hard to tell what will work and for who.”

With Trump now making so many pardon decisions on his own, it’s likely that Combs’ reps are trying to make their case directly to the president’s inner circle. This is no small feat: as Osler puts it, “People are spending a lot of money trying to get in front of the right people to be considered.”

This begs another question: if Combs’ team does go through the trouble to get in front of Trump’s advisers, what pitch will they make? Osler says it’s common to appeal to a president’s personal values — which for Trump, he says, are “loyalty and celebrity.” 

Celebrities do make up a sizable chunk of Trump’s pardon history. If Combs ends up getting clemency, he’ll join the ranks of other musicians like Lil Wayne, Kodak Black and YoungBoy Never Broke Again — all of whom were pardoned of weapons charges by Trump.  
 
Combs’ lawyers also could try to pitch Trump that the rapper’s conviction is unjust or even racist. The music mogul was found guilty of prostitution under the Mann Act, a 1910 statute that has a sordid history of being used to target Black men and interracial couples. (It was originally known as the “White-Slave Traffic Act.”)  

“The Mann Act is rarely used today,” says JaneAnne Murray, a clemency lawyer and professor at University of Minnesota Law School. “It comes out of a puritanical era, and its enforcement was driven by sexist and racist assumptions.” 

The fact that these Mann Act counts were the lowest-level charges in an indictment that accused Combs of the far splashier and more serious crimes of sex-trafficking and racketeering could also be key to a pardon argument. 

Since Combs was acquitted of racketeering and sex-trafficking, his lawyers have a strong case to argue that he never should have been charged with these higher-level crimes in the first place. And Murray says that if Combs had been charged only with prostitution under the Mann Act, “It’s almost inconceivable that any resolution of the case would have involved a custodial sentence.” 

“One of the arguments I make for my clients is, ‘Look, they went to trial and were acquitted of the first-degree [murder charge]. They got convicted of the second degree— but had they been properly charged in the beginning, we would have negotiated from that lower baseline, and they would have received a much more lenient sentence,’” Murray tells Billboard. 

All that said, Combs still faces an uphill climb in securing a pardon from Trump. According to Osler, presidents tend to think seriously about the potential political ramifications of their pardoning decisions. Trump’s White House may not want to be associated with the sordid details and admitted abuse that came out during Combs’ trial — especially in light of the public relations firestorm ignited in recent months by renewed interest in Trump’s past associations with Jeffrey Epstein. 

“Historically, sex crimes have kind of been the third rail of clemency,” says Osler. “Almost never have you seen grants for them.” 

Just like some people remember where they were during the moon landing, or when they got their first smart phone, the moment when Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement will forever be seared into the memories of millions.

That goes double for CBS White House correspondent Olivia Rinaldi, who found out just moments before going live on air that the world’s biggest pop star had announced her engagement to boyfriend of two years Kansas City Chiefs tight end Kelce on Tuesday (Aug. 26). Her jaw literally dropping open in awe, Rinaldi grabbed her phone and read a note from her producer, saying “Taylor Swift is engaged?”

A second after the news actually sunk in, Rinaldi looked up from her screen and pointed to the phone, excitedly repeating, “Taylor Swift is engaged!” over and over again as an on-screen graphic showing the flower bedecked Instagram proposal post popped up on screen. “Come back to me… she just posted it,” a flustered Rinaldi sputtered as she covered her mouth in awe and repeated “Oh my God” several times, her eyes glued to the perfectly curated photo.

“Oh it’s huge! The ring is ginormous! This is so exciting!” Rinaldi gushed, the joy plain to see on her face as she continued to be gobsmacked, changing from her work phone to what seemed like her personal phone to check out the Instagram post. “Oh my God, it’s on her Instagram! It’s on her Instagram! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! I feel like Paul Revere right now,” Rinaldi gushed about her chance to be among the first to spread the news of the pop culture mega-merger, her hands making circles in the air as she gleefully struggled to process the information.

But instead of warning the minutemen that the British were coming, Rinaldi simply got to share with CBS viewers that one of the world’s most high-profile couples were making it official after two years of dating.

A short time later, Rinaldi was on air, sharing what she called a “very exciting” moment for her in her professional career, “because I get to announce that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged!” She explained how she had been chatting with her producer when another staffer sent her the alert, with Rinaldi holding up her phone to show the engagement post to the camera, reading out the now-iconic “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married” caption.

“Very exiting here that we get to break that and tell you that,” Rinaldi said with a satisfied, sweet smile on her face as she noted, for the record, that she would totally volunteer to cover the wedding for CBS if needed.

She was just one of many musicians, actors and public figures who took time on Tuesday to congratulate the happy couple who first began dating in 2023. At press time Swift and Kelce have not shared any information about when, or where, their wedding will take place as Kelce gears up to begin his 13th NFL season and Swift ramps up to the Oct. 3 release of her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl.

Check out Rinaldi’s report below.

As Coldplay’s huge 10-night residency at London’s Wembley Stadium rolls on, the surprises keep on coming. For Tuesday’s night three (Aug. 26) of the record-breaking run, the band were joined on stage by Simon Pegg for a performance of “A Sky Full Of Stars,” for which the actor played the tambourine throughout. 

Following the appearance, Pegg shared an image of his instrument on Instagram Stories, captioning it: “Rejoined the band.” Watch footage of the moment here.

Pegg, who has starred in blockbuster films such as Mission Impossible and Shaun Of The Dead, is a longtime friend of Coldplay. He has previously dubbed himself an “honorary member” of the London-formed band, having appeared on stage with them numerous times over the years, including introducing the four-piece at their intimate Shepherd’s Bush Empire gig in 2021.

The Avicii-produced “A Sky Full Of Stars” came towards the end of Coldplay’s 23 track-long set, which encompasses highlights from across their career as well as material from 2024 LP Moon Music. Upon release, the chart-topping record saw the band tying legendary acts ABBA, Michael Jackson, and Queen, each boasting 10 No. 1 albums on the U.K. Official Albums Chart.

Moon Music also hit the summit on the Billboard 200, marking Coldplay’s first US No. 1 record since Ghost Stories, which landed in 2014. They have since supported the release with worldwide dates for their Music Of The Spheres tour, which has also taken them to Europe, Asia and North and South America, Australia and New Zealand. 

Coldplay will return to Wembley Stadium tonight (Aug. 27) ahead of further concerts at the venue on Aug. 30, 31, Sept. 3, 4, 7 and 8. The run already has seen them treat fans with a surprise rendition of 2002 track “Politik,” while frontman Chris Martin helped a couple with a proposal mid-set last week (Aug. 22).

Mama Duke has things to say. And based on her Quarterfinals performance Tuesday night, Aug. 26th on America’s Got Talent, folks want to it hear all about it.

A youth development leader at the YMCA by day, Mama Duke is a rap star in-waiting by night. Under the bright lights of AGT, she smashed an original work, “The Mama Duke Show,” dropped the talent show’s judges into her flow, and left everyone in the house wanting more.

Wearing a pink and green Michigan University sweater, she ripped out: “Simon says you might stay, you still can go. But ain’t no x’s on his tic-tac-toe.”

When the Mama Duke Show reached its conclusion, Simon Cowell, naturally, went first. “I loved your audition,” he remarked. “This might have been actually better. You have what I call it. Can’t explain what it is, it’s a feeling. You just know it and you have it. And this is going to be big, honestly. I really really like you.”

Howie Mandel struggled to hear above the din created by the studio audience. “What you have is authenticity. You are so real, you’re so pure, you’re such a star, you speak to the world. We want to be you, we want to watch you, we want to buy tickets to see you. You’re going places.”

Sofia Vergara was drawn to Mama Duke’s “clever” lyrics and her “likeable” nature. “I don’t think we’ve ever had anyone like you here on this stage. I really hope that America votes for you.”

Mel B is a fan. “You know what,” the Spice Girl remarked, “Missy Elliott better be watching out for you because you’re coming right now.” And with that, the British pop star slammed down the Golden Buzzer.

Now, America votes. The results will be announced Wednesday night on NBC.

Glory, hallelujah! Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers return later this year with GLORY, their sophomore studio album.

Fresh from another north American headline tour and separate arena trek opening for Pearl Jam, the Australian indie rockers will drop their next collection Nov. 7 via Mom + Pop.

GLORY is produced by three-times Grammy Award winner Catherine Marks (boygenius, Wolf Alice), and houses the previously-released cuts “Balcony,” “Unscarred,” and the new single “MOTHER,” which arrives today and sees guitarist Scarlett McKahey step into lead vocals for the first time.

“MOTHER,” which opens as a brooding, mid-tempo blues number which builds to a full-throttle chorus, is “for every beautiful, magical lady who’s been caught in the crossfire of a man pretending to be good,” reads a statement from the alternative rock outfit.

“It’s about the built up rage of watching incredible women being mistreated by inadequate men, over and over again since the beginning of time. ‘MOTHER’ builds into a fiery rage and leaves no room for anyone else’s voice.”

On it, McKahey sings, “I shall not suffer a holy man’s crusade.”

GLORY is stage two in what has been an extraordinary couple years for Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, formed a decade ago by schoolmates Anna Ryan (lead vocals/guitar), McKahey (guitar/vocals), Jaida Stephenson (bass) and Neve van Boxsel (drums).

Several weeks after their debut LP I Love You dropped in at No. 6 on the ARIA Chart, Teen Jesus played a breakthrough showcase for Spotify at the inaugural SXSW Sydney 2023. Spotify doubled down on its support by including the band in its worldwide New Noise Artists to Watch list for 2024, tipping them success alongside the likes of Chappell Roan, The Last Dinner Party, Tyla and Teddy Swims. 

Later, Teen Jesus would sign with New York-based Mom + Pop Music for the world outside of Australia and New Zealand, and with Warner Chappell for publishing. Mom + Pop Music handled the September 2024 release of I Love You Too, a deluxe edition of their debut album which featured collaborations with Softcult and The Linda Lindas, and won the 2024 AIR Award for Best Independent Rock Album or EP.

Then, a sweet moment when Teen Jesus opened the 2024 ARIA Awards, and went on to win the coveted Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist honour.

Formed in the nation’s capital Canberra, Teen Jesus have supported Foo Fighters in Australia, and secured spots opening for Pearl Jam in both the US and Australia.

“Everything that has happened has been completely unbelievable,” Ryan told Rolling Stone Australia. “It’s been insane. To even be in proximity to those heavyweight bands is crazy, let alone playing on the same stages.”