Representatives for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs have pushed back against claims he entered a ‘friends with benefits’ relationship with Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, after fresh allegations surfaced in a newly published book.
This week, an unexpected set of claims linking two separate, high-profile scandals drew renewed attention after royal author Andrew Lownie published new assertions.
In Entitled, Lownie alleges that Sarah Ferguson first crossed paths with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in 2002 at a party hosted by Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now imprisoned for her role in Epstein’s abuse network.
Lownie goes on to claim that by 2004 the pair had slipped into a ‘friends with benefits’ dynamic in ‘secret’, according to excerpts carried by the Daily Mail. Separate photographs from earlier years have also been cited as suggesting the two may have been in the same social circles as far back as 1998, at a high-profile birthday event for Combs.
The book further alleges that when the relationship began in 2004, Combs spoke crudely about ‘slamming’ the former Duchess of York in $50,000-per-night hotel rooms. Lownie also claims Combs later released a scent titled ‘unforgivable’ that was influenced by her views on how men should smell.
It is also alleged that Ferguson took her teenage daughter Eugenie—said to be 16 at the time—to one of Diddy’s parties, something an unnamed royal staffer reportedly described as ‘alarming.’
Despite the range of allegations outlined in the book, Combs’ representatives have denied that any relationship ever occurred. Juda Engelmayer, speaking on his behalf, told the Mirror US, “There are so many important and monumental events happening today; this utterly ridiculous gossip isn’t one of them.”
Combs is currently serving a 50-month federal prison sentence after being convicted last year on two counts of transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
He had initially faced five charges across three federal indictments, including sex trafficking, conspiracy racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was convicted on the two prostitution-related counts and acquitted of the remaining charges.
As of October 2025, he had already spent more than a year in detention, which is being credited toward the sentence. His projected release date is currently April 2028, though his legal team is appealing in an effort to secure an earlier release.