Photographer Breaks Down Diddy Thanksgiving Photo With Wiz Khalifa and A$AP Rocky
Federal agents arrested hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs in September 2024 after Homeland Security raided two of his properties earlier this year. Combs now resides in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn until his trial in May 2025. We’re looking back at a Thanksgiving from years past when Combs invited his famous friends, like Pharrell Williams and Wiz Khalifa, over to his place for a meal. Here’s what the photographer captured.
A photographer gave context to a photo from Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ A-list Thanksgiving
Sean “Diddy” Combs will celebrate Thanksgiving behind bars in 2024. However, he has celebrated with friends, family, and helpful organizations in years past. Armenian photographer Armen Keleshian photographed several famous folks celebrating the holiday at Combs’ home years ago. He called the photograph a “moment in history” that he wanted to document.
Keleshian’s picture of Combs’ Thanksgiving feast shows Wiz Khalifa, A$AP Rocky, and others smiling and helping themselves to food in Combs’ kitchen. Wiz Khalifa is spooning some casserole onto his plate. And A$AP Rocky is grabbing a piece of cornbread from a massive plate. Additional foods shown include dinner rolls and various salads.
Keleshian told MIASEEN Inc. in 2021 that he took the photo on the Sunday after the holiday. “He does these things called Soul Food Sundays,'” Keleshian said of Combs, “where he has soulful food, he has people around. They do a little prayer. It’s like a little get-together, a little party.” The photographer noted that Usher, Pharrell Williams, DJ Khaled, and French Montana also attended. “A bunch of A-listers were there,” he said.
“This is a very intimate setup — we’re literally in Diddy’s kitchen,” Keleshian added. “You gotta be someone who knows someone to be there, or you gotta be someone to be there. It was very intimate. Everyone felt comfortable.”
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs wanted Soul Food Sundays to build community
Sean “Diddy” Combs became known for throwing Soul Food Sundays aside from the one he hosted after Thanksgiving. He started the cookouts at his Bel Air mansion to “build a sense of community” with his family and friends.
“Just growing up, I would go to Andre Harrell’s house, and he would have champagne Sundays,” Combs said, according to TheGrio. “It was a way to keep all of the artist’s connected and stay in touch with your friends and make sure that you know that there’s community here. Just to be able to meet new people and just to be able to talk and vibe and eat, have some good soul food, and for us as the Combs to share our home. It’s always been a gift.”
Combs offered dishes like fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, biscuits, and desserts at his Soul Food Sundays. Guests also enjoyed basketball, water balloons, and music.
The hip-hop mogul’s close friends might get called to testify
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawsuits extend beyond him. Several lawsuits allege that other celebrities were present during Combs’ wild sex parties called “freak-offs” that involved drugs, coercion, and assault. Former prosecutor Neama Rahmani told The U.S. Sun that Combs’ closest friends who attended his gatherings should expect subpoenas.
“Jay-Z and other celebrities can be subpoenaed, but they will almost certainly assert their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refuse to testify,” Rahmani explained. “People who participated in the sex acts should especially be afraid because they can also be charged with sex trafficking or prostitution, depending on whether they used threats or force against the victims.”
How to get help: In the U.S., call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to connect with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.
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