Sean “Diddy” Combs is ramping up his legal battle — and the stakes are bigger than ever.
The 55-year-old music mogul has amended his defamation lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, increasing his demand from $50 million to more than $100 million. The case targets Florida attorney Ariel Mitchell, her client Courtney Burgess, and media outlets NewsNation and its parent company, Nexstar Media Group, over what Combs says are “false, fabricated, and deeply offensive” claims that have damaged his name.
At the center of the lawsuit is Burgess, who alleged in public statements that he had 11 flash drives containing eight videos showing Combs in sexual situations with celebrities and minors during so-called “freak off” parties. He claims the footage — along with a memoir manuscript — came from Kim Porter, Combs’s late ex-partner and the mother of four of his children.
Combs’s legal team calls those claims outrageous and untrue, saying Burgess has never met Combs and that the alleged memoir is “fake” and “offensive.” Porter’s children and close friends, they say, have also called it inauthentic.
Mitchell, Burgess’s lawyer, is accused of fueling the controversy by speaking about the alleged evidence on NewsNation and representing multiple other accusers in cases against Combs. The suit claims NewsNation aired the allegations without fact-checking or reaching out to Combs’s camp for comment.
“People who heard and believed Defendants’ lies have accused Combs, on social media that is consumed by hundreds of millions of viewers each and every day, of being a debauched ‘monster’ and a pedophile,” the lawsuit states.
The legal battle comes at a tense time for the Bad Boy Records founder. In July, Combs was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges but was convicted on two counts of transportation for prostitution. He is currently being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, with sentencing set for October 3.
This isn’t Combs’s only defamation fight. He’s also suing NBCUniversal and Peacock for $100 million over their documentary Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy, which he says falsely paints him as tied to “serial murder” and other crimes.
Mitchell, for her part, has called the lawsuit “a pathetic ploy to silence victims and people who stand up for victims” and says she plans to countersue. Burgess remains steadfast, telling reporters,
“I’m standing by my word.”
According to Combs’s attorneys, the jump to a $100 million claim reflects the severity of the alleged damage to his reputation and what they describe as a “coordinated campaign” against him.
