Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ legal team filed a $50-million defamation lawsuit Wednesday against a man they said had falsely claimed to possess videos implicating the 55-year-old producer in sexual assaults on eight celebrities.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York City, accuses Courtney Burgess and his lawyer, Ariel Mitchell, of fabricating “outrageous lies” as part of an effort to potentially profit off of the media frenzy around Combs, who was indicted in September on sex-trafficking charges.
Combs is also suing Nextstar Media Group, the parent company of television network NewsNation, for airing Burgess’ allegations without conducting proper due diligence.
“Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is taking a stand against the malicious falsehoods that have been fabricated and amplified by individuals seeking to profit at his expense,” Erica Wolff, a lawyer for Combs, said in a statement.
“These defendants have willfully fabricated and disseminated outrageous lies with reckless disregard for the truth,” Wolff continued. “Their falsehoods have poisoned public perception and contaminated the jury pool. This complaint should serve as a warning that such intentional falsehoods, which undermine Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial, will no longer be tolerated.”
Combs is currently in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center and has pleaded not guilty to sex-trafficking charges lodged against him after his arrest in September. He has remained incarcerated, awaiting a May 5 trial, after judges refused to grant him bail. He has denied all allegations.
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The lawsuit alleges that Burgess began giving interviews with reporters, social media personalities and true crime podcasters after Combs’ arrest, claiming he had illicit videos of Combs “involved in the sexual assault of celebrities and minors.”
Burgess claimed to have been given flash drives with incriminating evidence by the late actor and model Kim Porter, a longtime partner of Combs and mother of four of his children. Burgess and Mitchell allegedly repeated the allegations to news outlets, including NewsNation, according to the suit.
The suit references a NewsNation segment that aired in October 2024 with Burgess and Mitchell. Burgess repeated his previous claims in the interview, while claiming that the NewsNation host knew the eight celebrities who appeared on eight different videos.
The lawsuit alleges that the NewsNation host knew this information was false “or, at a minimum, recklessly disregarded whether the statements were true or false because she had never seen such videos (because they do not exist).”
An Oct. 24 Attwood Unleashed podcast appearance with Burgess is also mentioned in the suit. During his appearance, Burgess claims that Porter approached him through a mediator to provide him with materials and says that she also referred to Combs as “Lucifer.”
Burgess also publicly claimed that Porter gave him a copy of her memoir and began selling it on Amazon. The memoir was removed from the website after it was denounced by Porter’s family.
Combs’ lawyers claim that Burgess has never met Combs and does not know any member of his family. Some people close to Porter told The New York Times for a story published in November that they had never heard of Burgess and doubted his claims. Burgess later acknowledged that he doesn’t know Combs personally.
“Defendants made these false and defamatory statements in bad faith, as part of a deliberate effort to damage Mr. Combs’s reputation, undermine his business and, by painting him as debauched and a pedophile, to poison the public’s perception of him and deprive him of a fair trial,” Combs’ legal team said.
Combs is suing for defamation for an amount to be determined by trial, but asking for no less than $50 million and demanding a jury trial.
In a statement to People, Mitchell called the lawsuit “a pathetic ploy to silence victims and people who stand up for victims.”
“Diddy has time to sue but refuses to accept service for the lawsuits already filed against him,” Mitchell said. “I look forward to countersuing and ensuring the court punishes not only Diddy but also his lawyers who filed this pathetic lawsuit for this frivolous and meritless filing.”
NewsNation has not responded to the lawsuit as of this writing.
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— With files from The Associated Press
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