Sean “Diddy” Combs has filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against Courtney Burgess, the music manager’s attorney, Ariel Mitchell, and Nexstar Media Inc., which operates NewsNation.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and obtained by Page Six, Burgess allegedly made up claims about Combs that Mitchell co-signed and NewsNation broadcast.
In the fall of 2024, after he testified before a grand jury, Burgess appeared on NewsNation to double down on his claim that he is in possession of nearly a dozen flash drives containing the incarcerated rapper’s alleged sex tapes.
The videos allegedly feature male and female celebrities as well as a few minors, all of whom appear to be under the influence.
Mitchell, for her part, claimed that one of the male stars in one of the videos is “more high-profile” than Combs.
“I can verify that it exists — that it’s real and that the other person in the video is very visible,” she insisted. “There’s no question of if it’s that person in the video.”
According to Combs’ complaint, Burgess “falsely claimed that he possessed videos of Mr. Combs involved in the sexual assault of celebrities and minors.” Burgess repeated this false claim many times to anyone who would listen, including reporters for major news outlets (including NewsNation, which recklessly repeated and amplified his lies as if they were true).
“Thus, Burgess’ baseless lies were rebroadcast on social and traditional media platforms that reach
millions of viewers in the United States and abroad.”
The suit goes on to accuse Mitchell of knowing “that her client’s claims were false or at a minimum was utterly reckless in disregarding their falsity.”
The complaint continues, “Because no such tapes exist, and because Mitchell never saw any video depicting Mr. Combs sexually abusing anyone, adult or minor, Mitchell’s many false assertions that Burgess possessed such videos were either knowingly blatant falsehoods or recklessly false statements made as the direct result of Mitchell’s inexcusable failure to investigate her client’s outrageous lies.”
Per the suit, Burgess, Mitchell and NewsNation “have caused profound reputational and economic injury and severe prejudice to Mr. Combs.”
In a statement to Page Six, the hip-hop star’s attorney Erica Wolff noted that the complaint “should serve as a warning that such intentional falsehoods, which undermine Mr. Combs’ right to a fair trial, will no longer be tolerated.”
Reps for Burgess, Mitchell and NewsNation did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
Combs, 55, was arrested in September 2024 on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, to which he pleaded not guilty.
He remains in jail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
According to the indictment, federal agents discovered more than 1,000 bottles of lubricant, various narcotics and three AR-15s when they raided his Los Angeles and Miami mansions last March.
Prosecutors claimed the Grammy winner “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct” for decades, “creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in … sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.”
Per the indictment, Combs and members of his Combs Enterprise allegedly facilitated multiple “freak-offs”: drug-fueled sex gatherings.
During these events, the father of seven allegedly “hit, kicked, threw objects at and dragged victims, at times, by their hair,” according to the indictment, which further claimed that he “subjected victims to physical, emotional and verbal abuse to cause the victims to engage in freak-offs,” which he “often electronically recorded.”
The alleged assaults “often resulted in injuries that took days or weeks to heal,” per prosecutors.
Combs’ trial date has been set for May 5, 2025; if convicted, he faces a minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life.
Combs is also up against a barrage of lawsuits alleging similar behavior; he continues to maintain his innocence.
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