Sean “Diddy” Combs has filed a $50 million defamation suit lawsuit against a man who publicly claimed he had videos depicting the mogul sexually assaulting intoxicated celebrities and minors, which his lawyers say could adversely affect his upcoming trial.
The suit, filed today in New York, names Courtney Burgess, his attorney Ariel Mitchell and Nextstar Media (which operates NewsNation), alleging that they made false and defamatory statements “as part of a deliberate attempt to damage Mr. Combs’ reputation , undermine his business and, by painting him as a debauchee and pedophile, poison public perception of him and deprive him of a fair trial.”
“Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is taking a stand against the malicious lies that have been manufactured and reinforced by individuals seeking to profit at his expense,” Erica Wolff, Combs’ attorney, said in a statement shared with Amount. “These defendants have knowingly fabricated and disseminated outrageous lies with reckless disregard for the truth. Their falsehoods have poisoned public perception and polluted the jury pool. This complaint should serve as a warning that such deliberate lies, which undermine Mr. Combs’ right to a fair trial , will no longer be tolerated.”
Mitchell and NewsNation did not respond Amounts request for comment.
Burgess, who has described himself as a veteran of the music business, has publicly made claims that the late Kim Porter, mother of four of Combs’ children, gave him illegal tapes of Combs as well as a copy of her memoir. The suit alleges that Burgess has never met Combs and that Porter’s child and roommate of more than 20 years had never heard of Burgess, who was subpoenaed for grand jury testimony in Combs’ case.
The complaint points to an “Atwood Unleashed” podcast appearance in October 2024 in which Burgess said Porter contacted him through an intermediary to provide him with the material, including a photo of Justin Bieber “kissing an unidentified man.” On the podcast, Burgess said the image was “definitely” real and described Combs as “Lucifer,” further implying that he engaged in misconduct with minors. The suit also alleges that Burgess is selling a fake Porter memoir on Amazon, which was removed from the site after it was denounced by Porter’s family.
Mitchell, who the lawsuit alleges worked with Burgess around September 2024, is named along with NewsNation for a television interview conducted that same month. Since last summer, Mitchell has filed several lawsuits on behalf of clients accusing Combs of sexual assault and most recently appeared in Peacock’s documentary “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy”..
The lawsuit describes Mitchell as an attorney who has filed high-profile cases against artists including Chris Brown and Trey Songz. Representatives for Combs claim that during her NewsNation interview, she stated that “there have already been tapes leaked around Hollywood, that have been shopped around to individuals in Hollywood,” and presumably referred to Burgess or an affiliate by saying that “a particular person contacted me to shop a certain video they had and to contact the person who was in the video to see if they were interested in buying the video before it went public.”
Mitchell said Combs was on the “pornographic” tape and that another person on it was “more high-profile than Mr. Combs,” saying the video “exists, it’s real, the other person in the video is very visible .” The NewsNation host responded that “it sounds like there were probably a lot of hidden cameras, too,” which Mitchell confirmed during the interview that she had a police report for another client alleging abuse. her in 2018. Two weeks after her appearance on NewsNation, Mitchell filed a no-show lawsuit, and local police “determined that the claims were unsubstantiated” that they had been involved in the allegations.
The complaint also points to a NewsNation interview with Mitchell and Burgess that aired in October 2024, conducted shortly after the latter reportedly testified before a federal grand jury. Burgess repeated earlier claims in the interview, and the NewsNation host claimed to know the names of eight celebrities who appeared in eight different videos. The lawsuit states that the NewsNation host knew this was false “or at least recklessly ignored whether the claims were true or false because she had never seen such videos (since they do not exist).”
Combs, who is currently in jail awaiting trial in May, is seeking $50 million in damages and additional relief.
