Diddy switches lawyers, accuses legal team of ‘overcharging’ him in ongoing defamation case
TRENTON, NEW JERSEY: Sean 'Diddy' Combs has changed his legal counsel while facing a legal dispute over his defamation lawsuit against NewsNation and other defendants.
His attorneys also recently filed a motion seeking to withdraw from representing him, citing unpaid legal fees and a breakdown in communication.
Diddy addresses lawyer switch amid defamation lawsuit
Combs changed his legal counsel, saying, “I made the decision to switch lawyers because I won’t let anyone take advantage of me by overcharging me and running up bills that were never approved,” in a statement shared with Us on Wednesday, September 16.
He continued, “This is strictly a business matter, and any talk about unpaid fees is just part of our dispute over those unapproved charges.”
According to court documents obtained exclusively by Page Six, lawyer Michael Tremonte, a partner at Sher Tremonte, claimed that Combs “has not paid a substantial balance of attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses.”
Tremonte said the 'Act Bad' emcee “is in substantial arrears in paying Sher Tremonte’s legal fees” and has been for “over six months.”
“For many months, while Sher Tremonte has been rendering legal services, Mr Combs has not remitted any payment for the substantial balance of attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses incurred during Sher Tremonte’s representation of him in this matter,” Tremonte stated in the filing.
Tremonte also claimed that their representation “has been rendered unreasonably difficult by Mr Combs’s lack of cooperation and communication, resulting in a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.”
He alleged that Combs “has declined to make himself available for timely, substantive, and direct communications about his cases for over four months.”
The attorney asked the court to grant the motion to withdraw as Combs’ counsel.
Diddy’s $100M defamation lawsuit against NewsNation
In January 2025, he filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit over an appearance that music manager Courtney Burgess made on NewsNation, where Burgess claimed to possess nearly a dozen flash drives containing alleged recordings involving Combs.
Combs sued Burgess, attorney Ariel Mitchell, who appeared in the NewsNation segment with Burgess, and Nexstar Media Inc, which operates NewsNation.
The 'Bad Boy Records' mogul claimed in court documents that Burgess, who had testified before a grand jury in fall 2024, lied about these recordings.
Burgess had also claimed the alleged tapes featured male and female celebrities. According to Combs’ complaint, Burgess “falsely claimed that he possessed videos in which Mr Combs was involved in alleged misconduct involving celebrities.”
Burgess allegedly repeated the claims to reporters for major news outlets, including NewsNation, which Combs accused of “recklessly” repeating and amplifying them. The suit also stated that Mitchell knew her “client’s claims were false or at a minimum was utterly reckless in disregarding their falsity.”
Combs later amended his lawsuit to seek an additional $50 million in damages.
In last July, Combs was found not guilty on two counts of trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and racketeering conspiracy. He was sentenced to 50 months behind bars and transferred from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to federal prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey.
