Exclusive | ‘Unreasonably difficult’ Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs dropped by lawyers in $100M defamation lawsuit: court docs

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys filed a motion to withdraw as counsel representing the rapper in his $100 million defamation lawsuit against Courtney Burgess, Ariel Mitchell and Nexstar Media Inc., which operates NewsNation.

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According to court docs exclusively obtained by Page Six, lawyer Michael Tremonte, a partner at Sher Tremonte LLP, claimed that Combs “has not paid a substantial balance of attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses.”

Tremonte claimed in the docs that the “Act Bad” emcee, 56, “is in substantial arrears in paying Sher Tremonte’s legal fees” 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,” he stated in the filing.

Additionally, Tremonte stated in the docs 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.”

“Mr. Combs has declined to make himself available for timely, substantive, and direct communications about his cases for over four months,” Tremonte claimed.

The attorney asked the court to “grant the instant” motion to withdraw as Combs’ counsel.

In a statement Combs provided to Page Six through a rep, the Sean John fashion designer said: “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.

“This is strictly a business matter, and any talk about unpaid fees is just part of our dispute over those unapproved charges,” Combs added.

In response to Combs’ claims, Tremonte doubled down, saying the legal team is “withdrawing from representing him because he has not paid his long-overdue invoices and has become uncooperative.

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“Any suggestion that we overcharged him is simply false,” he told us in a statement.

In January 2025, the dad of seven filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against Burgess, the music manager’s attorney, Mitchell, and Nexstar Media Inc.

Per the docs, 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 possessed nearly a dozen flash drives containing Combs’ alleged sex tapes and claimed they allegedly featured male and female celebrities and a few minors.

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).”

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.

Last July, Combs was found not guilty on two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and on racketeering conspiracy.

However, he was convicted on two counts of transportation for prostitution.

The “I Need a Girl” hitmaker was sentenced to 50 months behind bars and was transferred from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, to Fort Dix.

He is slated to be released from prison on Feb. 5, 2028.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.

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