‘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, in part, NewsNation.

According to court docs 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 claimed in the docs that the “Act Bad” emcee, 56, “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,” 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 told Page Six: “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.”

“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 over an appearance that music manager Courtney Burgess made on NewsNation in which he claimed to have nearly a dozen flash drives containing Combs’ alleged sex tapes.

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 the court docs that Burgess — who had testified before a grand jury in fall 2024 — lied about the sex tapes, which Burgess also claimed 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 hitmaker was sentenced to 50 months behind bars and was transferred from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to federal prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey.

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

Via: Page Six