LOS ANGELES — Attorneys representing Sean “Diddy” Combs initiated a defamation lawsuit on Wednesday against an individual they allege has maliciously claimed to have videos that would frame the music icon in sexual assault incidents involving eight celebrities.
The legal action, lodged in federal court in New York, targets Courtney Burgess and his attorney, Ariel Mitchell, asserting that they have concocted “outrageous lies” to exploit the media attention surrounding Combs, who faces sex trafficking accusations filed in September.
In addition, Combs has also taken legal action against Nexstar Media, emphasizing that the channel’s news outlet, NewsNation, aired Burgess’ assertions without verifying their authenticity. The lawsuit maintains that the videos in question do not exist at all.
Erica Wolff, one of Combs’ attorneys, stated, “These defendants have chosen to willfully invent and spread outrageous lies with a blatant disregard for the truth. Their fabrications have tainted public perception and disrupted the potential jury pool. This lawsuit aims to alert that such intentional deceit, jeopardizing Mr. Combs’s entitlement to a fair trial, will no longer be tolerated.”
Burgess and Mitchell have yet to reply to inquiries regarding the lawsuit, and attempts to reach Mitchell by phone were unsuccessful. A representative from Nexstar Media Group declined to provide any comments.
At 55 years old, Combs has pleaded not guilty to the sex trafficking allegations that emerged after his arrest in September. He is currently being held without bail, pending a trial scheduled for May 5, as judges have denied his requests for release.
Following Combs’ arrest, Burgess publicly shared his story through various media outlets, including interviews with journalists, social media influencers, and true crime podcasters. He asserted that he was provided flash drives containing incriminating material by Kim Porter, the late actress and model who was a long-term partner of Combs and the mother of four of his children.
However, the contested videos have never been revealed to the public. Some acquaintances of Porter expressed skepticism about Burgess’s claims in a New York Times article published in November, stating they had never heard of him. Additionally, Burgess admitted he does not know Combs personally.
Federal prosecutors have not identified Burgess as a participant in the ongoing criminal proceedings publicly.
In his various interviews, Burgess alleged that law enforcement officials took possession of the videos from his residence. Meanwhile, Mitchell has stated that Burgess surrendered the drives to federal authorities.
The lawsuit counters these claims by emphasizing that “No such video was ever turned over to the government because no such video exists.”
