Legal representatives of Sean “Diddy” Combs initiated a defamation case on Wednesday against an individual who allegedly made false claims about possessing videos that implicated the music industry figure in sexual assaults involving eight celebrities.
The legal action, submitted to a federal court in New York City, names Courtney Burgess and his legal counsel, Ariel Mitchell, accusing them of creating false narratives to potentially benefit from the media attention surrounding Combs, who faced sex trafficking charges in September. The litigation extends to Nexstar Media, alleging their news channel, NewsNation, broadcast Burgess’s claims without proper verification. The legal documents assert that the mentioned videos are non-existent. It’s a $50 million lawsuit according to People magazine.
The lawsuit states that individuals who accepted and trusted the Defendants’ falsehoods have publicly labelled Combs as a depraved ‘monster’ and a pedophile on social media platforms, which reach hundreds of millions of daily viewers.
When contacted via telephone by New York Times on Wednesday, Burgess maintained his position, stating, “I’m standing by my word.” “He had a lot of nerve to want to sue somebody when he’s going to rot in jail for all of the things he’s done,” he added.
Combs’ attorney, Erica Wolff, asserted that the defendants have willfully fabricated and disseminated falsehoods, poisoning public perception and contaminating the jury pool. “These defendants have willfully fabricated and disseminated outrageous lies with reckless disregard for the truth,” said Erica Wolff, an attorney for Combs. “Their falsehoods have poisoned public perception and contaminated the jury pool. This complaint should serve as a warning that such intentional falsehoods, which undermine Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial, will no longer be tolerated.”
Burgess began giving interviews to various media outlets after Combs’ arrest, claiming to possess flash drives with incriminating evidence given to him by the late actor and model Kim Porter, a longtime partner of Combs and mother of four of his children. However, the videos Burgess claims to have have never been made public, and some close to Porter doubt his claims, in statements to the New York Times. Federal prosecutors have not officially linked Burgess to the criminal proceedings.
Burgess and Mitchell have claimed that law enforcement seized the videos from Burgess’ home and that he handed over the drives to the federal government. The lawsuit refutes these claims, stating that no such video was ever turned over to the government because it does not exist.
The legal action initiated by Combs in Manhattan’s US District Court represents his first personal lawsuit since numerous allegations surfaced against him starting over a year ago. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to the sex trafficking charges and remains incarcerated, awaiting a May 5 trial after being denied bail.
