Sean “Diddy” Combs could soon be looking for new lawyers in one of his biggest civil cases after the firm handling his $100 million defamation lawsuit asked a federal judge for permission to step away.
According to Page Six, Michael Tremonte of Sher Tremonte LLP said in a court filing that Combs “has not paid a substantial balance of attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses.” Tremonte also claimed Combs “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,” Tremonte stated in the filing, according to Page Six.
Money is not the only issue the firm raised in the Diddy defamation lawsuit. Tremonte told the court that the 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 ultimately asked the court to “grant the instant” motion allowing the firm to withdraw.
Combs disputes the firm’s characterization of the financial disagreement. In a statement provided to Page Six through a representative, he 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.
The timing creates another layer of uncertainty because the request comes shortly after Combs secured a partial procedural victory in the Diddy defamation lawsuit.
According to a September 4 federal court opinion and order from U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan, Combs filed the case against Courtney Burgess, attorney Ariel Mitchell and Nexstar Media Inc., the company that operates NewsNation. His amended complaint seeks damages of at least $100 million and accuses the defendants of spreading false statements about him. The lawsuit initially sought $50 million before the damages demand increased in the amended complaint.
The case centers partly on Burgess’ public claims that he possessed recordings allegedly involving Combs, celebrities, and minors. Combs’ complaint maintains those accusations are false. Mitchell also made statements concerning alleged recordings during media appearances.
During a 2024 interview, Mitchell claimed one person allegedly shown in a video was “more high-profile” than Combs. “I can verify that it exists — that it’s real and that the other person in the video is very visible,” she said, according to Page Six’s earlier reporting on the lawsuit. “There’s no question of if it’s that person in the video.”
Those allegations remain disputed. The September 4 court ruling was not a finding that Combs had proven the statements false or that the defendants had committed defamation. Instead, Judge Cronan was deciding whether the allegations in Combs’ amended complaint were legally sufficient to proceed at this stage.
The judge dismissed several challenged claims against Nexstar but allowed another to continue, while Mitchell’s attempt to dismiss the claims against her was denied in its entirety. Court records also show that Burgess had not appeared in the action and that the clerk entered a certificate of default against him in April. The judge scheduled counsel to discuss the next phase of the litigation on September 17.
The Diddy defamation lawsuit is unfolding while Combs is serving a federal prison sentence stemming from his separate criminal case. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, a jury found Combs guilty in July 2025 on two counts of transporting individuals to engage in prostitution. He was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges and was sentenced on October 3, 2025, to 50 months in prison.
Now, with major portions of his civil case still alive, the immediate question is who will represent Combs as the $100 million dispute moves deeper into litigation.