Diddy loses his lawyers: “I won’t let anyone use me”
Sean Combs' lawyers want out of his $100 million defamation lawsuit, saying he hasn't paid their fees in months and has been unreachable. He says he decided to switch lawyers himself.
Sean “Diddy” Combs (56) is losing part of his legal team in the middle of a $100 million defamation lawsuit. The law firm Sher Tremonte, whose partners Michael Tremonte, Erica Wolf and Katie Renzler represent the rapper in the case, has asked the court to let it withdraw, claiming Combs has not paid its fees for months. Mondo and the US outlet JustJared reported the news, citing court documents first published by Page Six.
In the filing, Tremonte states that Combs “has not paid a significant outstanding amount of attorney’s fees, costs and expenses” incurred during the representation. According to JustJared, the rapper has not paid anything for months, while Tremonte claims, per the same outlet, that the delinquency has lasted more than six months. Mondo adds that, according to the filing, Combs has been unreachable for direct communication with his lawyers for more than four months, which the firm says has led to a complete breakdown of the attorney client relationship.
Combs responded with a statement his representative sent to media outlets, saying he decided on his own to change his legal team.
“I decided to change lawyers because I won’t let anyone take advantage of me by charging me more than they should and piling up bills I never approved,” Combs said in a statement to the media.
He added that the entire dispute is purely a business matter, and that the reports of unpaid fees are nothing more than part of that fight over unapproved expenses.
Tremonte, for its part, stands by its version in the filing.
“Over a period of several months, while the firm was providing legal services, Mr. Combs failed to pay a significant outstanding balance of attorney’s fees and costs incurred during his representation in this case,” the attorney states.
According to Mondo, the same filing also states that Combs has, “for more than four months,” refused to make himself available for timely, substantive and direct communication about his cases. The firm has asked the court to grant its motion to withdraw as Combs’ counsel.
The lawsuit in question was filed in January 2025, originally seeking $50 million, later raised to $100 million. In it, Combs is suing Courtney Burgess, attorney Ariel Mitchell and Nexstar Media, which operates the NewsNation network. The case is being heard in federal court in New York.
According to the lawsuit, Burgess appeared on NewsNation in the fall of 2024, after testifying before a grand jury, and claimed to have recordings allegedly showing Combs engaged in violence against celebrities. Combs says this is a false claim that Burgess repeated to anyone willing to listen, including journalists at major media outlets, among them NewsNation, which, according to the lawsuit, reported the claim as true.
Combs himself is currently serving a prison sentence. He was sentenced to 50 months on two counts of transportation for prostitution, while being acquitted of more serious sex trafficking and racketeering charges. Under his current schedule, he is due to be released on February 5, 2028.
The court has not yet ruled on whether it will grant Sher Tremonte’s motion to withdraw from the case. If it does, Combs will have to find a new legal team while the $100 million lawsuit continues in the New York court.
