Diddy NewsNation defamation lawsuit

Photo Credit: Sasun Bughdaryan

Diddy is expanding his lawsuit against a TV network and its associates for defamation over “fabricated” sexual assault claims, seeking “not less than $100 million in damages.”

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is now broadening his lawsuit against Courtney Burgess, Ariel Mitchell, and Nexstar Media, which operates the NewsNation TV news network. The lawsuit alleges a deliberately orchestrated scheme to fabricate and broadcast false claims against the music mogul.

According to the amended complaint, which was filed last week in U.S. District Court, Burgess “falsely claimed that he possessed videos of Mr. Combs involved in the sexual assault of celebrities and minors.” It also asserts that NewsNation “recklessly repeated and amplified his lies as if they were true,” despite the network allegedly knowing the claims might be false.

Further, the filing alleges that Mitchell, Burgess’ attorney—who is facing a Florida bar complaint related to accusations of bribing a witness in an unrelated case—knowingly repeated false statements “on national television.”

These, Combs alleges, include the claim that a police report supported allegations that he had raped a woman in March 2018. The lawsuit asserts that no such report exists and that the actual police report in question accused two white men (not Combs), which police deemed “unsubstantiated.”

“This case is about Defendants’ willful schemes to fabricate and broadcast outrageous lies concerning Mr. Combs, and then to leverage those falsehoods to enrich themselves, gain social media fame, promote their brands, strip Mr. Combs of his reputation and livelihood, and jeopardize his right to a fair trial,” the filing reads.

“As a result, millions of people have come to believe in the made-up ‘evidence’ that Defendants have falsely described and vouched for,” the document continues. “The torrent of lies, and the immeasurable harm and prejudice it has caused to Mr. Combs must be remedied.”

Combs is seeking a jury trial and damages of no less than $100 million to be determined at trial.