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Sean “Diddy” Combs is taking legal action against a cable news network and two individuals, accusing them of orchestrating a calculated defamation campaign.
According to a First Amendment Complaint filed Wednesday (Aug. 6) in U.S. District Court and reviewed by Complex, Combs names Courtney Burgess, attorney Ariel Mitchell, and Nexstar Media, Inc. — the parent company of NewsNation — as defendants. The suit alleges the trio fabricated and broadcast false claims as part of a deliberate scheme to damage his reputation.
“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 states.
The complaint accuses Burgess of “falsely claim[ing] that he possessed videos of Mr. Combs involved in the sexual assault of celebrities and minors,” and alleges that NewsNation “recklessly repeated and amplified his lies as if they were true,” despite allegedly knowing the claims were “probably false.”
Mitchell, who is reportedly facing a Florida Bar complaint over accusations of bribing a witness in another case, is accused of repeating false allegations “on national television,” including a claim that a police report supported an accusation that Combs raped a woman in March 2018. The filing asserts that no such report exists — and that the actual police report from the alleged victim named two white men, not Combs, with police later deeming those claims “unsubstantiated.”
“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.
