Diddy is suing a TV network and two individuals for defamation, accusing them of orchestrating a calculated smear campaign.
According to a complaint reviewed by Complex, Diddy filed a First Amendment Complaint on Wednesday (Aug. 6) in the U.S. District Court against Courtney Burgess, Ariel Mitchell and Nexstar Media, Inc. (which operates the NewsNation cable news network), alleging they orchestrated a deliberate scheme to fabricate and broadcast false claims.
“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,” read the document.
The filing states Burgess “falsely claimed that he possessed videos of Mr. Combs involved in the sexual assault of celebrities and minors” and that NewsNation “recklessly repeated and amplified his lies as if they were true” despite the network allegedly knowing his claims were “probably false.”
It further alleges that Mitchell, Burgess’ attorney, who is facing a Florida bar complaint related to accusations of bribing a witness in another case, knowingly repeated false statements “on national television,” including the claim that a police report supported allegations Diddy raped a woman in March 2018.
The document asserts that no such report exists and that the actual police report filed by her client accused two white men, not Diddy, with police 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,” read the document. “The torrent of lies, and the immeasurable harm and prejudice it has caused to Mr. Combs must be remedied.”
Diddy is seeking a jury trial and damages of no less than $100 million.
