Sean Combs Files $100M Defamation Lawsuit Against NBC, Peacock Over Diddy Doc
Sean Combs has sued NBC and Peacock in a $100 million defamation lawsuit over the airing of the documentary 'Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy'
Sean Combs has filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against NBC and Peacock over its recently aired documentary, Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy, claiming the program promoted conspiracy theories and âmaliciously advanc[ed] the unhinged narrative that Mr. Combs is a serial killer.âÂ
The 55-year-old claimed the program, which aired in early January, also âbaselessly jumps to the conclusion that Mr. Combs is a âmonsterâ and âan embodiment of Luciferâ with âa lot of similaritiesâ to Jeffrey Epstein,â according to court records obtained by Rolling Stone.
Combs, who has been accused of sexual assault in more than 40 civil lawsuits, was arrested and criminally charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution in September 2024. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and has adamantly denied any accusations of sexual abuse. Combs is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ahead of his May trial.Â
At least one of his civil sexual assault accusers participated in the Peacock documentary, which also included interviews with the singer Al B. Sure!, Combsâ childhood friends and early Bad Boy Records producers. Together, the participants told a story of how Combs went from a bullied teen to a titan of the music industry, allegedly becoming abusive to those who entered his orbit.Â
Combsâ attorneys claimed their client was defamed by comments from participants, particularly Al B. Sure! and attorney Ariel Mitchell, who suggested there was foul play in the death of Combsâ ex-partner Kim Porter and others close to Combs. (Porter died from lobar pneumonia in November 2018.)Â
â[The documentary] shamelessly advances conspiracy theories that lack any foundation in reality, repeatedly insinuating that Mr. Combs is a serial killer because it cannot be a âcoincidenceâ that multiple people in Mr. Combsâs orbit have died,â the 17-page filing alleges. â[Amplifying these claims] with absolutely no evidence or logic to stand on and in the face of clear evidence to the contrary â Defendants spread fake news of the most damaging kind.â (Reps for NBC, Peacock and Ample Entertainment did not immediately reply to requests for comment.)Â
Erica Wolff, Combsâ attorney, claimed in a statement that NBC and Peacock were seeking to âcapitalize on the publicâs appetite for scandal without any regard for the truth and at the expense of Mr. Combsâs right to a fair trial.âÂ
âIn the purported documentary, Defendants accuse Mr. Combs of horrible crimes, including serial murder and sexual assault of minors â knowing that there is no evidence to support them,â Wolff added. âMr. Combs brings this lawsuit to hold Defendants accountable for the extraordinary damage their reckless statements have caused.âÂ
Combsâ attorneys also claim the documentary âfalsely and maliciously asserts that Mr. Combs was having sex with and was sex trafficking underage girls.â An anonymized participant, who was described as a former Bad Boy employee, claimed he was tasked with recruiting âgirlsâ to bring back to Combsâ house. The man claimed some of these women were underage. The documentary then displayed legal filings that made similar allegations.
The legal filings were pulled from accuser Rodney âLil Rodâ Jonesâ civil lawsuit against Combs, the defamation lawsuit alleges. âAfter Jones filed his lawsuit â which identified the allegedly underage females â those adult women in their 30s came forward to say that they were not underage at the time and that they never witnessed anything untoward happen at the parties,â Combsâ lawsuit says.
This is the second defamation lawsuit that Combs has filed against a network for its reporting about the Bad Boy Entertainment founder. In January, he filed a $50 million lawsuit against NewsNation for an interview they ran with alleged grand jury witness Courtney Burgess, who claimed to have footage of Combs involving the âsexual assault of celebrities and minors.â (Combs denied that he ever sexually assaulted anyone and denied the existence of any such tapes.) Combs also named Burgess and his attorney Mitchell as defendants in the case.