What was Courtney Burgess' role in Diddy's ongoing trial? Rapper sues alleged witness and his lawyer for defamation

Rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs filed a defamation lawsuit against alleged grand jury witness, Courtney Burgess. On Wednesday, January 22, 2025, the Bad Boy founder filed a complaint claiming Burgess' testimony may prevent him from getting a fair trial.

The rapper accused the defendants—Burgess, his attorney Ariel Mitchell, and NewsNation parent company Nexstar—of defamation and spreading false information about his personal life. Combs, who is seeking $50 million in damages, claimed the Nexstar amplified the accusations against him across multiple interviews.

Federal officials arrested Diddy back in September 2024 on charges of s*x trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Per his indictment, he ran a "criminal enterprise" that s*xually abused "women and others" for years.

This included participating in "elaborate and produced s*x performances" at his "freak off" parties for the benefit of the rapper and his guests.

According to an interview on the YouTube show Inside True Crime (October 20, 2024), Burgess claimed having videotapes of the rapper's parties where he (and other celebrities) reportedly engaged in the said acts.

As a result, he received a subpoena asking him to hand over any evidence related to Diddy. On October 31, Burgess also testified against him with Mitchell (who also represents other alleged victims) as his attorney.

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"Their falsehoods have poisoned public perception and contaminated the jury pool"- Diddy's lawyer criticizes Courtney Burgess and defendants

Citing the legal filing, Fox News reported that Diddy accused the defendants of "fueling a media frenzy, fabricating outlandish claims, and stirring up baseless speculation" about him.

He claimed Courtney Burgess' claims of possessing tapes of the rapper's "freak off" parties, where he allegedly assaulted inebriated celebrities and minors, were fake as no such tapes existed.

Variety quoted a statement made by Diddy's lawyer Erica Wolff saying that her client was "taking a stand against the malicious falsehoods that have been fabricated and amplified by individuals seeking to profit at his expense." Claiming that the defendants "willfully fabricated and disseminated" the alleged lies, she added:

"Their falsehoods have poisoned public perception and contaminated the jury pool. This complaint should serve as a warning that such intentional falsehoods, which undermine Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial, will no longer be tolerated."

Per the publication, the lawsuit called out a claim made by Burgess that the late Kim Porter, mother of Diddy's children, gave him the stated illicit tapes, saying Burgess has never met Combs. Further, it claimed neither Porter's children nor her roommate have heard of Burgess. Courtney, for his part, has previously stated he never met Combs.

The suit brought up Courtney's October 2024 appearance on the Attwood Unleashed podcast, where he alleged Kim approached him through an intermediary to provide him with the "material."

This included a photo of Justin Bieber "kissing an unidentified male." Burgess claimed that the said picture was real and suggested Combs engaged in s*xual misconduct with minors.

The litigation also alleged that Burgess tried to sell a false Kim Porter memoir on Amazon (untimately removed after Porter's family denounced the same).

Kim Porter and Diddy with theit children (Image via Getty)

Diddy's complaint called out Ariel Mitchell's interviews with NewsNation from September 2024, where she claimed that "there already have been tapes leaking around Hollywood, being shopped around to individuals in Hollywood." She also noted that one person (referencing Burgess or an affiliate):

"Contacted me to shop a particular video they were in possession of and to contact the person who was in the video to see if they were interested in purchasing the video before it became public knowledge."

Mitchell claimed Diddy was on the said "p*rnographic" tape with another "more high profile than Mr. Combs" celebrity, with the latter being "surreptitiously recorded." The lawsuit criticized the "catch and kill" nature of inquiry (obtaining information to stop it from being reported).

According to Variety, she also spoke about another client who alleged that Combs assaulted her in 2018, adding that she (Ariel) had a police report for the same. She eventually filed the lawsuit without the report (Ariel claimed she was being stonewalled). The local police later determined the claims were unfounded.

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Combs has denied all accusations levied against him. He is currently being held in a detention center in New York awaiting trial (set to begin in May 2025).

Neither Courtney Burgess nor other defendants have publicly reacted to the development.