The legal drama surrounding Sean “Diddy” Combs is taking a major turn. Attorneys for the rapper and music executive are officially dropping him as a client in his ongoing $100 million defamation lawsuit.
In a filing submitted Monday in the Southern District of New York, Michael Tremonte, a partner at Sher Tremonte LLP, stated that Combs, 56, “has not paid a substantial balance of attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses.” The filing alleges that Combs is more than six months behind on payments and claims there has been “a total breakdown in cooperation and communication between Mr. Combs and the Firm.”
According to the legal documents, Combs has “declined to make himself available for timely, substantive, and direct communications about his cases for over four months.”
The filing further notes, “The Firm’s representation has been rendered unreasonably difficult by Mr. Combs’s lack of cooperation, resulting in a breakdown in attorney-client communications and rendering Sher Tremonte incapable of continuing to provide effective legal services to Mr. Combs.”
Tremonte was handling Combs’ defense in civil litigation, including a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Courtney Burgess, Ariel Mitchell, and Nexstar Media Inc. He was not involved in Combs’ criminal trial in New York City last year.
Through his spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, Combs claimed the split was entirely his choice.
“I made the decision to switch lawyers because I won’t let anyone take advantage of me by overcharging me and running up bills that were never approved,” he said.
“This is strictly a business matter, and any talk about unpaid fees is just part of our dispute over those unapproved charges.”
Tremonte quickly pushed back on those claims in an email, asserting that his firm “represented Mr. Combs zealously and very efficiently under challenging circumstances.”
“As stated in our court filings, we are withdrawing from representing him because he has not paid his long-overdue invoices and has become uncooperative,” Tremonte said. “Any suggestion that we overcharged him is simply false.”
Combs is currently serving a 50-month sentence at a New Jersey federal prison following his conviction on two interstate prostitution charges. While he was acquitted of more serious allegations, including racketeering and sex trafficking, he has consistently maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to all counts.