Attorneys in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ $100M defamation lawsuit seek to withdraw over months of unpaid fees
Sean "Diddy" Combs has been dropped by his lawyers in his defamation case against News Nation.Shareif Ziyadat / Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleSept. 16, 2026, 1:40 PM EDTBy Matt Lavietes, Chloe Melas and Emanuella GrinbergAttorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs’ are dropping the rapper and music executive as a client in his $100 million defamation lawsuit.
Michael Tremonte, a partner at Sher Tremonte LLP, said Combs, 56, “has not paid a substantial balance of attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses,” according to a declaration to withdraw as counsel, filed Monday in the Southern District of New York.
Tremonte said in the filing that Combs is more than six months behind on fees, and that there has been “a total breakdown in cooperation and communication between Mr. Combs and the Firm.”
Combs has “declined to make himself available for timely, substantive, and direct communications about his cases for over four months,” the filing states.
“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,” the filing says.
Tremonte was defending Combs in civil litigation, including a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Courtney Burgess, Ariel Mitchell and Nexstar Media Inc. He did not represent Combs in his criminal trial in New York City last year.
Through his spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, Combs said the split was his decision.
“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 pushed back in an email, writing 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 serving a 50-month sentence at a New Jersey federal prison on two interstate prostitution convictions stemming from that case. Prosecutors had sought 11 years.
He was acquitted of the more serious charges, including racketeering and sex trafficking and has maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty to all counts.
His release is scheduled for May 8, 2028, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, thought it could come sooner with good behavior.
In July, Combs was moved to solitary confinement after a fight with another inmate, a source with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.
Matt LavietesI’m a reporter on NBC News’ breaking news team, covering crime, extreme weather, pop culture and more. I recently covered Hurricane Milton, which devastated the Tampa, Florida, metropolitan area, and the student-led protests at Columbia University.
Chloe MelasChloe Melas is an entertainment correspondent for NBC News.
Emanuella Grinberg is a manager on the editorial records desk for NBC News.
