Sean “Diddy” Combs made a change in his legal counsel.
“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,” Diddy, 56, claimed in a statement shared with Us on Wednesday, September 16. “This is strictly a business matter, and any talk about unpaid fees is just part of our dispute over those unapproved charges.”
Diddy’s attorneys at Sher Tremonte recently filed a motion to withdraw as counsel in the disgraced rapper’s ongoing defamation lawsuit, according to court documents obtained by Us. (Page Six was first to report the news.)
Diddy sued Courtney Burgess, Ariel Mitchell and Nexstar Media in January 2025 for defamation, claiming that false stories were shared about him on the company’s NewsNation platform. The defendants denied the accusations at the time.
Diddy’s legal representation alleged in their new motion that the rapper “has not paid a substantial balance of attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses” and is in “substantial arrears” in paying fees for nearly six months.
“For many months, while Sher Tremonte has been rendering legal services, Mr. Combs has not remitted any payment for the substantial balance of attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses incurred during Sher Tremonte’s representation of him in this matter,” the filing claims, adding that counsel “has been rendered unreasonably difficult by Mr. Combs’ lack of cooperation and communication, resulting in a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.”
The motion further alleged, “Mr. Combs has declined to make himself available for timely, substantive and direct communications about his cases for over four months.”
Diddy is currently serving a 50-month prison sentence at New Jersey’s FCI Fort Dix. He was arrested in 2024 on multiple charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, pleading not guilty. After a May 2025 trial, Diddy was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and acquitted on the remaining counts.
Diddy has maintained his innocence throughout the legal battle and has also had the support of his family. (Diddy is a father of seven.)
“He’s been very focused, you know, like, being a better person for his family,” his 19-year-old daughter Jessie told Entertainment Tonight in July. “He’s been very focused and he’s just always been there for us. … He’s a great dad.”
Jessie further noted that she and her siblings still have “great” relationships with their dad amid his incarceration.
“We definitely are very close and he gives the best advice,” Jessie added at the time. “We ask him all the time, like, ‘We need help on this [or] we need help on that.’ He’s always going to be there and he’s always going to tell us the right answers.”
Diddy shared Jessie and her twin sister, D’Lila, as well as sons Quincy, 35, and Christian, 28, with late ex Kim Porter. Diddy also shares son Justin, 32, with Misa Hylton, daughter Chance, 20, with Sarah Chapman and daughter Love, 3, with Dana Tran.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
