Diddy Accused of Failing to Pay Lawyers, Mogul Fires Back

Is Sean “Diddy” Combs running low on Benjamins?

The music mogul’s civil attorneys are seeking to part ways with their famous client, citing unpaid legal fees and a breakdown in communication.

Michael Tremonte, a partner at Sher Tremonte LLP, filed documents on Monday, Sept. 14, asking to withdraw from Combs’ $100 million defamation lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, according to a report today from Page Six.

Tremonte represented the “It’s All About the Benjamins” rapper in multiple cases, including his massive lawsuit against Courtney Burgess, attorney Ariel Mitchell and NewsNation parent company Nexstar Media Inc.

But Tremonte said Combs is “over six months” behind on his payments.

“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 stated.

Related: Diddy Grand Jury Witness Courtney Burgess Makes Disturbing Allegations

Combs, who is currently serving time in federal prison, stopped communicating with his legal team, the filing said.

“Mr. Combs has declined to make himself available for timely, substantive, and direct communications about his cases,” Tremonte said.

However, Combs countered in a statement provided through his spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, that it was his decision to stop using Tremonte’s firm.

“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,” Combs 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 with a statement of his own. “Any suggestion that we overcharged him is simply false,” the attorney said.

Combs had a separate legal team in his criminal case.

In January 2025, the mogul filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit in New York federal court naming grand jury witness Burgess, his attorney Ariel Mitchell and Nexstar as defendants.

According to the 17-page civil complaint previously obtained by Urban Hollywood 411, Combs accused Burgess and Mitchell of “fabricating outlandish claims and stirring up baseless speculation” about him to “gain social media fame” and “enrich themselves.”

Combs later amended the lawsuit to seek an additional $50 million in damages, bringing the total to $100 million.

The suit alleged Burgess and Mitchell profited from claims made during a media blitz on podcast interviews and NewsNation, with claims that Burgess possessed flash drives containing videos that supported sexual abuse allegations against Combs. The mogul’s attorneys insisted “no such video exists.”

During an interview on NewsNation in November 2024, Burgess said Combs’ former girlfriend Kim Porter gave him 11 flash drives for safekeeping before her death in 2018.

Burgess alleged eight celebrities — six men and two women — appeared in videos recorded at Combs’ alleged “freak-off” parties and claimed “all” of them were “victims.”