Sean Combs Files $100M Defamation Lawsuit Against NBC, Peacock Over Diddy Doc

Sean Combs has filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against NBC and Peacock over its recently aired documentary, Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy, claiming the program promoted conspiracy theories and “maliciously advanc[ed] the unhinged narrative that Mr. Combs is a serial killer.” 

The 55-year-old claimed the program, which aired in early January, also “baselessly jumps to the conclusion that Mr. Combs is a ‘monster’ and ‘an embodiment of Lucifer’ with ‘a lot of similarities’ to Jeffrey Epstein,” according to court records obtained by Rolling Stone.

Combs, who has been accused of sexual assault in more than 40 civil lawsuits, was arrested and criminally charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution in September 2024. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and has adamantly denied any accusations of sexual abuse. Combs is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ahead of his May trial. 

At least one of his civil sexual assault accusers participated in the Peacock documentary, which also included interviews with the singer Al B. Sure!, Combs’ childhood friends and early Bad Boy Records producers. Together, the participants told a story of how Combs went from a bullied teen to a titan of the music industry, allegedly becoming abusive to those who entered his orbit. 

Combs’ attorneys claimed their client was defamed by comments from participants, particularly Al B. Sure! and attorney Ariel Mitchell, who suggested there was foul play in the death of Combs’ ex-partner Kim Porter and others close to Combs. (Porter died from lobar pneumonia in November 2018.) 

“[The documentary] shamelessly advances conspiracy theories that lack any foundation in reality, repeatedly insinuating that Mr. Combs is a serial killer because it cannot be a ‘coincidence’ that multiple people in Mr. Combs’s orbit have died,” the 17-page filing alleges. “[Amplifying these claims] with absolutely no evidence or logic to stand on and in the face of clear evidence to the contrary – Defendants spread fake news of the most damaging kind.” (Reps for NBC, Peacock and Ample Entertainment did not immediately reply to requests for comment.) 

Erica Wolff, Combs’ attorney, claimed in a statement that NBC and Peacock were seeking to “capitalize on the public’s appetite for scandal without any regard for the truth and at the expense of Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial.” 

“In the purported documentary, Defendants accuse Mr. Combs of horrible crimes, including serial murder and sexual assault of minors – knowing that there is no evidence to support them,” Wolff added. “Mr. Combs brings this lawsuit to hold Defendants accountable for the extraordinary damage their reckless statements have caused.” 

Combs’ attorneys also claim the documentary “falsely and maliciously asserts that Mr. Combs was having sex with and was sex trafficking underage girls.” An anonymized participant, who was described as a former Bad Boy employee, claimed he was tasked with recruiting “girls” to bring back to Combs’ house. The man claimed some of these women were underage. The documentary then displayed legal filings that made similar allegations.

The legal filings were pulled from accuser Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones’ civil lawsuit against Combs, the defamation lawsuit alleges. “After Jones filed his lawsuit – which identified the allegedly underage females – those adult women in their 30s came forward to say that they were not underage at the time and that they never witnessed anything untoward happen at the parties,” Combs’ lawsuit says.

This is the second defamation lawsuit that Combs has filed against a network for its reporting about the Bad Boy Entertainment founder. In January, he filed a $50 million lawsuit against NewsNation for an interview they ran with alleged grand jury witness Courtney Burgess, who claimed to have footage of Combs involving the “sexual assault of celebrities and minors.” (Combs denied that he ever sexually assaulted anyone and denied the existence of any such tapes.) Combs also named Burgess and his attorney Mitchell as defendants in the case.