Diddy Ordered to Pay NBCUniversal $478K After Losing $100M Lawsuit
Sean "Diddy" Combs went to court seeking $100 million from NBCUniversal over a documentary about his life. Now a judge has ordered the music mogul to pay the media giant nearly half a million dollars instead.
New York Supreme Court Justice Phaedra F. Perry-Bond ruled on October 6 that Combs must pay $477,700.50 in legal fees to NBCUniversal, its streaming service Peacock and production company Ample Entertainment, Law Commentary reported.
The $100 Million Lawsuit
Combs filed the defamation suit in February 2025 over the Peacock documentary "Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy," which was released that January.
He claimed the film falsely portrayed him as responsible for several deaths and other serious crimes. The statements he challenged included allegations about the deaths of his former partner Kim Porter, rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G., music executive Andre Harrell and rapper Heavy D. He also objected to claims involving underage girls and secretly recorded sex tapes.
Combs has denied wrongdoing in connection with those deaths.
Why the Case Was Thrown Out
Perry-Bond dismissed every claim on April 20 under New York's anti-SLAPP law, which is designed to protect free speech on matters of public interest. She found Combs had not shown a "substantial basis" for his defamation claims.
The judge noted that the documentary presented the most serious allegations as the theories of the people interviewed, not as established facts. It also included Combs' denials, allowing viewers to weigh each speaker's perspective. She called the film "carefully curated and nuanced," according to Complex.
Perry-Bond also found that Combs' reputation had already been badly damaged before the documentary aired. She pointed to the hotel surveillance video showing him assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, his federal indictment and the many civil lawsuits filed against him. The ruling did not decide whether any of the documentary's allegations were true.
Why He Owes Less Than NBC Wanted
New York's anti-SLAPP law allows defendants who win to recover their legal fees. NBCUniversal and the other defendants asked for $990,292.
The defendants were represented by six attorneys from the firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, whose hourly rates ranged from $915 for a junior associate to $1,980 for a senior partner. The judge approved those rates, citing the high-profile nature of the case and the $100 million at stake. But she cut more than $512,000 in billed time she considered excessive, including about $269,000 spent drafting one motion.
Combs had argued the fees should be capped at about $166,769 and asked the judge to wait while he appealed the dismissal. She refused to delay her decision.
More Legal Trouble for Combs
The fee order adds to a long list of legal headaches for the Bad Boy Records founder. Combs is serving a 50-month federal sentence after being convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. A jury acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges. He is appealing his conviction and sentence.
He is being held at Fort Dix in New Jersey, and his release date has shifted several times. He also still faces a number of civil suits, including one from a former child actor who alleges Combs sexually assaulted them in 2007. Those claims have not been proven in court.
Meanwhile, his lawyers in a separate $100 million defamation case have asked to withdraw, saying he is more than six months behind on paying them. A representative for Combs called it "strictly a business matter" unrelated to the NBCUniversal ruling.
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