EXCLUSIVE: Diddy May Represent Himself As Lawyers Exit Civil Case

Diddy may end up representing himself in his $100 million lawsuit now that his lawyers want to drop him over what they called his refusal to pay.

Sher Tremonte said Diddy had paid it nothing for more than seven months in an October 15 filing in Thalia Graves’ suit. They also said they could not get him to discuss his cases, leaving the firm unable to do its job.

That split could leave Diddy without a lawyer in the suit he brought against Courtney Burgess, Ariel Mitchell and Nexstar, which owns NewsNation. He first sought $50 million over claims he said were false. He later raised that sum to $100 million. But before that fight can move on, Judge John P. Cronan needs to know who will handle his case.

Diddy had pushed back on the bills. Through spokesman Juda Engelmayer, Diddy told USA TODAY he chose to switch firms over bills he had not approved. He also said lawyer Jonathan Davis would take over the NewsNation suit at the right time.

That was in September. Yet the firm’s October 19 letter named no new lawyer for this case. A person on Diddy’s team said he had begun “exploratory” talks about new counsel for him or his firms. The talks could cover other cases as well, so the firm still had no clear plan for this suit.

“[N]either Mr. Combs, nor his power of attorney, nor any other authorized representative has identified replacement counsel in this matter or confirmed whether or not Mr. Combs intends to proceed pro se,” the firm wrote.

Diddy had not told the court he planned to represent himself, and the firm’s request to withdraw still awaited a ruling.

His lawyers had tried for weeks to learn what he would do. They sent the court’s order to the person with power of attorney for Diddy in September. Two more emails this month drew no reply, they said.

“On October 14, we also mailed the Court’s Order to Mr. Combs and included in that mailing a request that he advise whether he had engaged new counsel,” the lawyers wrote.

They then learned he had moved from Fort Dix to Allenwood. On October 16, they sent the same papers to his new prison.

The firm won its bid in Shante Kelly’s suit against Diddy. Judge Valerie Caproni let it leave on October 13. She found good cause to let the firm go: it had not been paid, and its work with Diddy had broken down. Her ruling also let the firm hold his files until it was paid. To set that sum, the judge still needed proof of how much he owed.

The firm used that ruling to back its bid to leave the Burgess suit. Its fight over fees had spread across Diddy’s cases. But the order in Kelly’s suit did not let it walk away from all of them.

The split has slowed work on the suit. Judge Cronan paused the sharing of evidence while the firm sought to leave. He said he would set a new status conference if a new lawyer appeared for Diddy.