A defeated media lawsuit is now carrying a possible six-figure tab for Diddy as Tupac allegations return during Keefe D’s trial, escalating a battle that began with a $100 million defamation lawsuit from NBC Universal.
NBCUniversal, Peacock, and Ample Entertainment initially requested $927,448, then added $62,844 for work performed in response to Diddy’s objections to their fee application. The companies argue New York’s anti-SLAPP law requires Diddy to cover reasonable legal costs because his case targeted speech involving public-interest issues.
“Combs does not dispute that Defendants are entitled to fees. Instead, he complains that despite demanding ‘not less than $100 [million],’ Defendants should have retained less-experienced counsel and devoted less time to defeating his defamation claim.”
The companies argue New York’s anti-SLAPP law requires Diddy to cover reasonable legal costs because his case targeted speech involving public-interest issues.
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Diddy filed the lawsuit over Peacock’s *Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy*, claiming the documentary damaged him with false and reckless accusations. As prior AllHipHop coverage detailed, he objected to material linking him with deaths involving Kim Porter, The Notorious B.I.G., Heavy D, and Andre Harrell.
He also challenged accusations concerning underage girls, secret sexual recordings, and an alleged attempted attack on Al B. Sure.
Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond dismissed every claim in April after finding the documentary presented competing viewpoints, and Diddy failed to show gross irresponsibility. ‘It is inconceivable as to how the Documentary created additional damage to [Diddy’s] reputation, which was already tarnished by the numerous lawsuits…’
“It is inconceivable as to how the Documentary created additional damage to [Diddy’s] reputation, which was already tarnished by the numerous lawsuits…”
NBC also used Diddy’s sentencing statement to argue that his reputation had collapsed before the documentary appeared.
“Because of my decisions, I lost my freedom. I lost my career. I totally destroyed my reputation.”
“Combs threatened Defendants with massive damages for speech he disliked, and engaged prominent counsel to litigate it. Combs cannot criticize Defendants for doing the same. The anti-SLAPP law’s fee-shifting provision exists to prevent such well-resourced plaintiffs from chilling protected expression simply by imposing the costs and burdens of meritless litigation.”
The fee demand lands while the embattled mogul manages more than 100 civil suits from FCI Fort Dix, including sexual-assault cases he denies.
“The 777.5 total hours for which Defendants seek an award are far from the ‘high-water mark,’ as Combs erroneously suggests… New York courts have awarded fees for 900 hours of work largely ‘laser-focused’ on a single dispositive motion.”
His name is also back inside Tupac Shakur’s murder trial after jurors heard Keefe D’s 2008 police proffer describing alleged conversations involving Diddy.
Keefe D claimed Diddy wanted Tupac and Suge Knight killed, later connecting an alleged $1 million bounty to Eric “Von Zip” Martin.
The same recording described Diddy using Navy SEALs for protection as tensions between Bad Boy and Death Row became increasingly dangerous.
No prosecutor has charged Diddy over Tupac’s death, and he previously told AllHipHop, “The story is pure fiction and completely ridiculous.”
Before trial, Keefe D rejected his earlier account and claimed a lawyer handed him a script to help secure his release.
Source: AllHipHop
