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The
lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York City, accuses
Courtney Burgess and his lawyer, Ariel Mitchell, of fabricating
“outrageous lies” as part of an effort to potentially profit off
of the media frenzy around Combs, who was indicted in September
on sex trafficking charges.
Combs also sued Nexstar Media, saying its cable news network,
NewsNation, aired Burgess’ allegations without looking into
whether they were true. The videos, the lawsuit claimed, simply
don't exist.
“These defendants have willfully fabricated and disseminated
outrageous lies with reckless disregard for the truth,” said
Erica Wolff, an attorney for Combs. “Their falsehoods have
poisoned public perception and contaminated the jury pool. This
complaint should serve as a warning that such intentional
falsehoods, which undermine Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial,
will no longer be tolerated.”
Burgess and Mitchell did not immediately respond to emails from
The Associated Press requesting comment. A phone call to
Mitchell was not answered. A spokesperson for Nexstar Media
Group declined to comment.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges
lodged against him after his September arrest. He has remained
incarcerated, awaiting a May 5 trial, after judges refused to
grant him bail.
After Combs was arrested, Burgess began giving interviews with
reporters, social media personalities and true crime podcasters
in which he claimed to have been given flash drives with
incriminating evidence by the late actor and model Kim Porter, a
longtime partner of Combs and mother of four of his children.
But the videos Burgess claims to possess have never become
public. Some people close to Porter told The New York Times for
a story published in November that they had never heard of
Burgess and doubted his claims. Burgess has acknowledged that he
doesn’t know Combs personally.
Federal prosecutors have not publicly identified Burgess as
being involved in the criminal case.
In interviews, Burgess said law enforcement seized the videos
from his home. Mitchell also told reporters Burgess handed over
the drives to the federal government.
The lawsuit said both claims were “completely false.”
“No such video was ever turned over to the government because no
such video exists,” the lawsuit said.
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