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Diddy lost his $100 million defamation lawsuit against NBCUniversal in a New York courtroom, and the ruling reads like a complete and total beatdown from start to finish.
Judge Phaedra F. Perry-Bond dismissed every claim Diddy filed against NBCUniversal, Peacock TV and Ample LLC, over the documentary Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy, which dropped on Peacock January 2, 2025.
“It is inconceivable as to how the Documentary created additional damage to [Diddy’s] reputation, which was already tarnished by the numerous lawsuits, domestic violence video, press coverage, and a criminal indictment prior to the Documentary’s publication.” Judge Perry-Bond said.
He claimed it endorsed allegations that he was involved in the deaths of Kim Porter, Biggie, Heavy D and Andre Harrell, plus an attempted murder of Al B. Sure.
He also took issue with an interviewee’s claims that he had sex with and trafficked underage girls, along with statements about him secretly recording sex tapes.
The court found that NBCUniversal didn’t act with gross irresponsibility, which is the legal standard Combs needed to clear.
Perry-Bond pointed out that the documentary actually included the coroner’s report showing Kim Porter died of lobar pneumonia, an autopsy revealing Heavy D’s death came from a pulmonary embolism and confirmation that Andre Harrell died of heart failure.
The film also disclosed the biases of interviewees like Al B. Sure, who lost Kim Porter to Combs decades ago, and included Combs’ own attorneys denying the sexual assault allegations on camera.
“The Documentary demonstrates a carefully curated and nuanced approach which discloses interviewees’ biases and includes counterstatements to the allegedly defamatory statements, including statements from Plaintiff and his attorneys. The Documentary provides viewers with numerous viewpoints, coupled with objective information, from which the viewer may draw their own conclusions on numerous topics discussed,” Judge Perry-Bond said.
Then the court applied the libel-proof plaintiff doctrine, ruling that Diddy’s reputation was already in tatters before the documentary ever aired.
The ruling specifically cited the hotel surveillance video of him assaulting Cassie, his federal criminal indictment and the wave of civil lawsuits filed against him.
Perry-Bond even quoted Diddy’s own sentencing statement back at him, where he admitted his actions on that video were “disgusting, shameful and sick,” according to court documents.
Now, the man already serving 50 months behind bars could soon be writing a check to cover the network’s legal bills.
