Make Page Six a Preferred Source Sean “Diddy” Combs has been ordered to pay NBCUniversal nearly $500,000 in attorneys’ fees after suing the media company over its “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy” doc.
A judge ordered Combs, 56, to pay $477,700.50 after NBCUniversal successfully defended itself against his lawsuit, according to court documents obtained by TMZ.
The company had initially sought $990,292 to cover its attorneys’ fees, but the judge reduced the amount after finding some of its billing excessive despite determining that the attorneys’ hourly rates were reasonable given their experience.
Combs’ rep, Juda Engelmayer, told TMZ that the ruling was “only half the story,” pointing out that NBCUniversal had sought nearly $1 million and that the court ultimately cut more than $512,000 from its request.
Engelmayer said the judge found “substantial portions” of NBCUniversal’s billing “excessive and unreasonable.”
“Ironically, the arguments challenging those excessive legal bills were made by the same firm that recently withdrew from representing Sean amid its own billing dispute with him,” he added.
The firm Engelmayer is referring to, Sher Tremonte, had represented Combs in a separate $50 million defamation lawsuit he filed in January 2025 against multiple defendants, including NewsNation, over claims involving alleged sex tapes.
In September, Sher Tremonte attorneys filed a motion to withdraw from the case.
Michael Tremonte, a partner at the firm, said Combs “[had] not paid a substantial balance of attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses” and was “in substantial arrears” on his legal bills, according to court documents obtained by Page Six.
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In February 2025, Combs filed the $100 million defamation lawsuit against NBCUniversal and production company Ample, alleging that the “Making of a Bad Boy” doc caused him “severe reputational and economic harm.”
His attorneys claimed in the complaint that the documentary assumes Combs “has committed numerous heinous crimes, including serial murder, rape of minors, and sex trafficking of minors,” while attempting to “crudely psychologize him.”
“It maliciously and baselessly jumps to the conclusion that Mr. Combs is a ‘monster’ and ‘an embodiment of Lucifer’ with ‘a lot of similarities to Jeffrey Epstein,'” the lawsuit further stated.
Combs is currently serving a 50-month prison sentence at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey after he was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Most recently, he was reportedly placed back in solitary confinement after a report revealed his alleged “pampered” lifestyle behind bars.
Combs is currently set to be released on Jan. 21, 2028.
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