Sean Combs issues defamation lawsuit against Nexstar, guy who says he has his sex tapes

THR reports tonight that Sean Combs (currently incarcerated and awaiting trial on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking by force, and transportation for purposes of prostitution) has launched a $50 million defamation suit against Courtney Burgess and Nexstar, parent company of cable station NewsNation. Said network played host to an interview with Burgess, who's said in multiple venues that he has sex tapes of Combs with a number of other people, which Burgess says he was given by Combs' former partner, Kim Porter. (Porter died in 2018.) Combs' lawyers say Burgess' statements have poisoned public perception against the rap mogul, making it impossible for Combs to get a fair trial, and also blasted Nexstar for platforming them.

(If you're wondering who Burgess is, by the way, take it as read that the most interesting thing there ever seems to have been to say about him is that he claims to have Sean Combs' sex tapes; the New York Times simultaneously summed up and dismissed him in a subhed as a "one-time music industry bit player." Burgess says he was given both the tapes, and a document purporting to be Porter's memoir, through an intermediary; he published the memoir on Amazon, but it was pulled from the store after her family members accused it of being a fabrication.)

Combs' lawsuit also names Burgess' lawyer, Ariel Mitchell-Kidd, who also did press about the tapes, as a defendant. In at least one NewsNation interview, Burgess showed what he said were still images from the tapes, and claimed that they depicted underage stars (including one he speculated to be Justin Bieber) engaging in sexual activities at some of Combs' infamous parties. Combs' defamation suit claims that Burgess' public statements directly led to the government deciding to move forward with a subpoena against him.