Diddy Ordered to Pay NBC $478K in Legal Fees

NEW YORK: Sean "Diddy" Combs has been ordered to pay NBCUniversal $477,700.50 in attorneys' fees, the latest bill to come due from his failed $100 million defamation lawsuit over the Peacock documentary "Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy."

New York Supreme Court Justice Phaedra F. Perry-Bond issued the fee award on Oct. 6, nearly six months after she dismissed Combs's lawsuit under the state's anti-SLAPP law. NBCUniversal, Peacock and production company Ample had sought $990,292 for the cost of defending the case. The judge cut that nearly in half.

Why the bill shrank

Perry-Bond found that some of the hours billed by NBCUniversal's lawyers at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher were "excessive," trimming more than $512,000 from the request. She declined, however, to reduce the firm's hourly rates, which ranged from $915 for a junior associate to $1,980 for a senior partner, citing the publicity and complexity of the case and the $100 million at stake.

Combs's representative, Juda Engelmayer, framed the reduction as a partial win. "Yes, Sean was ordered to pay approximately $478,000 in attorneys' fees, but that is only half the story," he said, arguing the court found substantial portions of the billing excessive and unreasonable.

The lawsuit that started it

Combs sued NBCUniversal, Peacock and Ample in February 2025, accusing them of defaming him through the documentary. His complaint challenged claims in the film surrounding the death of his former partner Kim Porter and allegations involving underage women, and sought at least $100 million in damages.

Perry-Bond dismissed the case in April under New York's anti-SLAPP statute, which provides an expedited path to throw out lawsuits targeting speech on matters of public concern. She found that NBC had followed standard journalistic practice: the documentary made clear Combs denied the theories, and it disclosed that the interviewees voicing them had their own biases against him. Anti-SLAPP laws typically let winning defendants recover their legal costs.

Combs has appealed the dismissal and argued the fee decision should wait until the appeal is resolved. The judge disagreed.

Why it matters

The award is separate from Combs's criminal case. He is serving a 50-month federal prison sentence at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey following his conviction on prostitution-related transportation charges.

But the fee order shows how his aggressive legal strategy keeps backfiring financially. The documentary lawsuit was one of several civil fights Combs launched to defend his reputation; each loss adds legal bills to a fortune already strained by criminal defense costs. For media companies, the ruling is a reminder that anti-SLAPP statutes work as designed: they kill meritless speech-targeting suits early and make the loser pay.

Key numbers

• $477,700.50: the fee award Combs must pay
• $990,292: what NBCUniversal originally sought
• $100 million: the damages Combs sought in the defamation suit
• Oct. 6, 2026: the date of the fee order