Lawsuits
Attorney Tony Buzbee is withdrawing from more than a dozen sexual abuse lawsuits against Sean âDiddyâ Combs in New York federal court two days after telling a judge he had âmade an error in judgmentâ by failing to disclose that he was not admitted to practice law in that court.
Buzbee, whoâs filed more than 20 cases against Combs and has fought an acrimonious battle with Jay-Z after filing a lawsuit by a woman who briefly accused him of rape, filed motions Wednesday (March 19) to withdraw across 15 different civil lawsuits in the Southern District of New York, the federal court district covering Manhattan.
The moves came two days after Buzbee told Judge Ronnie Abrams in one of those cases that heâd âmade an error in judgment by failing to inform you that I was not admitted to the Southern Districtâ and would âremedy this error by withdrawing my representationâ until he was admitted.
In the same filing, Buzbee stressed that he was âin good standing of the New York State Barâ and would still be âeminently qualifiedâ to continue handling the case, but said he would step away âas I sort these issues out.â
âMy admission status has become a distraction that has shifted the focus of the matter away from where it should be, which is securing justice for the plaintiff,â Buzbee told Judge Abrams in the Monday letter.
The lawsuits against Combs will proceed with other attorneys at the helm, and Buzbee will remain in cases filed in New York state courts or other jurisdictions. Buzbee did not return a request for comment from Billboard, but in a Tuesday statement to the Houston Chronicle, he said: âUntil that administrative issue is sorted out, my colleagues who are formally admitted in the SDNY will continue to push those cases while I continue to march forward in the New York State cases.â
Combs is facing a flood of abuse accusations, including dozens of civil lawsuits and a sweeping criminal indictment from federal prosecutors. He faces a jury trial on those charges in May; if convicted, heâs looking at a potential life prison sentence.
Buzbee, a well-known plaintiffsâ attorney in the Houston area, announced in October that was representing 120 individuals who had been victimized by Combs and would soon begin filing civil lawsuits on their behalf. Heâs since filed more than 20 such cases, mostly repping anonymous Doe accusers who say the star sexually assaulted or raped them.
In December, Buzbee added Jay-Z as a defendant to one of those cases, accusing the star of joining Combs in raping an unnamed 13-year-old girl in 2000. The star vehemently denied the shocking allegations and has subsequently sued Buzbee and the accuser for defamation. In February, Buzbeeâs client voluntarily dropped the case against Jay-Z without a settlement.
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MF DOOMâs estate can finally bring some of his personal belongings back home. They have settled the dispute with Egon Alapatt over the late MCâs notebooks.
As spotted on Hype Beast the issue regarding some of MF DOOMâs items have finally resolved. Last week the estate of the late rapper confirmed they have come to an agreement with Egon Alapattâa former executive at Stoneâs Throw Records. Jasmine Thompson, widow of DOOM, released a formal statement announcing the good news. âWe are relieved to bring this chapter to a close. Over the years, there have been many public narratives concerning this matter, some of which have been misrepresented or unfairly magnifiedâ she said.
Thompson went on to confirm that the two parties did not always see eye to eye throughout the process. âWhile differences did arise along the way, we acknowledge that Egon preserved DOOMâs invaluable notebooks and are grateful to now have them returned as part of this resolutionâ she added. âAs a family, our focus remains steadfast on celebrating DOOMâs extraordinary legacyâhis unparalleled artistry and his lasting impact on music and culture. We hope that this resolution serves as a step forward in continuing to honor his memory.â
Egon also commented cleared up his intentions for holding onto the notebooks. âDOOM was a dear friend to me and one of the most important artists Iâve ever known. I bought DOOMâs notebooks and kept them safe for years to ensure his powerful musical legacy could be preserved. My only goal has always been to showcase DOOMâs lasting musical genius, and the resolution Jasmine and I have reached regarding DOOMâs notebooks represents a significant triumph in protecting the genesis of a once-in-a-lifetime talentâ he explained. âI am proud to have played a role in saving some precious markers of DOOMâs life in music and trust Jasmine to determine the next steps for his notebooks.â
According to the original lawsuit the 25+ notebooks contained the original lyrics to MF DOOMâs most celebrated works including Doomsday, MMâŚFOOD, Madvillainy and âother creative ideations.â
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Source: NBC Universal / Peacock
As more and more men and women come out of the woodworks to file new lawsuits against Diddy for his alleged predatory ways, the embattled music icon is swinging back, but not at his accusers but rather at those involved in exposing his supposedly horrifying history.
According to the Huffpost, Diddy has just filed a $100 million dollar lawsuit against NBC Universal and Peacock over the making of their documentary, The Making Of A Bad Boy for defamation as he claims that they falsely accused him of human trafficking, molestation and even murder. Saying that the companies prioritize profits over factual evidence, Diddy filed the claim in New York State Court this past Wednesday (Feb. 12) in hopes of getting a jury trial underway in order to prove wrongdoing on the part of NBC Universal and Peacock.
Per Huffpost:
Combsâ complaint says the documentary falsely accuses him of sex trafficking, molesting minors and murdering Porter and several figures in music, including The Notorious B.I.G.
âAs described in todayâs lawsuit, NBCUniversal Media, LLC, Peacock TV, LLC, and Ample LLC made a conscious decision to line their own pockets at the expense of truth, decency, and basic standards of professional journalism,â Combsâ lawyer, Erica Wolff, said in a statement to HuffPost. âGrossly exploiting the trust of their audience and racing to outdo their competition for the most salacious Diddy exposĂŠ, Defendants maliciously and recklessly broadcast outrageous lies in âDiddy: The Making of a Bad Boy.ââ
âIn making and broadcasting these falsehoods, among others, Defendants seek only to capitalize on the publicâs appetite for scandal without any regard for the truth and at the expense of Mr. Combsâs right to a fair trial,â Wolff added.
For those who arenât familiar with the documentary, The Making Of A Bad Boy features interviews with quite a few people whoâve worked with Diddy in the past including his former bodyguard, Gene Deal, artist Al B Sure!, and childhood homie, Tim âDawgâ Patterson amongst others. Needless to say, they didnât exactly paint their former Bad Boy associate in the best light.
Though the documentary has been streaming for almost a month, Diddy decided now was the time to bring the case and with the brand new legal troubles thatâs been thrown at him as of late (and probably going forward), it will be interesting to see what kind of evidence heâll be able to provide to prove The Making Of A Bad Boy was false and all hearsay.
What do yâall think about P. Diddy suing NBC Universal and Peacock over The Making Of A Bad Boy documentary? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Drake has officially brought the US Justice system into his âbeefâ with Kendrick Lamar. The Toronto rapper has filed a lawsuit for defamation against the Universal Music Group (UMG), his own record label.
Drakeâs new lawsuit against UMG over Kendrick Lamarâs âNot Like Usâ:
âIt was just three days after UMG originally published the Recording and Image that Drake was targeted at his Toronto house by armed intruders in the 2024 equivalent of âPizzagate.’âhttps://t.co/EVhVle8tsx pic.twitter.com/fMwDvoWQLp
â Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 15, 2025
Earlier, it was reported that Drake had dropped his initial legal petition against UMG and Spotify, where he claimed both entities had manipulated the plays of Kendrick Lamarâs scathing âNot Like Usâ to his detriment. Per usual, Drizzy was met with scorn due to even the idea of brining the authorities into a rap battle.
But alas, it was only dropped so the 6 God could raise the ante, as reported by Variety, on Wednesday, January 15, he filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York accusing UMG of defamation due its promotion of âNot Like Us,â where K. Dot likens him to a pedophile, amongst other derogatory (to the delight of many listeners) accusations. Per Drake, UMG knew that Kendrick Lamarâs claims were all lies, but they promoted the song anyway and âchose corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists. UMG saw an opportunity, seized it, and continued to fan the flames.â
The suit contends Drakeâs issue is with UMG boosting âNot Like Usâ and not with Kendrick Lamar, technically.
Reports Variety:
Although Lamarâs lyrics are at the heart of the lawsuit, it clearly places the blame on Universal for releasing, distributing and promoting the song: âThis lawsuit is not about the artist who created âNot Like Us,ââ it suit reads. âIt is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous.â However, Drake seems to have backed down on claims that UMG and Spotify conspired to falsely boost the songâs streaming numbers; those allegations were strenuously denied by both companies. Ironically, Universal distributes both Lamarâs and Drakeâs music â both artists own their recent master recordings via their companies â and has for the majority of both artistsâ careers. The suit claims that because Drakeâs current deal with UMG is nearing the end of its term, the company is attempting to devalue his music and profile in an effort to gain more-favorable terms in a renegotiation.
Now Drake is really getting cooked on the Internets. See for yourself in the gallery.
Kendrick Lamarâs Super Bowl performance just got that much more highly anticipated.
This story is developing.Â
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Jay-Z is not wasting any time in clearing his name. He has filed a new motion to dismiss the sexual assault lawsuit against him.
As spotted on Variety, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native has submitted another request to have a rape case terminated. Back in October, an unidentified woman filed a claim against Jay-Z and Diddy alleging the two raped her at a MTV Music Video Awards after party in 2000. As expected, the news of the allegation soon went viral to which the âSong Cryâ rapper quickly responded with a written statement denying the claims. Jane Doe would go on to participate in an interview with NBC News and seemed to contradict her original statements detailed in the original filing.
http://WWW.TWITTER.com/RocNation/status/1865917852542247358
Soon after Jay-Zâs legal representation filed a request to dismiss the claim. On Dec. 26, 2024, Judge Analisa Torres denied it and ruled that Jane Doe can move forward with her lawsuit anonymously. The judge has since granted Jay-Z permission to request for a dismissal. His lawyer, Alex Spiro, filed a new motion Wednesday (Jan. 8), and according to Variety, the new document cites a âseries of inconsistencies in the womanâs account.â This new filing also asks that Tony Buzbee, the lawyer representing Jane Doe, be imposed with a fee for âalleging facts without a sufficient investigation or by failing to withdraw those allegations once it is clear that they are false or exceedingly unlikely to be true.â
The legal professional has responded via a formal statement to Variety saying, âThey are dead wrong. We wonât be bullied or intimidated, ever.â
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The lawsuits against Diddy keep coming in. A former employee says he was in charge of securing the rooms for the alleged freak offs.
As per TMZ the Bad Boy Entertainment mogul was hit with another legal action against him. On Wednesday, Dec. 23 Philip Pines filed against him with claims of sexual battery, sexual harassment, sex trafficking and more. The man says he worked for Diddy 2019 to 2021 and alleges that his duties included arranging, organizing and concealing the infamous sex parties that now have become synonymous with the Sean Combs. In the filing Pines says that he would not only book hotels for the invite only events but make sure they were staged to Diddyâs liking including ensuring they were stocked with alcohol, marijuana, buckets of ice, honey packs to improve erections and stamina, baby oil, towels, unnamed illegal drugs and more. Also on the list is a âKink Power Bangerâ which is a drill like powered sex machine that produces over up to 195 strokes per minute.
Pines says that these events were referred to as âWild King Nightsâ and often lasted a couple of days and involved multiple women. Aside from organizing and preparing the outlandish meet ups he also was tasked with ensuring no trace of evidence was left after the event was done. This included personally cleaning out the rooms removing bodily fluids stains and retrieving sex toys. In addition he says he would leave the housekeeping staff big tips in an effort to from them reporting any of the damages. Lastly, Pines says he was also forced to participate in the parties as a test of his loyalty and Diddy treated him âlike an animal playing fetch in order to prove his loyalty.â
Diddyâs legal team has responded to matter exclusively to TMZ. âNo matter how many lawsuits are filed, it wonât change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyoneâman or woman, adult or minorâ their statement reads. âWe live in a world where anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason. Fortunately, a fair and impartial judicial process exists to find the truth, and Mr. Combs is confident he will prevail in court.â
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Source: YouTube / A&E
It seems Kanye is going to Kanye wherever and wherever. He did the absolute most during a virtual lawsuit deposition.
As reported by TMZ, the rapper was recently featured on A&Eâs Interrogation Raw: Celebrity Under Oath. The news series shows high-profile stars participating in legal proceedings. To promote the premiere the network released a promotional trailer, which captures Kanye being questioned regarding a lawsuit MyChannel. Inc. filed against the âStrongerâ rapper for allegedly stealing their technology.
As soon as Kanye joins the virtual call he makes it clear he sees this very important matter as beneath him by wearing a cap and keeping his head down while using his phone. Naturally, the lawyers request he put away the device to which Yeezy responds defiantly. âDue to my mental geniuses-ness, in order to focus on this bullish*t I need to be on a phone.â Shortly after, his counsel asks about the device. Kanye volunteers to get off the phone but then proceeds to put on a mask. When asked why he put on the facial covering he said, âbecause you donât have the right to see my face.â
In a second clip, Kanye is asked where he is located during interrogation and tells the plaintiffâs lawyer âIâm not going to tell you! Youâre never going to see me again.â When prompted further on who else is he with and what other items he has in the room besides the phone he yells âAre you stupid? You are talking to the richest Black person in the history of America.â
You can watch the trailer for Interrogation Raw: Celebrity Under Oath below.
Less than a week after he was indicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, Sean âDiddyâ Combs is facing yet another civil sexual abuse case, this time claiming that he and another man âviciously rapedâ a woman at his New York City studio in 2001.
In a complaint filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, attorneys for Thalia Graves say that Combs and his head of security, Joseph Sherman, isolated her, drugged her and sexually assaulted her at his studio. The lawsuit says the rapper also filmed the attack and later showed it to others.
âFor decades, she remained silent and did not report the crime out of fear that defendants would use their power to ruin her life, as they had repeatedly, explicitly threatened to do,â writes Gravesâ lawyers, who include well-known attorney Gloria Allred. âTo this day, plaintiff suffers from severe depression, anxiety, and panic attacks, and still lives in fear of defendants.â
The case is the latest of at least nine similar civil suits filed against Combs over the past year, each of which accuses him of sexual abuse and other wrongdoing. And it comes just a week after he was arrested and indicted by federal prosecutors on sweeping accusations of sex trafficking and racketeering â charges that, if proven, could see him sent to prison for life.
In the new case, Graves claims she was 25 years old at the time of the attack. She says she was dating one of Combsâ employees, and that he exploited the relationship to âlureâ her into meeting him and Sherman alone at the studio.
Once alone, Graves alleges they gave her a drink that was âlikely laced with a drug that eventually caused her briefly to lose consciousness.â She says she later âawoke to find herself bound and restrained,â at which time the pair âproceeded to brutally sexually abuseâ her. Her attorneys say that âboth men were undeterred by plaintiffâs cries for help throughout the attack.â
A representative for Combs did not immediately return a request for comment. Sherman could not immediately be located for comment.
Following the attack, Graves says she ânever recovered,â suffering suicidal thoughts and other severe emotional damage. And she says any progress in healing was âdramatically reversedâ when she learned last year that Combs had filmed the alleged attack and had âshown the video to multiple men.â
âPlaintiff could not believe that Defendants would record themselves committing such a gruesome crime and then proceed proudly and widely to disseminate the recording of it,â her attorneys write. âThis action seeks redress for defendantsâ brutalizing, misogynistic, and violent attacks.â
Ice Spice has reached an agreement to end a copyright lawsuit over allegations that her recent hit âIn Ha Moodâ was copied from a Brooklyn rapperâs earlier track.
The case, filed earlier this year by a rapper named D.Chamberz (Duval Chamberlain), claimed that Ice Spiceâs song â which spent 16 weeks on the Hot 100 in 2023 â was âstrikingly similarâ to his own 2021 track âIn That Mood.â
But in a motion filed in federal court Friday, attorneys for both sides said they had agreed to resolve the lawsuit. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed in court filings, and neither side immediately returned requests for comment.
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Released early last year following Ice Spiceâs 2022 breakout, âIn Ha Moodâ reached No. 58 on the Hot 100 and No. 18 on the US Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart. It was later included on her debut EP Like..?, and she performed the song during her October appearance as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.
In a lawsuit filed in January, D.Chamberz claimed that the two songs share so many similarities that the overlaps âcannot be purely coincidental.â He said the similar elements âgo [to] the core of each work,â and are so obvious that theyâve already been spotted by listeners.
âBy every method of analysis, âIn Ha Moodâ is a forgery,â D.Chamberzâs attorneys wrote at the time. âAny proper comparative analysis of the beat, lyrics, hook, rhythmic structure, metrical placement, and narrative context will demonstrate that âIn Ha Moodâ was copied.â
The lawsuit claimed the earlier song received âsignificant airplayâ on New York City radio stations, including Hot 97 and Power 105.1, giving Ice Spice and others behind her track a chance to hear it.
In addition to naming Ice Spice (Isis Naija Gaston) as a defendant, the lawsuit also names her frequent producer, RiotUSA (Ephrem Lopez, Jr.), as well as Universal Music Group, Capitol Records and 10K Projects.
In April, the defendants formally denied the lawsuitâs allegations, but the case remained in the earliest stages when Fridayâs agreement was reached.
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: The worldâs biggest music companies file lawsuits against AI music firms accusing them of stealing copyrighted music at âan âunimaginable scaleâ; a federal judge rules that Megan Thee Stallion didnât copy her chart-topping âSavageâ from an earlier song; the artist formerly known as Kanye West settles a copyright lawsuit filed by Donna Summerâs estate; and much more.Â
THE BIG STORY: Major Labels Sue AI Music Cos. Over TrainingÂ
In the latest battle between the music industry and artificial intelligence firms, the three major music companies filed lawsuits against AI startups Suno and Udio over allegations that they copyrighted music to train their models on an âunimaginable scale.â Like numerous other copyright cases already filed by book authors, visual artists, newspaper publishers and other creative industries, the new lawsuits ask what could ultimately wind up being a trillion-dollar legal question: Is it copyright infringement to use vast troves of proprietary works to build an AI model that spits out new creations? Or is it just a form of legal fair use, transforming all those old works into something entirely new? The music business already picked that fight once, when major publishers sued AI giant Anthropic last year over its use of written lyrics to train AI models. (That case remains pending). But the new case, spearheaded by the Recording Industry Association of America, is the first to deal with sound and music itself, targeting two companies that are offering models that spit out full songs at the push of a button. Suno and Udio have quickly become two of the most important players in the emerging field of AI-generated music. Udio has already produced what could be considered an AI-generated hit song with âBBL Drizzy,â a parody track popularized with a remix by super-producer Metro Boomin and later sampled by Drake himself. And as of May, Suno had raised a total of $125 million in funding to create what Rolling Stone called a âChatGPT for music.â In the new lawsuit, the record labels alleged that that success had been built on the backs of real human artists: âSince the day it launched, Udio has flouted the rights of copyright owners in the music industry as part of a mad dash to become the dominant AI music generation service. Neither Udio, nor any other generative AI company, can be allowed to advance toward this goal by trampling the rights of copyright owners.â For more, go read Kristin Robinsonâs full story on the new lawsuits, complete with access to the actual complaints filed against Suno and Udio. And stay tuned to Billboard for more updates as the two cases unfold in the federal courtsâŚÂ
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Other top stories this weekâŚ
MEGAN WINS COPYRIGHT CASE â A federal judge ruled that Megan Thee Stallion didnât copy her chart-topping song âSavageâ from an earlier song, saying the songs were âqualitatively differentâ and that there was no evidence the superstar has ever even heard the little-known instrumental track. SUMMER SAMPLE SETTLEMENT â Ye (formerly Kanye West) finalized a settlement with the estate of Donna Summer to resolve a copyright lawsuit that accused him of âshamelesslyâ using her 1977 hit âI Feel Loveâ without permission in his song âGood (Donât Die).â An attorney for the Summer estate confirmed to Billboard that the settlement did not include a license for West to legally re-release the offending track: âWe got what we wanted.â YSL TRIAL DRAMA CONTINUES â Yak Gotti, one of Young Thugâs co-defendants in the YSL gang case in Atlanta, asked the Georgia Supreme Court to force Judge Ural Glanville to recuse himself from the ongoing trial, citing recent revelations about a secret meeting between the judge, prosecutors and a key witness. Gottiâs lawyers warned that the judgeâs actions âoffend public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary.â ALBUM HACKING SUIT RESOLVED â Kelsea Ballerini reached a settlement to end her lawsuit against Bo Ewing, a superfan she had accused of hacking her and then leaking her unreleased album. Ballerini agreed to drop the case after Ewing promised to never again share or access the offending materials. MADONNA CASE CLOSED â Two Madonna fans dropped their lawsuit complaining about delayed starts to her concerts, but the starâs lawyers quickly clarified that the move was ânot the result of any settlement.â Reiterating earlier claims that the lawsuit had been a âstrike suitâ aimed at extorting a settlement, Madonnaâs attorneys say they might still seek legal sanctions against the lawyers who filed the âfrivolousâ case. PETTY DOC SPARKS LAWSUIT â A filmmaker named Martyn Atkins filed a lawsuitagainst Warner Music over the 2021 Tom Petty documentary Somewhere You Feel Free, claiming the movie featured 45 minutes of his copyrighted film footage of the late rock legend without permission or payment. Atkins claimed he had been âconnedâ into sharing the footage with the producers after they promised him the chance to direct the documentary.Â