Diddy’s lawyers have asked a federal judge to let them out of Thalia Graves’ sexual assault lawsuit, saying the music mogul has not paid them in more than seven months.
Sher Tremonte LLP filed the request on October 15. In the filing, partner Michael Tremonte wrote that Combs “has not paid Sher Tremonte anything for over seven months,” and that his last payment covered fees and expenses from late 2025. Much of the overdue balance sits on invoices more than 90 days past due, according to the firm.
Tremonte also told the court that Combs has refused to speak directly with his legal team about the case, even after the firm sent repeated warnings to him at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey, where he was held until the Bureau of Prisons moved him to FCI Allenwood Low in Pennsylvania on Friday, and to the person who holds his power of attorney. The firm asked the judge for permission to keep Combs’ case files until the bill is paid.
This is the third time in about a month that Diddy’s lawyers have tried to step away from one of his cases. In September, the same firm moved to exit his $100 million defamation lawsuit against Nexstar, the parent company of NewsNation, along with a separate case brought by producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones. In the Nexstar filing, the firm described a total breakdown in communication and said Combs had made himself unavailable for more than four months.
Combs pushed back at the time. Through his spokesperson Juda Engelmayer, he said he chose to switch lawyers because the firm overcharged him and ran up bills he never approved, calling the unpaid fees part of a business dispute. Tremonte responded that the overcharging claim was false and that the firm was leaving because Combs stopped paying and stopped cooperating. Combs has not publicly responded to the latest filing.
Graves filed her lawsuit in September 2024, days after Combs was arrested on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. She accused Combs and his former bodyguard Joseph Sherman of drugging and raping her at a New York recording studio in 2001 and recording the assault. At a press conference alongside attorney Gloria Allred, Graves said she later learned the footage had been sold. Combs has denied her allegations.
Sherman denied them too and sued Graves and Allred for defamation, claiming he stopped working for Combs in 1999 and never met Graves. A federal judge dismissed that suit and ordered Sherman and his lawyer to cover the legal fees Graves and Allred spent fighting it. The judge did not rule on whether Graves’ allegations are true, only that statements made in a court complaint cannot be grounds for a defamation claim.
Graves’ case against Combs and Sherman is still active but currently on hold while two appeals settle a legal question tied to a dismissal argument. Diddy’s lawyers argued that replacing them now would not delay a trial or hearing, since the case is already paused.
Combs is serving a 50 month federal sentence after a jury convicted him in 2025 on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was acquitted of the sex trafficking and racketeering charges. If the judge grants the request, Diddy’s lawyers will be off the case and he will need new counsel to fight Graves’ claims.
