Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has initiated a defamation lawsuit against jury witness, Courtney Burgess, who recently claimed to possess videos allegedly depicting Combs engaged in sexual assaults involving celebrities and purported minors.

The suit, filed in New York on Wednesday, January 22 also names Burgess’ attorney Ariel Mitchell and Nexstar Media Inc., the parent company of NewsNation, as defendants, according to Variety.

The lawsuit seeks $50 million in damages, citing the need to “hold the defendants accountable for their malicious and reckless conduct.”

Combs’ attorney, Erica Wolff, released a statement condemning the allegations: “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is taking a stand against the malicious falsehoods fabricated and amplified by individuals seeking to profit at his expense…these defendants have willfully fabricated and disseminated outrageous lies with reckless disregard for the truth.”

The case grew from allegations by Burgess during a NewsNation interview conducted on the same day he testified before a federal grand jury in Combs’ upcoming trial. Burgess claimed to have gotten the alleged videos from a mutual acquaintance of Kim Porter, Combs’ former partner and mother of four of his children, who died in 2018. In addition, Burgess also claimed to possess a draft of Porter’s memoir.

During the interview, Burgess alleged that ‘two to three’ of the celebrities in the footage might be underage. Attorney Ariel Mitchell supported Burgess’ claims, appearing on NewsNation and in Peacock’s ‘The Making of a Bad Boy‘, where she alleged the existence of tapes circulating in Hollywood.

The lawsuit accuses NewsNation of airing the claims without sufficient verification and accuses Mitchell of knowingly perpetuating falsehoods.

Burgess testified before a grand jury that he had disposed of the original flash drives containing the alleged videos but acknowledged that copies might exist on his phone and email accounts. His phone has since been seized. Notwithstanding his allegations, Burgess admitted during his testimony that he had never met Combs. The lawsuit also notes that Porter’s children and her roommate of 20 years do not know Burgess.

Combs, who is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, denies any connection to Burgess. “Their falsehoods have poisoned public perception and contaminated the jury pool,” Wolff said. “This complaint should serve as a warning that such intentional falsehoods, which undermine Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial, will no longer be tolerated.”

In response, Mitchell dismissed the suit as baseless. “I look forward to countersuing and ensuring the court punishes not only Diddy but also his lawyers who filed this pathetic lawsuit for this frivolous and meritless filing,” she told the New York Times.