{"id":218715,"date":"2026-09-17T12:02:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T19:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shockya.com\/news\/?p=218715"},"modified":"2026-09-17T12:52:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T19:52:37","slug":"exclusive-diddy-attorneys-still-want-out-judge-gives-diddy-more-time-to-get-new-attorney-or-appear-pro-se","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shockya.com\/news\/2026\/09\/17\/exclusive-diddy-attorneys-still-want-out-judge-gives-diddy-more-time-to-get-new-attorney-or-appear-pro-se\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Diddy Attorneys Still Want Out! Judge Gives Diddy More Time To Get New Attorney or Appear Pro Se."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs missing in action. Clockwise: Sean \u2018Diddy\u2019 Combs, Ariel Elise Mitchell Esq., Katie Renzler Esq., Erica Wolff Esq., Courtney Burgess, Juda Englemayer, Michael Tremonte Esq.<\/em> AI generate image.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

NEW YORK<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 The lawyers who filed Sean “Diddy” Combs’ $100 million defamation suit<\/strong> told a federal judge Thursday that they still cannot reach him<\/strong>, do not know whether he has hired anyone to replace them<\/strong> and cannot say whether he will respond to their request to quit.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We made another attempt to make a phone call and still haven’t been able to talk to our client,” Erica Wolff<\/strong> of Sher Tremonte LLP<\/strong> told U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan<\/strong> during a 2 p.m. telephone conference <\/strong>held today. The firm has not spoken with Combs<\/strong> since it\u00a0moved to withdraw Monday<\/a>, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cronan <\/strong>noted he had seen press reports that new counsel was on the way and asked whether Wolff <\/strong>knew anything about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Unfortunately I do not know the answer to that,”<\/strong> she said. “The media says a lot of things. I simply don’t know.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the call, the judge had frozen the case.<\/strong> He stayed discovery, put off the defendants’ deadlines to answer the complaint and ordered Wolff to keep trying to reach Combs at the federal prison<\/strong> in Fort Dix, New Jersey<\/strong>, and report back in writing by Oct. 19 on whether he will bring in new lawyers or represent himself.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Versions of the Breakup – Who Wants to Defend the Indefensible?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The press reports Cronan <\/strong>referred to began Wednesday, when Combs spokesperson Juda Engelmayer<\/strong> told\u00a0NBC News<\/a>\u00a0that switching lawyers was Combs’ decision, that the firm had run up charges he never approved and that the dispute was “strictly a business matter.” Engelmayer <\/strong>was previously a spokesperson<\/a> for convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein<\/strong>. Michael Tremonte<\/strong> responded that the firm is leaving because Combs stopped paying and stopped cooperating<\/strong>, and called the overbilling claim false<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Juda Englemayer and his client, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. AI generated image.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In court, there was no sign of a successor.<\/strong> No new attorney has entered an appearance<\/strong>, and the\u00a0docket<\/a>\u00a0shows nothing filed on Combs’ behalf since Sher Tremonte’s\u00a0sworn declaration<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0that he has paid nothing in six months<\/strong> and has avoided direct communication for four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cronan <\/strong>declined to rule on the withdrawal. Combs still has time to respond<\/strong>, 14 days by Wolff’s count, and the judge said acting sooner would not be appropriate. “I do want to avoid a situation that the plaintiff here is without counsel,” <\/strong>he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jurisdiction in Question: Where did Sean Combs Live?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The hearing also surfaced a problem that could end the federal case outright. Steven Metcalf,<\/strong> who represents attorney Ariel Mitchell<\/strong>, has sent the court a letter questioning Combs’ domicile<\/strong> when the suit was filed, and Mitchell is preparing a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case is in federal court only because the parties are supposed to be citizens of different states. Mitchell lives in Miami. Combs’\u00a0complaint<\/a>\u00a0says he “presently resides in Brooklyn, New York.”<\/strong> In January 2025 that meant the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he was awaiting trial. Courts generally presume a prisoner keeps the domicile he had before he was locked up, and Combs owned a mansion on Miami’s Star Island.<\/strong> If he was a Floridian when he sued a Floridian, the court has no jurisdiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Miami residence during the 2024 HSI raid. Government Exhibit 1B-103, USA vs Sean Combs 24-CR-542.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wolff offered what she called a preliminary response<\/strong>: Combs had come to New York <\/strong>before the filing with the purpose of staying, and the Miami home has since been sold<\/strong>. She asked that Combs get a chance to answer in substance if the court takes up the issue. Cronan extended the time to respond.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nexstar’s lawyer,<\/strong> Elizabeth McNamara<\/strong>, said she had not studied the letter closely but already had a request. If Mitchell’s presence defeats jurisdiction, the claims against her should be severed and pursued “in a different venue,” she said<\/strong>. Anything else would prejudice Nexstar, which has spent 20 months and a motion to dismiss getting the case against it cut to\u00a0a single statement<\/a>\u00a0about drug-laced baby oil.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From “Pitiful Spectacle” to Radio Silence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Neither defendant opposed the withdrawal. <\/strong>McNamara asked for a stay of 30 or 60 days so Combs could hire counsel or appear pro se<\/strong>, and told the judge that his failure to communicate with his own lawyers had already stymied discovery. <\/strong>That, she added, was before the court threw out every challenged statement against Nexstar <\/strong>but one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a long way from January 2025<\/strong>, when the same firm opened the case by accusing the defendants of a “willful scheme to fabricate and broadcast outrageous lies”<\/strong> and described the coverage of Combs as a “pitiful spectacle” in which “a global audience feasts at the all-you-can-eat buffet of wild lies.” The suit demanded no less than $100 million and drew headlines worldwide. Since then Combs has been convicted on two counts, one defendant has defaulted, most of the case against the only deep-pocketed defendant is gone, and the plaintiff will not take his lawyers’ calls.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drama has many people questioning, why Sher Tremonte<\/strong> and its attorneys, ever filed Sean Combs’ frivolous lawsuit<\/strong> to begin with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics have called Combs’ $100 million lawsuit, a fake and a fraud.<\/strong> They point to the hundreds of victims<\/strong> that have come forward, alleging Combs drugged and sexually assaulted them<\/strong>, with baby oil and laced drinks being mentioned<\/strong>. One of the defendants, Ariel Mitchell<\/strong>, was also an attorney for several plaintiffs suing Sean Combs for sexual assault and other causes of action. Critics state this lawsuit was a way for Combs to sabotage Mitchell’s lawsuits, and to injure her. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we previously covered<\/a>, Mitchell was hit driving in Miami<\/strong> by a bodyguard, about a week prior to the $100 million lawsuit being filed<\/strong> against her. The car accident resulted in Mitchell being arrested, with the charges later being dismissed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Separately, Mitchell stated that Combs had threatened to have her killed<\/strong>, a threat which was communicated by a Miami Commissioner<\/strong>. Combs’ strategies have been called domestic terrorism<\/strong> by some of his victims. Burgess has claimed that a 1999 shooting<\/strong>, in which he says he was hit nine times<\/strong>, was a hit ordered by Combs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wolff told the judge his approach “makes great sense.” Metcalf did not hear her say it. His line had dropped, he reported after reconnecting: “My line went completely blank.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The status letter is due Oct. 19.<\/strong>

UPDATED 3:30 PM EST:<\/strong>
Ariel Mitchell’s attorney, Steven Metcalf Esq., filed a new motion, posted below:
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