The Kim Porter Flash Drives at the Center of Diddy’s $100M Defamation Lawsuit, Explained
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal battles didn’t end with his 50-month federal prison sentence. While the criminal investigation was ongoing, the disgraced music mogul was also dealing with dozens of civil lawsuits against him, and he even filed a few himself. One of the most important cases he has going is a defamation lawsuit that could find a media company liable. That entire case hinges on flash drives belonging to Diddy’s ex-partner Kim Porter that may or may not exist.
Why is Diddy suing Courtney Burgess?
In January 2025, Sean “Diddy” Combs filed a civil lawsuit for defamation, now seeking $100 million in damages. The disgraced music mogul alleged that Courtney Burgess, a music industry insider, his lawyer, Ariel Mitchell, and Nexstar Media defamed him by discussing alleged flash drives that Burgess claims contain videos of Diddy with celebrities and minors in a series of interviews.
The lawsuit claims that Burgess and Mitchell fabricated claims of video evidence in an attempt to gain social media clout and money. Combs insists that the claims are defamatory, alleging the videos do not exist and that Burgess’ claims that he was connected to the late Kim Porter are false. While the lawsuit is moving through federal court in New York, Burgess continues to stand by his story. Burgess failed to respond to the lawsuit, while Mitchell moved to have her name removed from the lawsuit. That motion was denied. Nexstar Media is reportedly in talks with Diddy’s team to settle the suit.
Everything you need to know about the flash drives
The lawsuit hinges on one major piece of evidence: the flash drives. Courtney Burgess appeared on NewsNation’s Banfield in 2024 claiming to possess multiple flash drives that belonged to Kim Porter. He alleged that the drives were filled with recordings of Diddy with multiple celebrities, some of them minors. The claims seemed to connect to the sex trafficking charges that Diddy was arrested on around the same time.
Burgess first claimed that Kim Porter gave him the flash drives directly. His story then changed, and he claimed an associate of Porter’s handed over the drives. Diddy has long maintained that Burgess had no connection to his ex-partner. Burgess also claimed to have a personal memoir Porter was allegedly penning when she died. That book was self-published in 2024 as Kim’s Lost Words. The book was later pulled from Amazon. Burgess was not the author of the book.
While a lawsuit was filed against Burgess, the flash drives have never actually materialized, though Burgess said they had been seized by federal agents. Years later, the public still doesn’t know if the flash drives actually exist, or if the content that Burgess claims was on them is legitimate. Federal agents have never confirmed their existence. No such recordings were used during Diddy’s racketeering and sex trafficking trial.
Who is Kim Porter?
Kim Porter, one of Diddy’s longest-running relationships, died in 2018 at the age of 47. Once a model and actor, she was the mother of four of Diddy’s children. Her son, Quincy, was adopted by Diddy during their romance. They later welcomed their son, Christian, together, before adding twins D’Lila and Jessie to the family.
In the wake of her death, Diddy took custody of the children they shared. Since Diddy’s legal troubles, conspiracy theories around her passing have surfaced. The most serious theory suggested Porter met her end by foul play, despite a coroner ruling her death as natural. The official cause was pneumonia.
