Janice Combs, better known as Momma Combs, is fighting to be removed from a federal lawsuit alleging she participated in a decades-old scheme tied to her son, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and his Bad Boy Entertainment empire. AllHipHop broke the news on the lawsuit over the weekend.
In a motion filed in Manhattan federal court, the 84-year-old denied accusations from former Bad Boy executive Kirk Burrowes. Burrowes claims she helped conceal a 1996 deal that stripped him of a 25% ownership stake and 15% profit share in the label. He alleges Diddy, longtime attorney Kenneth Meiselas and Janice Combs acted together to push him out, and that she later admitted her involvement during a 2019 conversation at a Diana Ross party.
Combs’ filing rejects the claims outright. It states she has never held an ownership interest in Bad Boy or participated in its business matters. She says she has lived in Florida since 2012 and has not been involved in her son’s professional disputes.
Janice Combs Denies Scamming Bad Boy
Burrowes has pursued similar allegations twice before.
Momma Combs’ attorneys argued this third lawsuit suffers the same problem. The statute of limitations expiring years before Burrowes filed his current complaint in 2025.
According to the defense, the fraud allegations lack the detailed proof required under federal rules. They describe the suit as “frivolous” and “preposterous.”
They argue the claims for “unjust enrichment” and “conversion” duplicate each other. The cited consumer fraud statute is inapplicable.
Burrowes’ legal theory centers on the claim that Combs’ mother knowingly aided in covering up the disputed transaction, preserving her son’s control of the company. Combs’ team counters that she has been wrongfully drawn into a business dispute from which she was entirely absent.
The court has yet to rule on her dismissal request, and Burrowes’ legal team has not responded publicly.
If granted, the dismissal would remove Janice Combs from a high-profile case already steeped in decades of music industry history and legal battles surrounding one of hip-hop’s most prominent figures.
