Sean 'Diddy' Combs is being sued by a former associate who claims the hip-hop mogul owes him $19 million for music recorded by Notorious B.I.G.
James Sabatino claims his Bad Boy Entertainment boss Combs agreed to pay him $200,000 for 17 minutes of music and 90 minutes of video footage of the late rapper-but only wrote him a check for $25,000.
According to the lawsuit, Sabatino owned the rights to the material because he paid for Notorious B.I.G.'s expenses during a 1994 trip to Miami, where both the music and session video footage were recorded, although a contract was never signed.
Sabatino claims he struck his deal with Combs after Notorious B.I.G. was killed in Los Angeles in a still-unsolved 1997 homicide.
Combs has said he never paid Sabatino the full amount because he was named as a person of interest in Notorious B.I.G.'s murder, reports Billboard.com. Sabatino was scheduled to meet the rapper on the night he was killed but never showed up.
Sabatino alleges Combs has repeatedly told him he will receive his money shortly.
He is seeking $19 million for both actual and punitive damages.