Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs
Accolades | April 24, 2026
The AmLaw Litigation Daily
Shout-out to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partners Theodore Boutrous Jr., Connor Sullivan and Katie Townsend, who led a team representing NBCUniversal defending a $100 million defamation claim filed by Sean Combs stemming from the documentary “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy.” Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond dismissed the suit this week, holding that the documentary took a “nuanced” approach and included responses to key allegations against Combs. “It is inconceivable as to how the documentary created additional damage to plaintiff’s reputation, which was already tarnished by the numerous lawsuits, domestic violence video, press coverage and a criminal indictment,” the judge wrote. The Gibson Dunn team included associates Zachary Freund, Connor Mui and Elise Blegen.