Hip-Hop mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs may make a possible appearance in court in regards to a case involving MTV and its hit reality show, Making the Band.
The case, which was scheduled to go to mediation this month, stems from efforts to sue MTV Networks by Soneet Kapila, a trustee in former boy band creator Lou Pearlman’s ongoing bankruptcy case.
The talent manager, who’s Trans Continental Records introduced The Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, made headlines in 2006 after reports surfaced of him admitted to running a $300 million Ponzi scheme.
Pearlman ultimately pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, money laundering, and making false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding.
He is currently serving up to 25 years in a federal prison.
Soneet Kapila sued MTV in August 2008 in U.S. bankruptcy court in Orlando over the channel’s role in joint venture with Pearlman’s television production company, also named Trans Continental, to create Making the Band.
The show, which premiered in 1999, featured the boy band O-Town.
The group later signed to Trans Continental Records at the end of the first season, only to split in late 2003.
MTV shifted the focus of Making the Band for its second season, as it dumped the Trans Continental production company for the Hip-Hop/R&B centered Making the Band 2 with P. Diddy and his Bad Boy Entertainment.
Trans Continental and Kapila disputed the action in a 66-page complaint, claiming that the production company was slowly squeezed out of its joint venture with MTV, as the music channel reneged on promises to share profits from advertising revenue, spin-offs and other related projects.
If the case heads to trial, Combs will likely be a witness. MTV’s legal drama comes as it gears up for a new season of Making the Band.
The first of the show’s new episodes will premiere at 10 p.m. July 27 on MTV.