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Music magnate Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit with a new lawsuit on Monday, February 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. As per NBC News, the plaintiff is a former record producer and videographer, Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones.
Trigger warning: This article mentions sexual harassment, assault, drugging, and more that may be upsetting to the readers. Discretion is advised.
Rodney Jones has accused Combs of s*xual harassment, drugging, and threatening him between September 2022 and November 2023, during the time they reportedly worked together. He has alleged that he has video and audio evidence of Diddy and his staff “engaging in serious illegal activity,” for over a year.
Apart from Combs, the other defendants in the lawsuit include the name of his son Justin, his chief of staff Kristina Khorram, Universal Music Group CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, ex-Motown Records CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam, and Love Records. As per Jones’ allegations, all these people were involved in a “RICO enterprise.”
Currently, Rodney Jones is seeking $30 million in damages. Meanwhile, Diddy’s attorney Shawn Holley told the press that “reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines,” accusing Jones of “looking for an undeserved payday.”
Exploring the allegations against Diddy in the latest lawsuit
Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, a record producer and videographer who worked for Diddy for more than a year between September 2022 and November 2023 sued him on Monday in a New York federal court.
Among the accusations include Combs allegedly forcing him to find s*x workers and reportedly coercing him to get physical with them. Jones has also alleged that Diddy gave drugged alcoholic beverages to his guests, including underage girls during his house parties, as mentioned in the court documents obtained by NBC News. The suit also reportedly has screenshots to support the allegations.
Besides, Rodney Jones has alleged that Combs harassed and assaulted him when he lived at the latter’s houses in Florida, Los Angeles, New York, alongside a yacht the music mogul rented in the Virgin Islands, the nature of which has been described as “constant unsolicited and unauthorized groping and touching,” of Jones’ genitals.
As per the lawsuit, Jones conveyed his unconsented experiences to Kristina Khorram who allegedly dismissed the acts as “friendly horseplay,” and reportedly attempted to justify them as Diddy’s way of “showing that he likes you.” Now, Khorram is being accused of aiding and abetting Diddy, who allegedly tried to “groom” Lil Rod into accepting a physical relationship with the music magnate.
The plaintiff’s accusations also include Combs allegedly giving him “an exclusive Bad Boy baseball cap,” which was reportedly a signal to let s*x workers know that Diddy was in Miami and wanted to hire them. As per Jones’ allegations, not only did Combs pressure him into procuring but also engaging in physical acts with them.
“Mr. Jones agreed, and his life has been detrimentally impacted ever since,” the lawsuit claims.
Additionally, Lil Rod described Diddy as “forceful and demanding” who did not know how to take no for an answer and “consistently made it clear that he has immense power in the music industry and with law enforcement,” as per the legal filings.
Jones also claimed that in February 2023, on one occasion, Diddy allegedly drugged him and forced him to get into bed with sex workers, and he reportedly woke up feeling dizzy and confused.
Not only that but the Bad Boy label owner allegedly coerced Jones to watch a video of musician Stevie J being intimate with another man, reportedly introduced him to actor Cuba Gooding Jr. who allegedly groped him, and ordered his former girlfriend Yung Miami’s cousin to assault him.
Rodney Jones has further accused Diddy of trying to intimidate and threaten him with physical harm if his demands were not met. He even mentioned two separate incidents in the lawsuit supporting his claims. The first was Diddy allegedly handling guns and bragging about getting away with shooting people.
The other incident was Combs allegedly admitting to Jones that he was responsible for the nightclub shooting in New York City in 1999 for which rapper Shyne was convicted and he was acquitted. Jones also alleged that during an altercation between Sean and his son Justin, an innocent man got accidentally shot, following which he was reportedly forced to lie to the police and call it a drive-by-shooting, as reported by Variety.
The plaintiff mentioned in the suit that he has hundreds of hours of video and audio evidence to support some of his accusations. However, Diddy’s legal team has denied all accusations. Here’s what Shawn Holley stated.
“We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies. Our attempts to share this proof with Mr. Jones’ attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, have been ignored, as Mr. Blackburn refuses to return our calls. We will address these outlandish allegations in court and take all appropriate action against those who make them.”
Apart from the harassment and assault allegations, Jones, who was reportedly “under an implied work-for-hire agreement” with Combs’ company claimed that in August 2022 he worked on Grammy-nominated R&B album called The Love Album: Off the Grid on the advice of Diddy, but was not compensated for the songs he produced.
When asked to comment on the lawsuit, Lil Rod’s attorney Tyrone Blackburn told the press the Latin expression, “res ipsa loquitur” meaning “the thing speaks for itself,” as reported by NBC News.
This is the first time a male employee has sued Combs for s*xual misconduct. Previously, four women sued the record executive, including his former girlfriend and singer Cassie. The lawsuit was settled after a day of its filing. However, his legal team clarified that it was not an “admission of wrongdoing.” Later, three others filed suits, all of which are pending.
In December 2023, Sean Combs spoke up against the allegations and said he did not do any of the “awful things” he was being accused of and said he would fight for himself, his family, his brand, and for the truth, calling the allegations “sickening” and that “enough is enough.”
