Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of sexual harassment & assault by producer months after settling abuse lawsuit with ex Cassie
SEAN “Diddy” Combs has been hit with another lawsuit as a producer claims he was sexually harassed and assaulted by the rapper.
Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who helped produce Combs’ most recent album, claimed that the mogul allegedly sexually harassed, drugged, and threatened him as they worked together from September 2022 to November 2023.
Jones alleges in the lawsuit that during his time with the Bad Boy producer, he was able to accumulate hours of video and audio of Combs, his staff, and others “engaging in serious illegal activity,” per NBC News.
Jones also claimed in the suit that Combs forced him to solicit sex workers and pressured him to engage in sex acts with them and others.
He stated that Combs provided him with “an exclusive Bad Boy baseball cap” to wear to a Miami establishment “as a signal to any sex worker he approached” that Combs was in town and had sent Jones to recruit them, the lawsuit says.
Jones also alleges that Combs had given laced alcoholic beverages to people who attended parties at his homes.
Within the lawsuit, screenshots from parties hosted by the Last Night rapper were provided that allegedly included underage girls and sex workers, some of whom were said to have been provided laced drinks.
The suit named Combs’ adult son, Justin, as well as his chief of staff Kristina Khorram, Universal Music Group CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, and former Motown Records CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam as defendants.
Jones alleges that Grainge, Habtemariam, Motown Records, Love Records, and Universal Music Group effectively worked together with Combs in a “RICO enterprise” that “failed to adequately monitor, warn, or supervise” Combs, his son, and his staff.
The allegations stem from the period after Jones was asked to produce several songs on Combs’ recent R&B album, The Love Album: Off the Grid.
“Mr. Jones agreed, and his life has been detrimentally impacted ever since,” the lawsuit says.
While staying with Combs in his homes in Florida, Los Angeles, and New York, Jones claimed to have been a victim of constant sexual harassment and assault.
The harassment and assault included “constant unsolicited and unauthorized groping and touching,” according to the lawsuit.
Jones claimed that he was forced to work in Combs’ bathroom as the mogul showered naked in a glass enclosure, the lawsuit stated.
When he spoke to Khorram about the alleged harassment, he was reportedly told it was “friendly horseplay, stating that those acts were Mr. Combs’s way of ‘showing that he likes you.'”
The lawsuit accuses Khorram of aiding and abetting Combs’ alleged sexual assault of Jones and of working with Combs “to groom him into accepting a homosexual relationship.”
Jones has demanded a jury trial and is seeking $30 million.
Combs’ attorney, Shawn Holley, blasted the lawsuit in a statement to The U.S. Sun.
“His reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines,” Holley said.
“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.”
SERIES OF LAWSUITS
The lawsuit filed in New York is the fifth time Combs has been sued over claims of sexual assault in a period of four months.
Combs came under fire last year after RnB singer Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura filed a lawsuit claiming she faced “a cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking” until her relationship with Diddy ended in 2018.
Toward the end of their 10-year relationship, she alleges that the mogul raped her.
The Me and U singer also claimed that the rapper would pay male sex workers to have sex with her, while he filmed the encounters, referring to these moments as “freak-offs.”
She also accused Diddy of blowing up the car of rapper Kid Cudi in 2012 after she had a brief relationship with him.
Cassie claimed that during their relationship, Combs would regularly supply her with drugs, including cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy, marijuana, and date rape drug GHB, in addition to excessive amounts of alcohol.
The two reached a settlement shortly after the lawsuit was filed.
“I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control,” Ventura said in a statement at the time.
“I want to thank my family, fans, and lawyers for their unwavering support.”
Combs stated that the two resolved the matter amicably, adding: “I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love.”
Following the settlement, three other lawsuits against Combs were filed.
Liza Gardner and Joie Dickerson-Neal alleged in lawsuits that Combs sexually assaulted them.
Another woman, who has been identified as Jane Doe in court documents, claimed that she was gang raped by Diddy and two other men when she was 17 and Combs was 34.
“Seeing two other women bravely speak out against Mr. Combs and Mr. Pierre, respectively, gave Ms. Doe the confidence to tell her story as well,” read the lawsuit.
After news of the lawsuits came out, Diddy took to Instagram to deny all of the allegations brought against him.
“For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy,” read the statement, written in all caps.
Combs claimed that the allegations made against him were by people “looking for a quick payday.”
“Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family, and for the truth,” he wrote.