A music producer who says he worked on Sean “Diddy” Combs' 2023 album The Love album: Off the Grid accuses the hip-hop mogul of sexual assault and harassment, sex trafficking and various other forms of misconduct in a sprawling lawsuit filed on Monday (February 26).
In the complaint, filed by plaintiff Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr. in federal court in New York, the producer accuses Combs of “groping and touching” his anus and tried to solicit him into sexual acts with Combs and other people, including Love album producer Steven Aaron Jordan (aka Stevie J) and a cousin of Combs' ex-girlfriend Yung Miami (named as a Jane Doe defendant). He also alleges that Combs “forced” him to “solicit sex workers,” some of whom were minors, as well as “perform sexual acts for the pleasure of Mr. Combs.”
In an alleged incident from February 2023, Jones claims he woke up “naked, dazed and confused” in a “bed with two sex workers and Mr. Cobbs” at Cobbs' Miami home and “believed” he had been drugged Cobbs.
The action, filed by an attorney Tyrone Blackburnnames several additional defendants who Jones alleges conspired with Combs in an alleged “RICO enterprise” to enable his misconduct: Universal Music Group (UMG), Motown Records subsidiary, UMG president/CEO Lucian Graingeformer Motown CEO/Chairman Ethiopia Habtemariam; Combs' Chief of Staff, Christina Horam; and Combs' son, Justin Combs. Federal RICO cases, based on the Corrupt Organization and Influence Act traditionally used to target the Mafia and drug cartels, are being brought to more effectively sweep up members of alleged crime rings. (Notably, the ongoing Georgia criminal case against Young Thug that alleges the rapper ran a violent Atlanta street gang is based on a Georgia statute based on the federal RICO Act.)
In that case, Jones alleges that the “RICO operation” in question was set up to recruit sex workers, some of them minors, and buy and distribute drugs and guns from Combs' Miami home. He accuses those involved in the alleged operation of keeping him under their control by threatening him with violence, being ostracized from the music industry and not being paid for work on the album, for which he says he has not been compensated despite allegedly creating nine tracks.
The lawsuit also cites an alleged September 2022 incident at Chalice Recording Studio in Hollywood, during a writing and production camp for The album of love, which reportedly resulted in a man being shot in the stomach after a “heated conversation” between Combs, his son Justin Combs and another unnamed man. After the incident, Jones claims Combs forced him to lie to police, telling them the man was injured in a drive-by shooting. Jones is suing Combs, UMG, Motown, Love Records and Chalice Recording Studio for providing “inadequate or negligent security” during the camp.
In a statement sent to Advertising signattorney for Combs Shawn Holley said, “Lil Rod is nothing but a liar who filed a $30 billion lawsuit shamelessly seeking an unfair payday. His reckless testimony of events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines. We have overwhelming, irrefutable evidence that his claims are complete lies. Our attempts to share this evidence with Mr. Jones' attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, have been ignored, as Mr. Blackburn refuses to return our calls. We will take these outlandish allegations to court and take all appropriate action against those making them.”
A representative for Justin Combs sent the following statement: “Justin Combs vehemently denies these absurd allegations. Everything is a lie! This is a clear example of a desperate person taking desperate measures in hopes of a payday. There will be legal consequences for all defamatory statements made about the Combs family.”
Representatives for UMG, Motown, Love Records, Grainge and Chalice Recording Studio did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Habtemariam could not be located for comment at press time.
Jones is seeking damages for loss of past and future income as well as “mental anguish, humiliation, embarrassment, stress and anxiety, emotional pain and suffering and emotional distress.” punitive damages; and the costs of bringing the suit.
The album of love was originally announced in May 2022 as a release on Combs' newly formed Love Records imprint, to be released alongside UMG's Motown. However, the album – which featured a star-studded list including Mary J. Blige, Burna Boy, John Legend, Justin Bieber and The Weeknd – was finally released independently in September 2023.
Jones' lawsuit is just the latest in a series of legal charges filed against Combs in recent months. In November, Combs' longtime girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, sued him for rape and physical abuse, though the case was promptly settled. She was subsequently sued by two more women for sexual harassment and later by a Jane Doe who claimed that Combs was “sexually trafficked” and “gang-raped” when she was 17 years old. Cobbs has denied all the allegations.
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