Cuba Gooding Jr. Responds to Being ‘Pulled’ Into Lawsuit Against Diddy

Cuba Gooding Jr. is breaking his silence after being named in a sexual abuse lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs.

In the complaint filed in February, music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones accused the Oscar-winning actor of “touching, groping and fondling” him when they met on Combs’ yacht for a New Year’s Eve party ringing in 2023.

Gooding denied the allegations on the Wednesday, May 8 episode of the “PBD Podcast” with Patrick Bet-David.

Related Story: Feds Removed ‘250 Cameras’ From Diddy’s Homes, New Documentary Claims

The actor said he met Jones, who was also a photographer for Combs, while partying with other celebrities on a series of yachts.

“I went from one ship, ‘Happy New Year.’ So I hung out with Tyson, next ship there’s Drake,” Gooding said. “This ship had P. Diddy, he had his guy his videographer… They’re listening to music. He says, ‘Hey Cuba, you want to hear P. Diddy’s new song?’ I said, ‘Yeah, sure!’ [So, I] sit down next to him.”

A photo attached to the lawsuit showed Gooding with an arm wrapped around Jones while they were in a recording studio on the yacht, and alleged the actor touched his “legs, his upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks, and his shoulders.”

The actor insisted nothing inappropriate happened. He said Jones used a misleading photo because he’s looking for a payday.

“You made it look the way you wanted it to look,” Gooding said about the photo. “This guy who’s suing him is going after the money.”

Cuba Gooding Jr. reacts to Homeland Security raiding Diddy's homes for sex trafficking, as he addresses the accusations Lil Rod is making against him in his lawsuit and says Lil Rod is going after the money.

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— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) May 8, 2024

Asked about the allegations against Combs, Gooding said he’s only met the mogul two or three times

“I don’t know P. Diddy’s life,” the actor said. “I don’t know what he’s going through. I don’t know what the police are gonna find on all of that.”

Gooding questioned why he was “pulled” into Jones’ lawsuit.

“I wake up in the morning, I turn on the Today Show, ‘Actor Cuba Gooding Jr.’ I was like, “Excuse me? Pulling me into this?'” the actor said.

In June 2023, Gooding settled a rape lawsuit in Manhattan federal court moments before his trial was scheduled to start.

He was hit with two more lawsuits filed in New York Supreme Court in November 2023, by women who claimed the actor groped them in separate incidents in New York City in 2018 and 2019.

The lawsuits were filed under the state of New York’s Adult Survivors Act. The law expired at midnight on Friday, Nov. 24.