Sean “Diddy” Combs is back in the news, this time for a federal lawsuit accusing him of sexually harassing and assaulting a male music producer.
NBC News broke the story, saying producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed the suit on Monday, Feb. 26, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Jones, who produced Combs’ recently released The Love Album: Off the Grid, alleges the Bad Boy Records founder harassed, assaulted, drugged and threatened him.
The 73-page complaint has a trigger warning on the front page noting that it contains “graphic images of the aftermath of a shooting, redacted images of sexual intercourse, redacted images of minors, sex workers and prostitutes, details of sex trafficking, and the illegal distribution of guns, and drugs.”
Jones, who has worked with gospel artists Donald Lawrence and the Clark Sisters, is represented by attorney Tyrone Blackburn, who filed a lawsuit in November on behalf of a woman who alleged she was raped by Combs and R&B singer Aaron Hall.
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Shawn Holley, an attorney representing Combs, released a statement on Monday evening calling the claims in Jones’ lawsuit “outlandish.”
“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,” Holley said. “We will address these outlandish allegations in court and take all appropriate action against those who make them.”
Jones’ complaint says his life was turned upside down after he started working on Combs’ album, which was released in September 2023 and received a Grammy nomination.
“Mr. Jones agreed, and his life has been detrimentally impacted ever since,” the lawsuit claims.
According to the complaint, Jones says he lived and traveled with Combs from September 2022 to November 2023.
He produced nine tracks for the LP and lived with Diddy in Florida, Los Angeles, New York, and on a yacht the rapper leased in the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the complaint. But he says he was not fairly compensated for his time.
On Feb. 7, Jones announced on Instagram that he was starting a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to sue Diddy.
The music producer said he put his other work on hold for a year to work on Diddy’s album, but he alleged the hip-hop mogul stiffed him and was trying to “steal” his publishing.
In his lawsuit, Jones says during the time he spent with Combs, there was “constant unsolicited and unauthorized groping and touching of his anus.”
Jones says he complained to Combs’ chief of staff, but was told the alleged assaults were “horseplay.” He also claims Combs would shower in front of him and walked around naked.
He alleges he was forced to find sex workers and perform sex acts with them for Combs’ viewing pleasure.
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He also claims Combs showed him a video of music producer and reality star Stevie J allegedly having sex with another man, according to the suit. TMZ reports Jones included an explicit screengrab of the video in the filing.
Jones even alleges Combs told him he was behind a December 1999 shooting in a nightclub in New York City. The jury in the case acquitted Combs of gun possession and bribery charges, but Belizean rapper Shyne, born Jamal Barrow, was convicted of assault, sentenced to 10 years in prison, and deported after his release.
“Mr. Combs consistently made it clear that he has immense power in the music industry and with law enforcement,” the lawsuit says.
Jones claims he recorded “hours” of video and audio of Combs and his inner circle involved in “illegal activity.”
“Mr. Combs required Mr. Jones to record him constantly … As a result, Mr. Jones has secured hundreds of hours of footage and audio records of Mr. Combs, his staff, and his guests engaging in serious illegal activity,” the complaint says.
Jones is seeking $30 million in damages.
The suit names Combs’ adult son Justin; his chief of staff Kristina Khorram; Universal Music Group CEO Sir Lucian Grainge; and former Motown Records CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam as additional defendants. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. and City Girls rapper Yung Miami are also mentioned in the complaint, but are not defendants.
This is the fifth lawsuit against Combs alleging assault since November. The first came from R&B singer Casandra Ventura, known to fans as Cassie, who filed a lawsuit in Manhattan’s Federal District Court on Nov. 16, saying she endured “over a decade” of Combs’ alleged “violent behavior and disturbed demands” while the two dated off and on.
Combs denied the allegations, but settled the suit a day after it was filed.
A week later, two more women filed complaints alleging they were assaulted by Combs. Joi Dickerson-Neal sued him on Nov. 23, in Manhattan Supreme Court alleging he raped her 1991, when she was a student at Syracuse University. Combs denied her allegations through a rep.
The second woman, identified only as Jane Doe, alleged Combs and R&B singer-songwriter Aaron Hall of the group Guy, “took turns” raping her in 1990 or 1991. Combs denied the claims in the suit. Hall did not respond to our requests for comment.
A fourth lawsuit was filed Dec. 6, in U.S. District Court in New York, accusing Combs and two other men of raping and trafficking a 17-year-old woman in 2003.
The young woman, identified as a Jane Doe, alleged she was “sex trafficked” and “gang raped” by Combs, music executive Harve Pierre, and a third unnamed man.
Combs immediately released a statement on Instagram denying the woman’s claims.
“Enough is enough. For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy. Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals 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 said in the statement.
