Music producer Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones has broken his since about the explosive sexual abuse lawsuit he filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs in February.
In his first interview since filing the $30 million complaint, Jones told Rolling Stone he’s been “blackballed” after speaking out against Combs.
“It’s been very, very tough. Because of this lawsuit, most people don’t want to come near working with me for whatever reasons, whether they’ve been in partnership with Puff or they want to just sit back and see what happens,” Jones said in the interview published on Aug. 27.
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The music producer accused Combs of sexually assaulting, drugging and threatening him in the 73-page complaint, filed on Feb. 26, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The lawsuit has a trigger warning on the front page noting that it contains “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 declined to discuss the specific allegations in the suit, but he described Combs as dangerous.
“He’s a monster,” Jones said in the interview. “He’ll do whatever is necessary to get exactly what he wants. He doesn’t take no for an answer. He [told me] himself, ‘I’ll smack my mama.’ Anybody who can say that even jokingly is a monster. He’s nothing to be played with. For a person whose brand is Love Records, and changed their name to Love and named their kid Love, he doesn’t show love.”
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Jones has a background in gospel music and previously worked with gospel artists Donald Lawrence and the Clark Sisters. In his complaint, he said he produced nine tracks on Diddy’s The Love Album: Off the Grid, which was released in September 2023.
The lawsuit said Jones lived and traveled the world with Combs from September 2022 to November 2023. He said during his time with the mogul, he was a victim of “constant unsolicited and unauthorized groping and touching.”
Six months later, the music producer said sharing his truth has had dire consequences on his career.
“He’s a gatekeeper in the music industry,” he said about Combs. “In this industry, to be successful, you have to have worked with someone like him or Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Kanye or 50 Cent. So many people I’ve worked with have had business deals with him. I reached out to try to get a deal for my album, and people don’t want to get involved.”
The music producer filed an amendment to his complaint in March, and alleged Combs was part of a “RICO enterprise,” employed a “drug mule,” and was involved in a “sex trafficking venture.”
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On Aug. 26, Diddy’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss Jones’ amended complaint with prejudice, claiming the producer is seeking a payday.
“Mr. Jones’s lawsuit is pure fiction — a shameless attempt to create media hype and extract a quick settlement,” Combs’ lawyer Erica Wolff said in a statement on Monday. “There was no RICO conspiracy and Mr. Jones was not threatened, groomed, assaulted or trafficked. We look forward to proving – in a court of law – that all of Mr. Jones’s claims are made up and must be dismissed.”
In response, Lil Rod’s attorney Tyrone A. Blackburn called the motion to dismiss a “billing exercise” by Diddy’s new legal reps.
“It is a weak attempt to fill their pockets before he is indicted, and they decide to haul ass, just like his five previous lawyers did,” Blackburn said in a statement.
As the lawyers battle it out in court, Jones said his career is at a standstill because people in the music industry are “too scared” to work with him.
“My album is finished. It’s mixed and mastered. I just need someone to come in and help with marketing and the release,” he said. “I did the hard part. But people are too scared, whatever their reasons are, to touch this.”
Jones said he’s undergone intense therapy since filing the complaint and lives in fear for his life.
“There have been too many people trying to figure out where I’m at. I moved locations, moved states. Everything is private,” he said. “My mom doesn’t even know where I live. It’s been like that pretty much all year.”
Diddy has denied all of the allegations made by Jones and several other accusers, in a growing number of abuse lawsuits filed since November 2023.