Sean “Diddy” Combs has been named in three sexual assault l;awsuits, and now, he’s been accused of sexual assault, harassment, and sex trafficking by a music producer who worked on 2023’s The Love Album: Off the Grid.
The producer, Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr., filed the complaint in a New York federal court on February 26. The suit accuses Combs of “groping and touching” his anus and trying to groom him into engaging in sexual acts with Combs, as well as other individuals. Additionally, Jones claimed Combs “forced” him to “solicit sex workers” and “perform sex acts to the pleasure of Mr. Combs.”
According to the suit obtained by PEOPLE, Jones alleges he woke up “naked, dizzy, and confused” in a “bed with two sex workers and Mr. Combs” at the rapper’s home in Miami in February 2023, where he believed he was drugged. The plaintiff claims that the “RICO enterprise” was set up to recruit sex workers — some who were underage — as well as to distribute drugs and guns out of Combs’ Miami home.
Jones also claims that he was kept under control by participants of the alleged enterprise where he was threatened with violence and ostracism from the music industry. Additionally, he claimed he has not been compensated for Combs’ album, though he allegedly produced nine tracks.
Several defendants were named in the suit, including Universal Music Group, Motown Records, Love Records, UMG chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge, former Motown CEO and chairwoman Ethiopia Habtemariam, Combs’ chief of staff Kristina Khorram, and Combs’ son Justin Combs. Jones is seeking $30 million in 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,” as well as punitive damages and costs of the suit.
Combs’ lawyer Shawn Holley released the following statement to Billboard:
“Lil Rod is nothing more than a liar who filed a $30 billion lawsuit shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday. 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. 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.”
This is the latest lawsuit to name Combs for sexual assault; last year, Combs was named in a suit by “Jane Doe,” who claimed the rapper “sex trafficked and gang raped” her while she was a minor. Additionally, Joi Dickerson-Neal filed a lawsuit against Diddy, where she claims he “intentionally” drugged and assaulted her while she was a student at Syracuse University. She claimed he filmed the assault and then used the video as “revenge porn.”
Diddy was also accused of rape, as well as physical, mental, sexual, and emotional abuse by his former partner Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, the New York Times reported. While he originally denied the allegations, calling the suit a “money grab,” the suit was quickly dropped and settled the following day with “mutual satisfaction.”
