Diddy accused of sexual harassment, assault by male producer
NEW YORK — Producer Sean Combs, better known as Diddy, is facing new allegations of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed by a male record producer.
Producer and videographer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones on Monday filed a lawsuit against Combs, 54, in New York federal court. Jones claims Combs sexually harassed, drugged and threatened him, according to court documents reviewed by People.
While working on last year’s “The Love Album: Off the Grid,” Jones says he lived and traveled with the Harlem-born rapper, People reports. Combs allegedly subjected Jones to “constant unsolicited and unauthorized groping and touching of his anus.”
During their time working together, Jones — who is seeking $30 million in damages — says he “witnessed, experienced, and endured many things that went far beyond his role as a producer” and “secured HUNDREDS of hours of footage and audio records” of Combs and associates “engaging in serious illegal activity,” according to the documents.
Jones says he was sexually assaulted “in the presence of Mr. Combs and his staff” and at one point was drugged and potentially raped, per the outlet.
He also accused Combs of “providing laced alcoholic beverages to minors and sex workers at his homes in California, New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Florida.”
Jones named several other defendants in the suit, including Combs’ 30-year-old son, Justin, as well as Universal Music Group CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, ex-Motown Records CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam, and Combs’ chief of staff, Kristina Khorram.
Tyrone A. Blackburn, who is representing Jones, told People the lawsuit followed “refusal to negotiate on the other side.”
Combs’ lawyer, Shawn Holley, meanwhile, denied the claims against her client, telling the outlet Jones is “nothing more than a liar … shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday.”
Justin Combs’ rep told TMZ he “categorically denies these absurd allegations,” and echoed Holley’s payday sentiment.
In November, R&B singer Cassie accused ex-boyfriend Combs of sexual abuse and rape in a lawsuit also filed in the Empire State. Within one day, the two reached a settlement.
Multiple allegations followed over the coming days and weeks. Joie Dickerson-Neal accused the rapper of sexually assaulting and drugging her on a date in 1991. Then in December, former Bad Boy Entertainment president Harve Pierre accused Combs of having participated in sex trafficking and gang raping her when she was a teenager.
In the wake of the initial allegations, news broke that Combs would temporarily step back from his role as chairman of Revolt, the music-focused digital cable network he founded.
