Source: Prince Williams / Getty
Producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who worked on nine tracks on
The Love Album: Off the Grid, the embattled mogul’s latest release, says that he is a victim of sexual misconduct.
He filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday in U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York, suing Diddy for $30 million, alleging he was groped, encouraged to have
sex with a man, and forced to hire and have sex with prostitutes. He also alleges that Universal Records, the parent company of Diddy’s Love Records, engaged in a RICO enterprise that failed to adequately protect Jones from the actions of Diddy, his chief of staff Kristina Khorrum and his oldest son, Justin Combs.
Jones says the incidents happened in 2022 and 2023 when he was living off and on with Diddy while working on the album released in 2023. He says he lived and traveled with Diddy in Los Angeles, Florida, and New York and on a yacht in the Virgin Islands.
In his 73-page complaint, first reported by
NBC News, Jones makes a variety of allegations that encompass former Bad Boy producer turned reality star Stevie J., Cuba Gooding Jr., a redacted name for a “Grammy Award-winning R&B singer who had trouble with law enforcement after assaulting a Bajan Billionaire,” “a Philadelphia rapper who once dated Nicki Minaj,” whose name is also redacted, and an “R&B performer who performed at the Super Bowl and had a successful Las Vegas residency” whose name is redacted as well.
The lawsuit also references allegations with respect to Shyne, a female cousin of City Girls rapper Yung Miami, multiple music executives, including Universal Music Group CEO Sir Lucian Grange, former Motown CEO Ethiopia Habtemarian, who oversaw Diddy’s Love Records, the Universal, Motown and Love Records labels, and multiple others.
“Throughout his time with Mr. Combs, Mr. Jones witnessed, experienced, and endured many things that went far beyond his role as a Producer on the
Love album,” the lawsuit says. “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.”
Jones’ lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn,
told People, “Litigation should never be the first option for a dispute. We filed because of the refusal to negotiate on the other side.”
The supposed footage is central to proving any court case. The lawsuit includes photos that Jones says show Diddy and others with underage girls, that Khorrum and other staffers kept women plied with drugs concealed in alcoholic drinks, including ones from Diddy’s own brands, and
that a shooting of a friend of Justin Combs previously classified as a drive-by, was in fact committed by either Diddy or his son Justin. Photos provided in the lawsuit show a bathroom with a bloodied toilet and blood on what appears to be a floor at what Jones says is a Los Angeles recording studio.
Jones says that Diddy displayed guns and bragged about getting away with shootings, including the New York City nightclub shooting in 1999 that rapper Shyne was convicted of and served 10 years in jail for.
Earlier this month, Jones was trying to get the public’s help as he alleged he was owed money for his work on
The Love Album, ultimately creating a
GoFundMe to solicit funds for his legal effort.
“Taking my publishing and stealing it…I’m not going to let that happen,” Jones said.
Now, it appears that Jones has chosen a civil court battle for more than just production and publishing rights.
Jones says that to encourage him to indulge in “gay sex,” Diddy showed him a photo of Stevie J. in bed with a Caucasian man. Per Jones’ account, Diddy said that he’d had sex with Stevie, the “Philadelphia rapper” and the artist who “performed at the Super Bowl,” and that men having sex with men was part of the industry norm.
Porn star D’Angelo “Knockout” Marquis says
the man in the photos is him, not Stevie, and acknowledges he’s been to Diddy’s parties. “Now what,” he posted on X.
Jones’ photo “evidence” also shows a photo of him and Gooding sitting close together on what appears to be a yacht, and in another photo, he’s in a room with a woman he identifies as Yung Miami’s cousin, who he says performed oral sex on him without his consent.
Via a statement provided to
NBC News, Diddy’s lawyer, Shawn Holley, responded to the lawsuit, saying, “Lil Rod is nothing more than a liar who filed a $30 million 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.”
He added, “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.”
Diddy has three pending civil lawsuits from women who claim he sexually assaulted him, including one that alleges he and former Bad Boy president Harve Pierre
gang-raped a 17-year-old in a New York City recording studio in 2003.
See how social media’s reacting to the latest Diddy allegations below.
