Sean Combs Sued for Sexual Assault by ‘Love Album’ Producer
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A music producer has sued Sean Combs in a new bombshell lawsuit, alleging the hip-hop mogul groped and sexually harassed him, pushed him to take drugs and stiffed him out of $50,000 for his work on the recently Grammy-nominated The Love Album: Off the Grid.
Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed his 70-page lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Monday, including a cover sheet with a trigger warning for “sexually explicit images, aftermath of a shooting, redacted images of sexual intercourse and minors.” Other defendants named are Combs’ chief of staff Kristina Khorram, his son Justin Combs, and Motown Records and Universal Music Group, among others. City Girls’ Yung Miami and actor Cuba Gooding Jr. are also named in the suit, but are not among the defendants.
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Jones is the first man to publicly accuse the Bad Boy Entertainment founder of sexual harassment and assault. He claims Combs repeatedly groped his “anus and crotch without consent,” secretly drugged and recorded visitors at his homes, displayed guns as an intimidation tactic and tried to “groom him into accepting a homosexual relationship” by showing him explicit video and claiming it was “a normal practice in the music industry.”
The new lawsuit follows five other legal actions taken against Combs, including from singer Cassie who claimed Combs sex trafficked and physically assaulted her throughout their nearly decade-long relationship. Combs denied any wrongdoing and the parties reached a private settlement within 24 hours.
Jones describes himself as a musical prodigy, playing with the likes of gospel musicians Donald Lawrence, the Clark Sisters and the Smokie Norful. In August 2022, Jones says he was hired to work on Combs’ new album and produced nine songs for the project. “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 claims. “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.”
While working on the album, Jones claims he lived with Combs for months at a time at his various homes in New York, California and Florida, but was not compensated for his time. While Jones says he would have accepted $50,000 for his work plus publishing and royalty rights, Combs only offered him $29,000 for 13 months of work.
At these locations, Jones claims that Combs would grope and touch his genitals, would shower in front of him and walk around his house naked. He claims that he brought his concerns about Combs’ alleged sexual advances to Khorram, who allegedly dismissed him by saying, “you know, Sean will be Sean.”
In allegations echoing Cassie’s lawsuit, Jones claims that Combs would frequently “force” him to recruit sex workers to bring back to his residence, and would push him to use illegal substances. One night in February 2023, according to the lawsuit, Combs allegedly “drugged” Jones to the point that he woke up “naked, dizzy, and confused” in a bed with “two sex workers and Mr. Combs.”
Combs allegedly used “many tactics to maintain dominion and control” of Jones, the suit alleges, including promises of Grammy awards and $250,000. Other times, Combs allegedly would “threaten” physical harm, saying he would “eat Mr. Jones’ face.” Combs also purportedly “informed Mr. Jones that he is willing to kill his mother, Janice Combs, if he must in order to get what he wants, so he wouldn’t think twice to harm Mr. Jones,” according to the lawsuit.
At multiple points throughout the suit, Jones claims he has physical evidence of certain accusations, including video footage. In February, he posted video footage of Combs laughing while one of his associates read out texts that called Jones a “piece of shit.”
The new lawsuit is asking for $30 million in damages, according to the cover sheet signed by Jones’ lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, the same attorney representing the woman who sued Combs in November with claims Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping the woman and her friend in 1990 or 1991.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Combs’ lawyer Shawn Holley called Jones a “liar” who is “shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday.” Her statement initially said the lawsuit was asking for $30 billion, a reference to the astronomical figure that appeared on the court’s docket when the case was first listed online Monday afternoon. The statement was later changed to reflect the $30 million demand listed on the cover sheet. “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,” Holley’s statement said.
“The amount on the docket was a clear error as evidenced by the filed civil cover sheet. If they are focusing on $30 billion instead of $30 million, then they are in a worse position than I thought,” Blackburn said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “This is a slap on the wrist. The next filing will be worse. Mr. Combs better do the right thing.”
A rep for Universal Music Group had no immediate comment.
Combs has denied any wrongdoing in all the cases against him. Still, he stepped down from the chairmanship of his media company Revolt last year as more than a dozen companies fled his e-commerce platform and he did not attend February’s Grammy awards.
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