[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Back in late February, music producer Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones, who had worked on Diddy‘s most recent album The Love Album: Off The Grid, filed a lawsuit against the music mogul. In it, Jones accused the man born as Sean Combs of sexual harassment and sexual assault, as well as drugging and threatening the producer. But now, Diddy is fighting back against those jaw-dropping claims! And HARD!
According to TMZ on Monday, Diddy’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo popped up in federal court in Manhattan this morning to file a request for dismissal of Jones’ suit. Per that news outlet, Agnifilo claims Jones’ lawsuit is nothing more than a cash grab — and NOT the reveal of harassment, assault, trafficking, or anything else.
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As you may recall, Jones claimed in his late February lawsuit that he traveled with Puff from September 2022 to November 2023. During that time, he said that he was making tracks for Diddy’s album “under an implied work-for-hire agreement,” meaning he was allegedly not paid for his work even though Combs, Universal Music Group, Motown Records, and Love Records were all supposedly enriched from his talents.
That was only the tip of the iceberg, though. Jones stated in the initial filing six months ago that he was allegedly forced to find sex workers for Diddy while the rapper was traveling, and was even pressured into engaging in unwanted sex acts with them in order to please the music mogul.
Among the claims made by Lil Rod include an assertion that he once had to walk into a Miami establishment wearing a Bad Boy Entertainment baseball cap in order to announce to sex workers that Diddy was in town. Jones also claimed that he was forced to engage in acts with those workers. He also noted that Diddy supposedly gave alcoholic beverages laced with drugs to them and other people who partied at the mogul’s home. Even more disturbing, that group allegedly included underage girls, too, according to Lil Rod.
Jones took things even a step further than that, claiming Diddy sexually harassed and assaulted him at homes in Florida, Los Angeles, New York, and even on a yacht the musician had rented for himself and a group in the US Virgin Islands. Per the suit, that behavior on Diddy’s part allegedly included “constant unsolicited and unauthorized groping and touching of [Jones’] anus.” Oh, and Jones claimed he also had to work on tracks in Diddy’s bathroom — while the rapper showered naked behind a glass wall!!
But now, Diddy’s dismissal request has come through. Per this new TMZ report from early on Monday, Agnifilo says in the dismissal docs that Jones and his lawyer Tyrone Blackburn are trying to do nothing more than score a quick monetary settlement. Specifically, Agnifilo cites a video Jones recently posted on social media alongside the rapper Uncle Murda. In it, the two men can be seen laughing about Lil Rod’s lawsuit, with Jones claiming at one point that Diddy needed to “pay him that money by Monday,” because he is from Chicago and doesn’t “play about our business.”
Legally, Diddy’s team argued that Jones failed to prove in his initial suit that his “business or property” was injured under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — more commonly known as RICO. And as far as the sex trafficking and assault allegations against Diddy go, Agnifilo claims Jones’ lawyer never offered any claim under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 which showed that the producer was forced to commit any sexual acts in exchange for money or other compensation.
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Diddy’s lawyers toss out a bunch of secondary arguments in their dismissal filing, too, per TMZ. That outlet notes that Agnifilo called bull s**t on Jones’ claims of emotional distress, breach of oral contract, and the fact that Jones supposedly failed to provide specific details describing the exact sexual assaults in his initial lawsuit.
Upon learning of the newly-filed dismissal request, Blackburn clapped back hard. Jones’ attorney told this to TMZ when it came to reacting to Diddy’s latest move:
“This is clearly a billing exercise by Combs’ latest set of attorneys, who are late to the game and are attempting to fill their pockets with this Hail Mary motion to dismiss before their client is indicted.”
Damn!!
Still, as you may recall, Diddy’s lawyers have been pretty aggressive in their denials of the lawsuit’s claims right from the very start. Back in February, after the suit was first filed, attorney Shawn Holley slammed Jones’ allegations by saying that “reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines.” At the time, Holley continued:
“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.”
Clearly, the battle continues to rage on. And based on this new dismissal filing, it’s very clear that neither side wants to budge an inch! Reactions, y’all?? Share ’em in the comments (below)…
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Derrick Salters/WENN]
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