Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sued by ‘Love Album’ Producer in Bombshell Lawsuit

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, which includes a cover sheet that includes 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, Motown Records and Universal Music Group, among others. City Girls’ Yung Miami and Cuba Gooding Jr. are also named in the suit, but are not among the defendants.

Jones is the first man to publicly accuse the Bad Boy Entertainment founder of sexual harassment and assault. His suit 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 with Combs’ alleged sexual advances upon him to Khorram, who allegedly dismissed him by saying, “you know, Sean will be Sean.”

Jones claims Combs would frequently “force” him to recruit sex workers to bring back to his residence, and would push Jones to use illegal substances. One night in February 2023, according to the lawsuit, Combs allegedly “drugged” Jones when he woke up “naked, dizzy, and confused” and “was in 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 would “threaten” physical harm, such as the threat of “eat[ing] Mr. Jones face and inform[ing] 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 suit.

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 reading out texts that called Jones a “piece of shit.” 

In a statement to Rolling Stone, a representative for Combs called Jones a “liar” who is “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,” they said. (A rep for Universal Music Group declined to comment.)

In a statement to Rolling Stone, Jones’ attorney Tyrone Blackburn said “res ipsa loquitur,” a Latin legal term “for the thing speaks for itself.”

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, more than a dozen companies fled his e-commerce platform and he did not attend February’s Grammy awards.

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, which includes a cover sheet that includes 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, Motown Records and Universal Music Group, among others. City Girls’ Yung Miami and Cuba Gooding Jr. are also named in the suit, but are not among the defendants.

Jones is the first man to publicly accuse the Bad Boy Entertainment founder of sexual harassment and assault. His suit 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 with Combs’ alleged sexual advances upon him to Khorram, who allegedly dismissed him by saying, “you know, Sean will be Sean.”

Jones claims Combs would frequently “force” him to recruit sex workers to bring back to his residence, and would push Jones to use illegal substances. One night in February 2023, according to the lawsuit, Combs allegedly “drugged” Jones when he woke up “naked, dizzy, and confused” and “was in 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 would “threaten” physical harm, such as the threat of “eat[ing] Mr. Jones face and inform[ing] 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 suit.

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 reading out texts that called Jones a “piece of shit.” 

In a statement to Rolling Stone, a representative for Combs called Jones a “liar” who is “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,” they said. (A rep for Universal Music Group declined to comment.)

In a statement to Rolling Stone, Jones’ attorney Tyrone Blackburn said “res ipsa loquitur,” a Latin legal term “for the thing speaks for itself.”

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, more than a dozen companies fled his e-commerce platform and he did not attend February’s Grammy awards.