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.
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,” made secret recordings in 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.
Lil Rod in His Words
“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.”
