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Sean “Diddy” Combs has been accused of sexual assault by a former colleague. The new lawsuit is the latest in a series of disturbing allegations of a similar nature against the music mogul, all of which he denies. Yahoo Entertainment has reached out to Combs’ attorney for comment.
This is what is happening.
The music producer claims that Diddy groped him and paraded around naked. He’s looking for $30 million.
Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, producer of Diddy’s 2023 album, filed the lawsuit in federal court in New York on Monday against the rapper and several associates. Jones alleges he witnessed Combs and others “engage in serious illegal activity” while living and traveling with the superstar from September 2022 to November 2023.
In documents obtained by NBC NewsJones claims Combs forced him to hire sex workers, some of whom were underage. The producer alleges that he was pressured to have sexual relations with them at Combs’ direction. Included in the document are images of the alleged meetings that appear to show sex workers at parties at Combs’ homes. Jones claims some of the sex workers were given drinks laced with drugs at Combs’ orders. On at least one occasion, according to the lawsuit, Jones says he believes he was drugged when he woke up naked and disoriented in bed with Combs and two sex workers.
Jones alleges he was forced to work in Combs’ bathroom while the businessman showered naked. When he expressed his concerns to Combs’ chief of staff, he was dismissed as “friendly antics, stating that such acts were Mr. Combs’ way of ‘showing that he likes you,'” according to the lawsuit. Jones alleges that Combs “constantly touched and touched her anus, unsolicited and unauthorized.”
Jones alleges that Combs was “grooming him to give him to his friends,” according to the complaint seen by The Hollywood Reporter. He is suing for harassment and assault, seeking $30 million in damages.
Combs calls latest accusations “pure fiction”
Combs’ attorney, Shawn Holley, criticizes Jones, saying his “reckless mention of events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to grab headlines.”
“We have overwhelming and indisputable evidence that his claims are complete lies. Our attempts to share this evidence with Mr. Jones’ attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, have been ignored, as Mr. Blackburn refuses to return our calls,” says the lawyer de Combs in a statement. to The Hollywood Reporter. “We will address these outlandish allegations in court and take all appropriate action against those making them.”
Combs has been sued for sexual assault, harassment and/or misconduct by four other people since November 2023. Here is a summary of the allegations.
Cassandra Ventura: The singer known as Cassie filed a federal lawsuit accusing her longtime ex-boyfriend of rape, sex trafficking and other disturbing allegations. In a surprising move, the two announced that the case had been settled days later before any proceedings could begin.
Joi Dickerson-Neal: The woman alleges in a civil lawsuit that Combs drugged and raped her in New York City in 1991, when she was a college student. She claims he filmed the assault and shared it with others in the music industry.
Jane Doe 1: A woman alleges Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping her and a friend in Hall’s New York apartment in 1990 or 1991.
Jane Doe 2: A woman claims Combs was among three men who gang-raped her in 2003, when she was 17 years old. She also accused the music mogul of sex trafficking in the civil suit.
Various laws allowed these people to file complaints against Combs. New York State’s Adult Survivors Act (ASA), which expired in November, provided alleged survivors of sexual abuse in the state a “one-year look back window” to file civil lawsuits regardless of any applicable statute of limitations. This applied in the case of Cassie, Dickerson-Neal and Jane Doe 1.
As for the second Jane Doe, who filed her lawsuit in December, she filed under the New York City Gender-Based Victim Protection Act. The law also extends the statute of limitations for gender-based crimes such as sexual assault.
Do these lawsuits impact Jones’ case?
New York-based attorney Judie Saunders, partner at ASK LLP who is an expert in sexual abuse and misconduct cases, tells Yahoo Entertainment that these lawsuits are important for several reasons.
“Past lawsuits that name the same defendant or workplace impact future litigation for two reasons. First, at a granular level, past lawsuits could be instrumental in establishing an individual’s and organization’s practice of engaging in conduct.” sexually abusive,” says the litigant. “Second, the above lawsuits have the impact of alerting the public to potential dangers.”
Saunders adds: “Fear and violence are the most effective tools used to silence survivors. Those tools will only lose their effectiveness when managers, artists, producers, composers, set designers, dancers, stylists and others within the music industry serve as witnesses, litigants and defenders.”