Sean “Diddy” Combs is asking a federal judge to reject the explosive sexual assault, trafficking and racketeering lawsuit filed against him by music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones in the wake of the sexual assault and trafficking lawsuit that Diddy settled with his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura within 24 hours last year.
In a new motion to dismiss filed Monday in federal court in Manhattan, lawyers for Diddy called the latest 98-page version of Jones’ complaint “vague,” “shameless” and overwrought. They allege Jones, who worked with Combs on the Grammy-nominated Love Album between September 2022 and late 2023, is attempting to “dress up a run of the mill commercial disagreement as a salacious RICO conspiracy” and should be turned away with no recourse to try again. (Jones filed his first complaint in February and amended it twice before recently agreeing to drop music giant Universal Music Group as a defendant altogether.)
“Despite all its hyperbole and lurid theatrics, the [second amended complaint] fails to state a single viable claim against any of the Combs defendants,” the new motion paperwork states. “Replete with legally meaningless allegations and blatant falsehoods, the SAC’s true purpose is to generate media hype and exploit it to extract a settlement.”
“Mr. Jones’ lawsuit is pure fiction — a shameless attempt to create media hype and extract a quick settlement,” Combs’ attorney Erica Wolff says in a statement. “There was no RICO conspiracy and Mr. Jones was not threatened, groomed, assaulted, or trafficked. We look forward to proving – in a court of law – that all of Mr. Jones’s claims are made up and must be dismissed.”
Combs and his lawyers allege Jones has no standing to make a racketeering claim because they assert his breach of contract claim for alleged non-payment does not qualify as a necessary “predicate act.” They also argue Jones’ trafficking claim should fail because, in their opinion, he didn’t establish he was subjected to “threats of force, fraud of coercion.”
Diddy and his legal team also claim Jones is too “vague” in lawsuit allegations that he was subjected to “constant unsolicited and unauthorized groping and touching of his anus.” They say Jones is required to establish “the where, when, and how of the purported misconduct” and fails to offer evidence of “any conversation about, report of, or witness to any particular occurrence.”
The federal judge overseeing the case is not expected to rule on the motion anytime soon. Jones will have a chance to respond in writing first. In the meantime, Jones’ lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, said Monday that Combs could have filed a sworn affidavit to back up his motion, but did not. He also pointed out that Combs was the subject of a raid by federal authorities in March.
“This is nothing more than a billing exercise by Sean Combs‘ latest set of lawyers. It is a weak attempt to fill their pockets before he is indicted and they decide to haul ass, just like his five previous lawyers did,” Blackburn said in a statement. “I pick my clients; I do not pick their facts. Rodney Jones filed a sworn affidavit under penalty of perjury to the truth of the matter asserted in the filing. Can Sean Combs do the same?”
In his lawsuit, Jones claims Combs subjected him to the unwanted sexual contact and also secretly drugged him and forced him to solicit and participate in sexual contact with sex workers. Jones has claimed to have physical evidence of some of his accusations, including video footage. “Mr. Combs required Mr. Jones to record him constantly,” Jones’ lawsuit claims. “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.”
In a related lawsuit being brought against Combs’ son Christian “King” Combs by stewardess Grace O’Marcaigh for sexual assault, Combs is named as a co-defendant, in part because he rented the yacht where the alleged assault purportedly took place in 2022. Jones has claimed he has audio recordings from the alleged attack involving O’Marcaigh. (NBC News published some of that audio, although the outlet noted it hadn’t verified who was speaking.)
Jones also accused Combs’ associate Brendan Paul of being a drug “mule” who allegedly acquired and distributed “drugs and guns” for the music mogul. During Homeland Security’s raids on Combs’ properties in March, Paul was arrested and charged with cocaine possession. Paul pleaded not guilty, later accepting a deal in which he agreed to complete a drug-diversion program, after which his case will be dismissed.
Also listed as defendants in Jones’ lawsuit are Combs’ chief of staff Kristina Khorram and Justin Combs, his 30-year-old son with stylist Misa Hylton. City Girls’ rapper Yung Miami and actor Cuba Gooding Jr. also were named and pictured with Jones in court documents. Jones is the first man to accuse Combs of sexual harassment and misconduct. He is one of nine people who have filed sexual assault lawsuits against Combs since November 2023.
Previously speaking to Rolling Stone as part of a six-month investigation into the music mogul, Jones said Combs “is this monster … This guy got no soul. He has no duty to anyone, not even his kids.”
