Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Wants Producer’s Sexual Assault Lawsuit Dismissed

Sean “Diddy” Kammen wants a federal judge to dismiss one of the many sexual abuse cases he faces, saying the “tasteless” lawsuit is filled with “blatant lies” designed to force him to settle.

In a motion filed Monday in federal court in Manhattan, lawyers for the star are asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed in February by Rodney “Little Rod” Joneswho alleges that Combs sexually abused, drugged and threatened him while he was working as a producer on the rapper’s 2023 release The love album.

While they say the case is essentially nothing more than a “run-of-the-mill commercial dispute,” Combs’ attorneys allege Jones’ attorney added “meaningless allegations and blatant lies” to “generate media hype and exploit it to force a settlement.”

“It runs to nearly 100 pages and contains numerous tall tales, blatant celebrity names, and irrelevant images,” Combs’ attorneys write. “Yet despite all the exaggeration and lurid theatricality, the (complaint) fails to present a single viable claim against any of the Combs Defendants.”

The petition was personally addressed to Jones’ attorney Tyrone Blackburnreferring to a recent ruling in a separate case in which a federal judge sharply criticized the attorney for filing lawsuits designed to “attract media attention” and “embarrass defendants.”

Diddy, once one of the most powerful men in the music industry, has faced at least seven civil lawsuits alleging sexual abuse in the past year, including claims from his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura which were followed by a video of him attacking her. The hip-hop mogul is also facing a federal criminal investigation after authorities raided his home in March.

Although the rapper denies the legal allegations against him, he apologized in May for his behavior captured on video of the attack in Ventura: “My behavior in that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video.”

Jones filed a lawsuit in February accusing Diddy not only of sexual abuse but also of orchestrating a vast conspiracy in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the federal RICO law often used in criminal cases against mobsters and drug cartels. He also accused Combs and others of violating federal sex trafficking laws.

In Monday’s motion to dismiss the case, the rapper’s attorneys argued that Jones had failed to demonstrate that he could sue under RICO laws.

“Because litigants often attempt to transform run-of-the-mill fraud or breach of contract cases into RICO claims, the civil provisions of RICO are among the most abused statutes in the federal legal system,” Combs’ attorneys wrote, citing previous rulings. “As a result, courts tend to preempt frivolous RICO allegations early in the litigation.”

Combs’ attorneys also asked the judge to dismiss the other claims in the case. They argued that the sexual abuse claim is couched in “two vague paragraphs” in which Jones “fails to allege essential facts, such as the where, when and how of the alleged misconduct, or even a conversation about, report of, or testimony about a particular event.”

Jones’ attorney, Blackburn, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BillboardBut in a statement to TermBlackburn called the motion to dismiss the case “nothing more than a billing exercise by Sean Combs’ latest group of lawyers.”

“It’s a feeble attempt to line their pockets before he’s charged, and they decide to work as hard as his five previous attorneys did,” Blackburn told the outlet.

Jones’ lawsuit was initially filed by Universal Music Group (UMG) and CEO Lucian Grainge as defendants, alleging that they “aided and abetted” Combs in his alleged misconduct and that they were members of the RICO conspiracy. But Jones later dropped them from the case, with Blackburn admitting that there was “no basis in law for the claims and allegations made against the UMG defendants.”

Read the full motion filed by Combs’ attorneys here: