Sean “Diddy” Combs is actively contesting a lawsuit brought against him by a former employee, alleging that the plaintiffs are trying to coerce him into a settlement by disseminating scandalous claims.
Songs Wire News has acquired a motion submitted by the beleaguered artist’s legal representatives seeking to dismiss the lawsuit initiated by attorney Tyrone Blackburn on behalf of his client, music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones. This motion was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Monday.
Jones alleged in a lawsuit filed in February that Combs sexually harassed, drugged and threatened him while he worked for the mogul from September 2022 to November 2023. Jones is seeking $30 million in damages.
In March, an amended complaint was submitted in the case involving Jones, which accused Combs of participating in a “RICO enterprise” and claimed his involvement in a “sex trafficking venture.” A RICO enterprise refers to a collective of individuals or groups that collaborate to contravene the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, legislation designed to combat organized crime.
The motion contends that Jones’ lawsuit is an effort to transform a typical commercial dispute into a sensational RICO conspiracy. It asserts that the complaint does not meet the necessary criteria for a RICO case and that the lawsuit lacks the requisite standing.
“Running to nearly 100 pages, it includes countless tall tales, shameless celebrity namedrops, and irrelevant images,” the motion said of the lawsuit.
It also accused Jones of failing to provide specific instances with dates as to the alleged sexual harassment he endured while working for Combs. The motion described Jones’ allegations as vague.
Combs has denied Jones’ allegations.
“Mr. Jones’s lawsuit is pure fiction — a shameless attempt to create media hype and extract a quick settlement,” Combs’ lawyer Erica Wolff said in a statement Monday. “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,” Wolff added.
Blackburn said Monday that he has not had the chance to read the motion but that the allegations by Combs’ attorney in the filing described to him by NBC News are untrue.
“This is clearly a billing exercise by individuals who are late to the game and are attempting to fill their pockets before their client is indicted,” Blackburn said.
Combs attorneys wrote in Monday’s motion that Jones’ “true purpose is to generate media hype and exploit it to extract a settlement.” It goes on to say that this is “no surprise” given that Blackburn was referred to a grievance committee earlier this year.
A judge referred a concern against Blackburn to the Southern District of New York’s Grievances Committee in April, the motion says, after what appeared to be a “pattern” of cases with apparent jurisdiction issues. The case in which the concern originated was not related to Combs.
According to an opinion from U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, Blackburn told the court he had done a database search which showed the defendant in that case to have a New York address. The defendant did not live in the state.
But five other cases in which Blackburn had jurisdiction issues prompted Cote to make the grievance referral.
