Lawyers for Rodney Jones, the music producer who accused Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexual assault, say record giant UMG Recordings and the Motown Records division “funded” the rapper’s sex trafficking allegations. insisted.
In a letter to the court on April 9, Tyrone Blackburn wrote: “If defendants are concerned about having despicable proceedings brought against them, they should not engage in despicable conduct. “It was Defendant’s choice to enter into a general business partnership with Sean Combs.” , which funded his sex trafficking operations. ”
Mr. Blackburn’s letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, comes shortly after the Department of Homeland Security raided Mr. Combs’ home as part of a human-trafficking investigation, and UMG Recordings and Motown Records were involved in Mr. Jones’ legal proceedings. It was filed in response to a request to exclude the
Fox News Digital has reached out to Diddy and a representative from his record company.
Sean Diddy Combs investigation: Male music producer accuses mogul of sexual assault, record label backlash
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami were searched last month as part of a human trafficking investigation. (Jordan Strauss)
UMG Recordings was not following its own contract with Combs, but “wanted to rely on it to get out of being a general business partner,” Blackburn claimed to Fox News Digital.
Blackburn claimed that Motown Records did not allocate a budget to Combs, even though it was part of his contract with UMG Recordings.
“So, as I said in the letter, this deal is a ruse,” he added. “It’s a ruse. It’s a scam. It’s fake. Just in case something like this happens, right? They have to point something out to avoid trouble. They gave the guy $1.3 million, if not more, and they had no oversight of the funds, no oversight of what was going on.”
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However, lawyers for the record company argued in a separate letter filed with the court that Jones’ inclusion of the label in the lawsuit was an attempt to “fit a square peg into a round hole.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Los Angeles and Miami homes were raided by the Department of Homeland Security on March 25th. (Getty Images)
The letter, filed by Donald Zakarin, asked the court to dismiss the claims against the label and its current and former executives, including CEO Lucien Grainge. The legal teams for UMG Recordings and Motown Records claimed that Blackburn filed a lawsuit against the record label that contained “offensive, false and vile accusations.”
In a lawsuit originally filed in February, Jones accused Combs of sexually assaulting her and forcing her to have sex with a prostitute.
This photo shows Sean “Diddy” Combs and Rodney Jones attending a Thanksgiving party. (Courtesy of the Southern District of New York)
Jones released Combs’ latest album,Love Album: Off the Grid.The music producer claimed to have lived with the “I’ll Be Missing You” singer for an extended period of time and accused Combs of unprovoked groping and sexual touching.
Jones later amended his complaint to include allegations that Cuba Gooding Jr. also sexually assaulted him.
Rodney Jones claims in his lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs that the photo shows him on a yacht Combs rented with Cuba Gooding Jr. He claimed that he was making advances. (Courtesy of the Southern District of New York)
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Jones agreed to remove former Motown CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam from the lawsuit. Habtemariam said claims that record labels and their executives are involved in sex trafficking allegations are “despicable, deeply outraged accusations and completely false.”
She also accused Mr. Jones’ lawyers of asking him to sign “grossly false” tax returns.
A lawyer for Diddy’s music company Bad Boy Entertainment called Jones’ lawsuit “completely fictional.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs was last seen on Star Island on April 4, days after his home was raided by the Department of Homeland Security. (Romain Maurice/Mega, Fox News Digital)
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“Lil Rod (Rodney Jones) is nothing more than a liar who shamelessly filed a $30 million lawsuit for unjust wages,” Combs’ attorney Sean Hawley said in a statement. said before Fox News Digital. “His reckless publication of his name for events that are completely fictional and did not actually occur is nothing but a blatant attempt to garner headlines.”
