Music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones is speaking out against his former employer Sean “Diddy” Combs as the disgraced media mogul is seeking to dismiss Jones’ $30 million lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment and of drugging and threatening Jones.
“He’s a monster,” Jones told Rolling Stone in an interview published Tuesday. “He’ll do whatever is necessary to get exactly what he wants. He doesn’t take no for an answer. He [told me] himself, ‘I’ll smack my mama.’ Anybody who can say that even jokingly is a monster.”
“He’s nothing to be played with,” the producer continued.
While rumors and allegations of crimes and abuses by Combs have been around for years, they found renewed traction after surveillance video of Combs assaulting his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura was obtained by CNN in May. Ventura had accused the rapper of rape and physical assault in a November lawsuit, which was settled within a day.
Combs apologized for his actions against Ventura in a controversial Instagram clip after the video came out. However, he denied the claims Jones made in his February lawsuit at the time, and said Monday in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit that Jones is merely trying “to extract a settlement.”
Multiple other women have come forward with allegations of sexual assault and abuse against Combs.
Jones claimed in his suit that Combs repeatedly “groped” him, forced him to participate in sex acts with sex workers, and secretly drugged him while working on Combs’ “Love Album” from 2022 to 2023. He also accused Combs of engaging in sex trafficking and covering up a shooting.
Jones told Rolling Stone that the lawsuit has put his career in a “very, very tough” place as those associated with Combs or those hesitant to incur his wrath “don’t want to come near working with me.” While he’s finished a new album, he said, “people are too scared” to help market it.
Jones said he can’t even go on tour, as he believes he’d need security to protect himself from Combs’ goons “and most musicians don’t get paid enough to take security.”
In his personal life, Jones has been similarly constrained, he said, as he’s received countless “threats.”
“He’s very connected,” Jones told the outlet. “It’s made me nervous traveling. Going to hotels, I ask if there’s any way to remove my name. [The last time] I landed in L.A., I knew he had connections there. I got off the plane worried. I masked my face and changed my outfits.”
“I’ve got three therapists,” he added. “Everybody saw the video of Cassie. This is who I’m dealing with.”
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In a statement alongside Combs’ motion to dismiss the suit Monday, the rapper’s attorney Erica Wolff called the suite “pure fiction — a shameless attempt to create media hype and extract a quick settlement.”
“There was no RICO conspiracy and Mr. Jones was not threatened, groomed, assaulted, or trafficked,” Wolff said.
Jones is not only moving forward with his lawsuit despite the pressure, but amended his 73-page filing shortly after the initial filing to include 25 more pages — in which he claims Combs promised him $20,000 and four royalty points per song for every “Love” track he worked on, Rolling Stone reports.
Jones said he hasn’t been compensated for his work and is now officially “broke.”
“Mr. Jones was hired as a session musician and sound engineer for ‘The Love Album’ and was fully compensated for his contribution,” a spokesperson for Combs told Rolling Stone in a statement that denied the existence of the verbal agreement Jones says exists.
The besieged producer noted that he regularly performed in arenas last year, but due to his anxiety about Combs, has “only done a total of three gigs” in 2024. Jones said he’s “had a couple mental breakdowns” and has been living in literal hiding from Combs.
“For safety reasons, I’m not saying,” he told Rolling Stone when asked where he is based now. “There have been too many people trying to figure out where I’m at. I moved locations, moved states. Everything is private. My mom doesn’t even know where I live. It’s been like that pretty much all year.”
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.