Diddy’s sexual assault accuser Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones has removed various high-profile defendants from his lawsuit against the Bad Boy Records mogul.
The bombshell lawsuit initially claimed that Universal Music Group and its chairman Sir Lucian Grainge had “aided and abetted” Puffy in his alleged sexual abuse.
But Jones, a producer who worked on Diddy’s 2023 LP The Love Album: Off the Grid, has now withdrawn those names after threats of legal action.
The claims against Grainge and UMG, as well as Motown Recordings, have been dismissed with prejudice and cannot be refiled.
Lil Rod’s attorney Tyrone Blackburn said in a sworn declaration filed in court: “Based on my examination of all of the papers submitted in support of both motions to dismiss, which addressed the issues I had, I have concluded that there is no legal basis for the claims and allegations that were made against the UMG Defendants.”
He added: “As such, I have determined that the proper course of action is for all of the claims and all of the allegations to be withdrawn immediately.”
Grainge, UMG and Motown had previously sought to dismiss the case, arguing: “All of the claims against Grainge, Motown and UMG Recordings (the ‘UMG Defendants’) in the [second amended complaint] are lacking in any legally cognizable basis.
“Every claim is premised on the untenable strict liability theory that when one enters into a commercial contract, the payor under that contract becomes liable for anything that the recipient of payment does with the payment.
“There is no law underpinning such theory and the baseless ‘general business partnership’ allegation in the [second amended complaint] provides no support. The claims against the UMG Defendants are entirely bereft of legal merit and should be dismissed with prejudice.”
UMG were also mentioned in a lawsuit filed by a Jane Doe who accused Diddy of raping her in the early 1990s when she was just 16.
They also petitioned to be removed from that suit.
“The Complaint’s allegations, if true, are certainly disturbing,” they claimed. “Plaintiff makes no allegation supporting vicarious liability for battery or assault (nor could she).
“Plaintiff’s NIED [negligent infliction of emotional distress] claim also fails because she has not alleged any duty owed to her by UMGR, and nowhere in Plaintiff’s Complaint does she allege that UMGR’s conduct was extreme and outrageous, as she is required to do as a matter of legal sufficiency.”