[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones is breaking his silence six months after filing his bombshell lawsuit against Diddy.
Back in February, the music producer launched a shocking lawsuit against the Bad Boy Records founder, alleging everything from sexual harassment and sexual assault to being drugged, groped, forced to sleep with sex workers, not getting paid for his work on the rapper’s 2023 record The Love Album: Off the Grid, as well as much, much more. On Monday, Diddy’s camp attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed in Manhattan federal court. But now, Rodney is hitting back.
In a sprawling conversation with Rolling Stone published on Tuesday, the plaintiff alleged that in the wake of his filing, it’s been near impossible for him to find work in the industry:
“Because of this lawsuit, most people don’t want to come near working with me for whatever reasons, whether they’ve been in partnership with Puff or they want to just sit back and see what happens. He’s a gatekeeper in the music industry.”
Related: Diddy DID Pay For Hit On Tupac, Murder Suspect Told Cops!
He added:
“In this industry, to be successful, you have to have worked with someone like him or Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Kanye or 50 Cent. So many people I’ve worked with have had business deals with him. I reached out to try to get a deal for my album, and people don’t want to get involved.”
Obviously, if that’s true, that’s a pretty raw deal for somebody who has up to this point made his livelihood in music…
The producer speculated:
“People are too scared, whatever their reasons are, to touch this. My name is all over the [Love Album] credits, so I had to have done some producing. It got a Grammy nomination. And I’m sitting here doing nothing, unable to work. This is not right.”
And seemingly amid all the legal fees and lack of income, Rodney has hit a wall:
“I’m broke. I have no source of income right now. Every month I’m trying to figure out how the bills are going to get paid.”
Oof. That’s awful!! He cited a show that he did for Juneteenth at the Hollywood Bowl with T-Pain, but noted that showing his face there amid the ongoing legal issues was nothing short of terrifying:
“Doing that show, I had a couple mental breakdowns. I almost felt like it was too soon for me to try to come back outside to work. My anxiety was out the roof. I saw different guys backstage I didn’t know and got scared. I wondered where the security was. It made me very uncomfortable. It’s not a good feeling wondering if someone was there to attack me.”
He added:
“I’ve got three therapists. Everybody saw the video of Cassie. This is who I’m dealing with.”
Poor dude! Looking over your shoulder like that must be exhausting… Especially when he was just trying to make some money to afford his bills! And Rodney clearly feels wronged for being ousted from the biz, because he feels that all he’s trying to do is bring “justice” for himself and others affected by Diddy. He told the news org:
“Here I am standing up for justice, for what I believe is right for my life, and I’m being punished for that. I’m blackballed, for sure. I’ve had many nights and weeks and months of suicidal thoughts. It’s the music that has kept me living all my life.”
“Suicidal thoughts”? Oof. That’s just SO horrible that he’s been driven to that point.
Speaking directly about Diddy, he added:
“He’s a monster. 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. For a person whose brand is Love Records, and changed their name to Love and named their kid Love, he doesn’t show love. He’s just marketing.”
Scary, disheartening stuff! What are your thoughts on this latest update in the Diddy case, Perezcious readers? Be sure to let us know in the comments down below…
For resources on mental health, visit https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help.
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, help is available. Consider contacting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, by calling, texting, or chatting, or go to 988lifeline.org.
[Image via Billboard/YouTube]
