Cuba Gooding Jr. is being accused of sexual assault in a music producer’s $30 million lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The actor has been named in an amended version of the suit filed on Feb. 25, which now lists him as a defendant in the case.
Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr. first filed his lawsuit against his former employer Combs in February, accusing the rapper and business mogul of sexually harassing, drugging and threatening him for more than a year, according to his civil complaint lodged at a New York federal court.
Gooding was mentioned in the original filing, but a new version of the suit naming him as a defendant came to light on March 25, with its contents reported by Page Six.
In the complaint, Jones claims the Oscar-winning star began “touching, groping, and fondling (his) legs, his upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks and his shoulders” while they were on a yacht in the U.S. Virgin Islands rented by Combs in January last year.
The producer said he was convinced Combs was “grooming him” to “pass him off to his friends” when he introduced him to Gooding – and allegedly “suggested that Cuba ‘get to know’ Mr. Jones better.”
Jones said he was left “extremely uncomfortable” and “rejected [Cuba’s] advances” – but added the Jerry Maguire actor “did not stop until Mr. Jones forcibly pushed him away.”
Combs’ grown-up son Justin — as well as his chief of staff Kristina Khorram and Universal Music Group CEO Sir Lucian Grainge — are also named as defendants in Jones’ updated lawsuit.
“‘Lil Rod’ is nothing more than a liar who filed a $30 million lawsuit shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday,” Combs’ lawyer, Shawn Holley, said in a statement at the time of Jones’ original filing.
“His reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines,” Holley stated. “We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies. Our attempts to share this proof with Mr Jones’ attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, have been ignored, as Mr Blackburn refuses to return our calls. We will address these outlandish allegations in court and take all appropriate action against those who make them.”
On March 25, two of Combs’ mansions were raided by federal agents, which a Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson said was “part of an ongoing investigation.”
Gooding has previously faced sexual assault allegations, and in April 2022 pleaded guilty to one count of forcibly touching a woman at a New York City rooftop bar in 2018.
In June 2023, the actor settle a 2020 lawsuit brought against him, in which he was accused of raping a woman twice in 2013.
