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Legal professionals for the document label named in a bombshell lawsuit accusing Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexually abusing a male music producer have requested a federal decide to hurry up the method of dismissing their shoppers from the case as authorized stress mounts in opposition to the mogul himself.
In a letter to the decide, lawyer Donald Zakarin referred to as Rodney Jones’ inclusion of the recording large within the lawsuit an try “to suit a sq. peg right into a spherical gap” as he distanced Combs, who’s going through scrutiny from Homeland Safety Investigations, from the label.
Zakarin, who represents UMG Recordings and its Motown Data division, is asking the courtroom to have the allegations in opposition to the label and present and former executives, together with CEO Lucian Grainge, dismissed.
Jones’ lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, first amended the lawsuit final month, and the document firm beforehand moved to have that dismissed even because it backtracked on allegations involving the label and its executives. He has since sought to file a second amended grievance with extra revisions, a transfer the document label has requested the decide to disclaim.
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Sean Combs is proven outdoors his Miami house on Easter. (Backgrid/Mega)
“The movement to amend ought to be denied as futile, so the movement to dismiss might be promptly addressed,” Zakarin argued.
The most recent filings embody two sworn statements from document executives who disputed Jones’ model of occasions. The music large additionally denied having any possession stake in Combs’ Love Data label, for which Jones labored for a few yr.
Jones has already agreed to drop former Motown CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam from the lawsuit. In her personal written assertion, she referred to as the declare that the document label or its executives have been concerned in any of the alleged intercourse trafficking “vile and deeply upsetting accusations, and are fully unfaithful.”
She additionally accused Jones’ authorized group of asking her to signal a “materially false” declaration.
Sean Combs faces a number of sexual assault lawsuits. (Getty Pictures)
Jones has additionally blamed the document label for lax safety at a 2022 writing workshop in a music studio, the place the producer claimed to have overheard a taking pictures and insinuated that Combs may have been accountable.
Combs or considered one of his corporations concerned in organizing the workshop ought to have been liable for any safety on the occasion, the label countered in courtroom.
Blackburn has countered on social media that he has an abundance of extra proof not but talked about in courtroom filings.
Rodney Jones’ attorneys included this picture within the lawsuit. In accordance with courtroom filings, it was taken at a Thanksgiving occasion with Jones pictured on the left sitting subsequent to Sean “Diddy” Combs. (Southern District of NY)
“The plaintiff’s lawyer seems that he’s advancing claims on behalf of his consumer which might be demonstrably inaccurate – at the least from the angle of the filings from the protection,” mentioned David Gelman, a New Jersey-based lawyer and former prosecutor who has been following the case. “If true, that isn’t solely an issue from the angle of the viability of his software but additionally from an moral standpoint.”
The social media posts from Jones’ lawyer might be one other downside, he mentioned.
“His feedback usually are not ‘skilled’ for my part and are extra consistent with a pro-wrestler,” he added. “The optics are dangerous. He actually must do his speaking in courtroom and never on-line. And people dangerous optics play into the declare that he’s advancing a false narrative to generate media consideration.”
Rodney Jones, in his lawsuit in opposition to Sean “Diddy” Combs, alleges that this {photograph} exhibits him with Cuba Gooding Jr. on a yacht that Combs rented and the place the actor allegedly made undesirable advances. (Southern District of New York)
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The civil lawsuit apart, consultants say the truth that the federal government obtained search warrants for 2 of Combs’ sprawling properties is damning.
“The U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace within the Southern District of New York doesn’t go to a federal decide and get a number of search warrants except they suppose they’ve possible trigger to get a grand jury indictment,” mentioned Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles-based former federal prosecutor. “I believe he’s finished.”
Derrick Parker, a former member of the NYPD’s rap-related intelligence unit, instructed Fox Information Digital that the federal government would usually discover one thing substantial earlier than in search of a search warrant in broad daylight.
Sean “Diddy” Combs stands on the waterfront aspect of his Star Island mansion in Florida on March 30, 2024. The house was raided earlier within the week in reference to a intercourse trafficking investigation. (Backgrid/Mega)
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“The rationale that Homeland Safety received concerned is as a result of one thing got here throughout that they needed to become involved,” mentioned Parker, whose ebook, “Infamous COP,” delves into the investigation into the 1999 nightclub taking pictures wherein Combs was acquitted.
“He was quiet for some time, however the issue you will have is that now all this stuff are all coming to mild,” he added. “All these those that have previous histories with him, they’re all popping out of the woodwork.”
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Singer Cassie claimed she endured greater than a decade of abuse by the hands of Sean “Diddy” Combs. (Getty Pictures)
Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, higher often called the R&B singer Cassie, sued him in November alleging rape and different abuse. They settled a day later with out the billionaire Combs admitting wrongdoing.
Nevertheless, within the months since, at the least 4 different individuals have sued him alleging comparable abuse, together with Jones and three different ladies, considered one of whom alleges she was underneath the age of 18 on the time she turned a sufferer.
Regardless of the federal investigation, Combs has not been charged with against the law and denied all accusations of wrongdoing.
His lawyer referred to as Jones’ lawsuit “pure fiction.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs has stored a low profile since his properties have been raided on March 25. (Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Pictures for Sean “Diddy” Combs)
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“Lil Rod (Rodney Jones) is nothing greater than a liar who filed a $30 million lawsuit shamelessly on the lookout for an undeserved payday,” Combs’ lawyer, Shawn Holley, beforehand instructed Fox Information Digital. “His reckless name-dropping about occasions which might be pure fiction and easily didn’t occur is nothing greater than a clear try and garner headlines.”
Diddy probe: File label fires again after music producer accuses him of assault
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