Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones will have to refile his lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cuba Gooding Jr., after failing to serve both stars with legal documents needed to move the suit forward.
Yesterday, a judge ruled that since Jones’ attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, has not effectively served both men, he will dismiss the case without prejudice, allowing him to refile and start over. The judge says that even though Blackburn had sufficient time to finish the job, he waited until the deadline was almost near to try to serve them.
According to court documents, Blackburn attempted to serve Justin at his home, but a towering gate and heavy fencing made access impossible. Blackburn instructed the process server to hand the papers to a security guard instead, which they failed to do, per TMZ. The server returned the next day, only to leave empty-handed again, insisting that “[s]ervice to the security guard or front desk personnel will not be accepted by your court.”
Despite Tyrone making it clear that the legal arguments were his responsibility and the server needed to do his job, the documents were never delivered to Justin or any guard on site. As for Gooding, the court noted that Blackburn failed to provide any proof he even attempted to serve him in either New York or Florida.
Jones’ legal fight began in February 2024, when the lawsuit was officially filed. His $30 million lawsuit against Diddy alleges that while working on Diddy’s “Love” album between 2022 and 2023, he was subjected to unwanted sexual contact, drugging, and coercion into participating in sex acts with prostitutes. Jones claimed that Combs groped him without consent and attempted to “groom” him into engaging in sexual activities with Gooding Jr.
A New York judge later dismissed five of the nine claims, including those under the RICO Act, but allowed specific allegations of sexual assault and premises liability to proceed.