Universal Music Group would have had enough legal drama to deal with from its row with TikTok over streaming royalties. Unfortunately for Sir Lucian Grainge (CEO of UMG), the company now finds itself drawn into the legal ruckus between Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
In Jones’ controversial sexual harassment suit against Combs, he’s alleged that the music mogul’s supposed transgressions have involved a number of celebrities and fellow recording industry higher-ups, including Grainge, Usher, Yung Miami, and even the UK’s Prince Harry. However, in a new court filing UMG blasted Jones and his accusations as its lawyers argued for UMG to be dismissed from the ongoing suit. In addition, UMG wants legal penalties levied against attorney Tyrone Blackburn, who filed Jones’ lawsuit.
In the new filing, which was shared on Twitter by legal affairs journalist Meghann Cuniff and reported by Billboard, Universal’s attorney Donald Zakarin writes:
“A license to practice law is a privilege. Mr. Blackburn, plaintiff’s lawyer, has misused that license to self-promote, gratuitously, falsely and recklessly accusing the UMG defendants of criminal behavior… The [complaint] hurls accusations of criminal racketeering and criminal sex trafficking against the UMG defendants, respected individuals and companies having utterly nothing to do with plaintiff’s claims. These accusations are recklessly false and, but for the fact that they are embodied in a complaint, would be libelous.
…I have never seen any lawyer, in any pleading, in any court, accuse people and companies of criminal conduct without the slightest basis and then try to file an amended pleading completely jettisoning every allegation underpinning the original claims and substituting completely different and irreconcilable allegations to support the very same claims.”
The response refutes claims that Grainge has ever been to one of Diddy’s supposed “freak parties,” and points out that the only UMG entity with dealings with Combs was Motown, to distribute one album, The Love Album: Off The Grid. You can see the filing in part below:
“Perhaps he believes that he can make outrageously false allegations in a pleading, never serve them, let them marinate in the press for a month and then completely abandon them, file equally false and legally baseless claims…”
New filing in Jones v. Combs aka Diddy: pic.twitter.com/0AuejpRxHF
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) March 28, 2024