Diddy Lawsuit Judge Dismisses Multiple Claims Made by Rodney Jones, Including Alleged RICO Violation

A New York judge has dismissed multiple claims made by Rodney “Lil Rod”Jones against Diddy, as well as issued a “warning” to his lawyer. Among the newly dismissed claims related to the case against the Bad Boy Records founder are a federal-level allegation of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, more commonly referred to as RICO, and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, or TVPA.

As first reported by TMZ, the latter dismissed claim was against Combs Global, Diddy’s company. Other newly dismissed claims include negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and breach of contract. The larger case, meanwhile, is proceeding with the sexual assault allegations against Diddy not dismissed.

Still, as seen in court docs viewed by Complex, the judge in the case—J. Paul Oetken, of the Southern District of New York—notes that the allegations made against Diddy by Jones “need only be plausible, not probable, at this stage in the proceedings.”

Elsewhere in the docs, Oetken includes a discussion section titled “Warning to Counsel.” In this section of the 31-page order, the court says it has been deemed “necessary to issue a warning” to Jones’ lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn. According to the court, Blackburn has engaged in “unsettling” conduct ranging from what’s argued to be “inaccurate statements of law” to “schoolyard taunts.”

The Jones suit has spurred numerous headlines over the past year, as have other allegations against Diddy. The case is separate, however, from Combs’ federal racketeering and trafficking trial. The trial is expected to begin in May, though that date could be moved again pending jury selection.

At a hearing earlier this month, Diddy’s legal team argued that CNN-released hotel surveillance footage of Diddy and Cassie circa 2016 (considered a “critical” piece of evidence by prosecutors) was “deceptive” and had been edited. In a prior statement to Complex, a CNN spokesperson pushed back against these claims, saying, in part, “CNN never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source.”

In May of last year, Diddy shared a video to Instagram in which he addressed the footage, widely reported at the time to show him assaulting Cassie, with whom he was previously in a relationship.

“I take full responsibility for my actions in that video,” he said at the time.