Lil Rod Alleges He’s Broke and Living in Fear After Suing Diddy

Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, the music producer who filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs earlier this year, has broken his silence.

In an interview with Rolling Stone published Tuesday, Jones opened up about his ongoing fears for his safety, the impact on his career, and the personal toll of taking on a powerful figure in the music industry.

Jones, who accused Diddy of sexual assault, sex trafficking, racketeering, and more in his lawsuit, shared that life has been a nightmare since going public with the allegations.

“There have been too many people trying to figure out where I’m at,” he said. “I moved locations, moved states. Everything is private. My mom doesn’t even know where I live. It’s been like that pretty much all year.”

The producer explained that threats against him have forced him to take extreme precautions, including hiring security for public appearances. While he managed to perform with T-Pain in Los Angeles this June and attend 50 Cent’s Humor & Harmony festival in August, he said it wasn’t without fear.

“Diddy has a lot of people on his payroll in a lot of different positions. He’s very connected. It’s made me nervous traveling,” Jones said. “Going to hotels, I ask if there’s any way to remove my name… I masked my face and changed my outfits, trying to disguise myself. For sure I was uncomfortable, paranoid, afraid.”

Jones said he’s also dealing with severe financial hardship. “I’m broke. I have no source of income right now,” he told the outlet. “Every month I’m trying to figure out how the bills are going to get paid. I had my phone turned off for like 24 hours.”

According to Jones, many in the industry have distanced themselves from him, but T-Pain has stood by him.

“T-Pain is a real friend… His team worked to make sure it was safe for me [to work the show in Los Angeles]. That felt good. But there should be more artists like T-Pain having my back.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Jones also described feeling blackballed from the industry since filing the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, which Jones and several women have filed against Diddy, accuses the hip-hop mogul of heinous acts. Diddy, who is reportedly under federal investigation for sex trafficking, has responded by seeking to have the case dismissed. His lawyer called the claims “pure fiction” and a “shameless attempt” to extract a quick settlement.