The relationship between music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and televangelist T.D. Jakes has come under renewed public scrutiny after raids on two of Combs’ homes by federal agents and a recent lawsuit filed by Christian music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones alleging a slew of gun, drug, and sex crimes. Rumors that surfaced last December about Combs and Jakes’ relationship continued to endure afresh online days after federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations raided Combs’ homes in Florida and California as part of a sex trafficking investigation.
In his 98-page lawsuit filed in U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York that was amended, Jones alleged that he was sexually harassed, drugged and threatened by Combs while he lived and worked with Combs from September 2022 to November 2023. The lawsuit also names as defendants actor Cuba Gooding Jr., Combs’ adult son, Justin; his chief of staff, Kristina Khorram; Universal Music Group CEO Sir Lucian Grainge; and former Motown Records CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam. Jakes isn’t named as a defendant but is mentioned once in the civil suit.
Jones claims he recorded hours of video and audio of Combs, his staff and others “engaging in serious illegal activity,” including drug use, shootings and sex crimes. Among the recordings he allegedly made, Jones lists one of “Combs detailing how he planned to leverage his relationship with Bishop T.D. Jakes to soften the impact on his public image of Cassie Ventura’s lawsuit.” The lawsuit notes, “Mr. Combs providing laced alcoholic beverages to minors and sex workers at his homes in California, New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Florida. Mr. Combs’s Chief of Staff, Kristina Khorram (‘KK’), instructing her staff to retrieve drugs so she can provide it to Mr. Combs for his consumption, Christian Combs drugging and sexually assaulting a woman. Mr. Combs detailing how he planned to leverage his relationship with Bishop T.D. Jakes to soften the impact on his public image of Cassie Ventura’s lawsuit.”
In 2022, a video of Jakes attending Diddy’s 53rd birthday party in Los Angeles caused a stir among Christians on social media, with many questioning why he was at the party and whether it was appropriate for him to be attending a party thrown by Diddy, knowing the reputation of those parties. Derrick Williams, executive vice president of TD Jakes Entertainment, who was also in attendance at the party, previously told The Christian Post that the video was captured during a brief stop at the party while they were doing business in the area.
Another source close to the situation also told CP that, as far as they are aware, that is the only party hosted by Diddy that Jakes ever attended. “As a filmmaker, executive producer and one of the pioneers of value-based movies, Bishop Jakes, in his role as CEO of T.D. Jakes Entertainment paid respect to the former chairman of Revolt during the celebration of his birthday,” Williams said. In a statement to ABC 7, a representative for Combs called the lawsuits against him “meritless” and the raid a “witch hunt.”
“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences. There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated. Mr. Combs was never detained but spoke to and cooperated with authorities,” the statement said.