Ethiopia Habtemariam, Ex-Motown CEO, Refutes Claim She Is Testifying Against Diddy
Ethiopia Habtemariam, the former Motown CEO, denies a claim that she’s testifying against Diddy. February saw Diddy’s former producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, file a lawsuit claiming the mogul sexually assaulted him. The suit also claims that Habtemariam has the knowledge and directly funded Sean Combs’ lifestyle.
AllHipHop reported on Monday (April 1) that Habtemariam has reportedly refuted producer Lil Rod’s assertions. She also refuted claims that she would appear in court to testify. Ethiopia then called out Jones’ attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, for his willingness to peddle falsehoods.
“I am informed and believe that Mr. Blackburn has falsely represented to various social media sites and other media outlets that I agreed to ‘testify against’ Mr. Combs,” Habtemariam said. “This is completely untrue. I have no personal knowledge of any alleged wrongdoing by Mr. Combs, and there is nothing I could testify to that would be against his interest… In short, there is no basis for any of the claims asserted against me, and I should never have been named a defendant in this lawsuit.”
“My counsel provided a revised declaration that addressed the topics that Mr. Blackburn addressed and corrected his false narrative,” she added. “I am aware that Mr. Blackburn found my truthful version to be unsatisfactory to him and he presented yet another version that again presented a false narrative.”
NBC News reported that Jones’ February lawsuit named Diddy, Justin Combs, Combs’ chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, Universal Music Group CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, and ex-Motown Records CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam as defendants.
The explosive lawsuit notes that he lived and traveled with the Bad Boy founder for work from September 2022 to November 2023. During this time frame, he allegedly recorded hours of video and audio detailing Combs and his team “engaging in serious illegal activity.”
Jones’ document claims he was constantly sexually assaulted and exposed to nonconsensual advances by Diddy and his associates. The producer described incidents where Lil’ Rod accuses Combs of groping his genitals and his anus. The suit detailed how Combs would walk around him unclothed. Jones contends that Puffy was attempting to “groom him” for sex. However, Jones claims that Diddy would describe his actions as “horseplay.”
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