UMG Boss Lucian Grainge Wants Court To Dismiss Him From Lil Rod's Diddy Lawsuit

BYGabriel Bras Nevares1419 Views
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Adam Gardner and Lucian Grainge at the Billboard Power 100 Event held at NeueHouse Hollywood on January 31, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)

The music industry magnate, as well as the various companies involved, had previously expressed similar desires regarding this suit.

The lawsuit against Diddy from Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones, the producer accusing him of sexual assault and sex trafficking, doesn't just include allegations against the Bad Boy mogul. Moreover, two big record companies appeared as defendants in this suit due to alleged liability reasons: Motown and Universal Music Group (UMG), plus a notable individual. This is the head of the latter organization, Sir Lucian Grainge, who reportedly requested the court via his legal team (which is also acting on behalf of these companies) for dismissal from the case altogether. Attorneys for all three parties, referred to as "the UMG Defendants," reportedly filed a motion for this dismissal on Wednesday (April 24) and asked a New York judge to throw out all claims concerning them with prejudice, according to court documents reportedly obtained by journalist Meghann Cuniff.

"All of the claims against Grainge, Motown and UMG Recordings (the ‘UMG Defendants’) in the [second amended complaint] are lacking in any legally cognizable basis," lawyers supposedly argued in court docs concerning the Diddy case. "Every claim [premises] on the untenable strict liability theory that when one enters into a commercial contract, the payor under that contract becomes liable for anything that the recipient of payment does with the payment.

Read More: 50 Cent Endorses Gucci Mane’s Diddy Diss: “That’s What You Get!”

Diddy At Invest Fest 2023

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - AUGUST 26: Sean "Diddy" Combs attends Day 1 of 2023 Invest Fest at Georgia World Congress Center on August 26, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

"There is no law underpinning such theory and the baseless ‘general business partnership’ allegation in the [second amended complaint] provides no support," the legal team reportedly continued in their argument in dismissal from the Diddy case. "The claims against the UMG Defendants are entirely bereft of legal merit and should be dismissed with prejudice.” Lil Rod's lawsuit claims that Lucian Grainge helped Sean Combs engage in his crimes, which Grainge's attorneys allegedly denied outright. "Plaintiff and his counsel (Blackburn) have blown up a $50,000 claim for underpayment for production services into criminal accusations against Sean Combs and his associates,” they reportedly expressed.

Not content to pursue Combs alone, without any factual or legal basis, Plaintiff and his counsel (Blackburn) have also improperly accused Grainge, UMG Recordings and Motown (collectively, the UMG Defendants) of furthering, participating in, and helping to conceal the alleged conduct of Combs and his associates based on a knowingly false ‘general business partnership’ allegation coupled with the fabrication of a non-existent duty to supervise and control how Combs spent his own money,” they concluded. Regardless, for more news and the latest updates on the Diddy case, log back into HNHH.

Read More: Kanye West Poses With Lucian Grainge In Resurfaced Pic Amid His “Rich Baby Daddy” Drake Criticism

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About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a music and pop culture news writer for HotNewHipHop. He started in 2022 as a weekend writer and, since joining the team full-time, has developed a strong knowledge in hip-hop news and releases. Whether it’s regular coverage or occasional interviews and album reviews, he continues to search for the most relevant news for his audience and find the best new releases in the genre. What excites him the most is finding pop culture stories of interest, as well as a deeper passion for the art form of hip-hop and its contemporary output. Specifically, Gabriel enjoys the fringes of rap music: the experimental, boundary-pushing, and raw alternatives to the mainstream sound. As a proud native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, he also stays up-to-date with the archipelago’s local scene and its biggest musical exponents in reggaetón, salsa, indie, and beyond. Before working at HotNewHipHop, Gabriel produced multiple short documentaries, artist interviews, venue spotlights, and audio podcasts on a variety of genres and musical figures. Hardcore punk and Go-go music defined much of his coverage during his time at the George Washington University in D.C. His favorite hip-hop artists working today are Tyler, The Creator, Boldy James, JPEGMAFIA, and Earl Sweatshirt.