Cuba Gooding Jr. has finally spoken out regarding Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ongoing legal battle and his own alleged involvement in the controversy. In an interview on the “PBD Podcast” on Wednesday, May 8, Gooding, 56, expressed his surprise at being mentioned in relation to Diddy’s troubles, especially after hearing about raids on Diddy’s homes by Homeland Security.
“That’s the craziest thing I ever heard,” he said. “How ‘bout me? I wake up in the morning, I turn on the Today show [and hear], ‘Hector, Cuba Gooding Jr.’ I was like, ‘Excuse me, pull me into this?’”
Diddy, 54, was initially accused of misconduct and sexual assault by his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in November 2023. Though the lawsuit was settled within a day, several others later came forward with similar allegations against Diddy. Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, a producer, sued Diddy for $30 million in February, alleging that Diddy drugged, threatened, and sexually assaulted him over the course of a year.
Diddy fervently denied the accusations through his lawyer, Shawn Holley, who described the lawsuit as a “shameless” attempt to gain an “undeserved payday.”
In March, Jones amended his complaint, adding Gooding as a defendant, suggesting that Diddy had tried to “pass off” Jones to Gooding and claimed Diddy failed to intervene when Gooding forcibly touched Jones. Gooding initially remained silent on the matter.
“My lawyers said, you know, ‘Every outlet in the world wants to talk with you,’” he explained during the podcast. “I’m not, like, defining myself from headlines in the press, so I stayed quiet.”
Gooding, however, clarified that he only met Diddy twice, once at a New Year’s Eve party on the rapper’s yacht in 2019, and denied being alone with Jones during that event.
As the legal situation continues, Homeland Security raided two of Diddy’s homes in March, as part of a federal sex trafficking investigation. Diddy wasn’t present during the raids, nor has he been arrested or charged with any crime. His lawyer, Aaron Dyer, criticized the authorities’ actions, describing it as a “gross overuse of military-level force.”
