Editor’s note: The following article includes a discussion of sexual coercion and abuse.
What does Sean “Diddy” Combs have in common with R. Kelly and fallen Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein?
All three men have been accused of sexual grooming. But what’s that mean, exactly?
Grooming is a process that sexual predators use to win the trust and cooperation of their potential victims. A groomer gradually makes their victim comfortable with unwanted touching and sexual acts.
In an analysis of cases involving sexual grooming, the New York Times’ Anne Barnard writes that grooming by itself is not codified in law as a crime – but it’s among the first steps toward breaking down the victim’s barriers and resistance to sexual abuse.
In his federal lawsuit, music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr. alleges that Diddy attempted to groom him to have sex with men. According to the complaint, Diddy showed Lil Rod a video of Stevie J. penetrating a man “to ease Mr. Jones’ anxiety concerning homosexuality,” telling him that homosexuality “is a normal practice in the music industry.”
“Mr. Combs used access to Stevie J., and his knowledge of Mr. Jones’ admiration of Stevie J to groom and entice Mr. Jones to engage in homosexuality,” the lawsuit states.
Lil Rod also claims that Diddy was grooming him for sex trafficking to the billionaire mogul’s friends, including Cuba Gooding Jr. Lil Rod alleges that Diddy introduced him to Gooding and suggested that they “get to know” each other before leaving them alone on his yacht, where Gooding allegedly made unwanted sexual advances.
The Pied Piper
Grooming typically involves underaged victims, as was the case with fallen R&B star R. Kelly, who’s serving two federal prison sentences after his conviction in New York City and Chicago. His offenses includes child pornography, enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, sex trafficking and racketeering.
Over a period of decades, alleged victims have come forward and said Kelly would groom them for sexual acts that he recorded on video. Many of them were underaged aspiring singers when he exploited them.
But, as Diddy and Weinstein have proven, adults are also vulnerable to grooming: Typically, predators leverage the power imbalance they have with potential victims, which can include employer-employee, mentor-mentee and doctor-patient relationships.
Sexual groomers are masters of using psychology and behavioral dynamics in targeting minors and adults, attorney Paul Mones wrote in The Los Angeles Times about Weinstein, who was convicted of rape and other sexual offenses in New York and Los Angeles, setting off the #MeToo movement.
“With the obvious difference that Weinstein’s alleged victims weren’t children, he reportedly employed similarly manipulative tactics to achieve his ends, promising movie roles and attempting to normalize such propositions by rattling off the names of other actresses who had purportedly complied,” Mones wrote.
Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction was overturned Thursday, bringing into question the future of his incarceration. But Diddy, who has denied all allegations against him, will have his day in court to respond to his grooming claims – along with the rest of his laundry list of claims.
