Cuba Gooding Jr. Responds to Claims in Rodney Jones' Diddy Lawsuit

Cuba Gooding Jr's firing back at allegations made in Rodney Jones' lawsuit against Diddy ... and, he's also distancing himself from the drama at large.

The actor sat down for a segment on the "PBD Podcast" with Patrick Bet-David ... and, the topic of Diddy came up -- beginning with Cuba's reaction to the shocking raid on his house.

Cuba says the whole scene blew him away ... and, he found it all the more shocking when news channels mentioned his name the next day.

You'll remember ... Rodney Jones, Diddy's former producer, named CGJ in his lawsuit against the mogul -- claiming Diddy introduced them on his yacht and Cuba allegedly started "touching, groping, and fondling" Jones.

Rodney also provided a photo allegedly showing the encounter ... where Cuba appears to have his arm wrapped around the producer's shoulder.

Well, Cuba's sharing his version of events ... saying this encounter occurred on New Year's Eve while he jumped from yacht party to yacht party -- and, when he got to Diddy's, he says he was invited to listen to a P. Diddy's song.

Cuba even shows a pic to David-Bet claiming it proves nothing sordid happened ... but, the pic's not shown to the audience, so it's hard to say what he's actually pointing out.

Gooding Jr. says he left after the song, tossing an arm on Rodney's shoulder saying something and then walking out ... and, says the whole reason Rodney's making claims about him is because he's going after big money from Diddy. Cuba adds he and Diddy are more acquaintances than friends.

Worth noting ... Cuba says he never met Diddy until 2019 or 2020 -- though a photo of the pair next to each other in 2003's also been dug up in recent weeks. Unclear if Cuba just forgot the meeting or if the photo just happened to capture both of them.