Former model accuses Diddy of drug abuse and sexual assault in new lawsuit

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been accused of sexual assault in a new lawsuit filed by a woman who claims the hip-hop mogul attacked her in a recording studio bathroom in 2003.

According to the lawsuit filed by attorneys Michelle Caiola and Jonathan Goldhirsch in U.S. District Court in New York, Crystal McKinney claims she met Combs at a Men’s Fashion Week dinner in Manhattan, at the invitation of a fashion designer she knew. During the dinner, McKinney claims that Combs approached her in a “sexually suggestive manner” and invited her to hang out at his recording studio.

When she arrived at the studio, where McKinney said several other men were present, she said he gave her alcohol and a marijuana joint, which she later believed was “laced with a narcotic or other intoxicating substance.” She claims Combs then led her to the restroom, began kissing her without her consent, pushed her head into his crotch, and forced her to perform oral sex despite her protests.

McKinney, who was working as a professional model at the time, claims she later “woke up in shock” and found herself in a taxi heading back to the apartment of the designer who had invited her to dinner. At that point, she “realized that she had been sexually abused by Combs,” the complaint states. After the alleged assault, McKinney claimed that her “modeling opportunities quickly began to dwindle and then completely evaporated” after Combs allegedly “pressured” her in the industry. She states that she fell into “a whirlwind of anxiety and depression,” attempting suicide in 2004 and later turning to drugs and alcohol to cope with the trauma.

The lawsuit was filed under the NYC Gender Motivated Violence Act, which provides a two-year lookback window beginning in March 2023 that allows survivors of gender-based violence to sue their perpetrators for incidents that occurred outside the statute of limitations.

Combs’ label Bad Boy Records, his parent company Universal Music Group and Combs’ clothing company Sean John Clothing are also named as defendants in the lawsuit. McKinney alleges that these companies “enabled” the alleged assault by “actively retaining and using Combs in a position of power” despite allegedly knowing that Combs posed a risk of sexual assault.

McKinney is seeking damages for psychological and emotional injury, despair, pain and suffering, and defamation of reputation, as well as punitive and other damages.

This lawsuit is the sixth sexual misconduct lawsuit filed against Combs in recent months. The series of lawsuits began with a complaint filed in November 2023 by his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who alleged that Combs repeatedly abused him for more than a decade.

Although Ventura’s lawsuit was settled just a day later, a 2016 security video released by CNN on May 17 showed Combs physically attacking Ventura in a hotel hallway. Although Combs denied all of Ventura’s initial allegations, he apologized for his behavior in the video, calling it “inexcusable.” Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón later stated that Combs could not be prosecuted for the assault because of the statute of limitations.

Combs has strongly denied all allegations of sexual assault. On December 6, he released a statement saying, “Let me be clear: I did none of the terrible things that are being alleged. “I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”

In November, Combs stepped down as chairman of his digital media company Revolt before reportedly selling his stake in the company in March. Also in March, federal agents conducted raids on Combs’ homes in LA and Miami “in connection” with a federal sex trafficking investigation, according to CNN.