A former model has accused Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexual assault in a new lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York.
The lawsuit alleges that in 2003, Combs assaulted model Crystal McKinney in his music studio after a Men’s Fashion Week dinner.
According to the suit, Combs invited McKinney, then 22, to the New York space, where he and a group of men drank alcohol and smoked marijuana. McKinney said she was offered a joint, which she later believed contained a “narcotic or other intoxicating substance.”
After “insisting that she had had enough,” she said, Combs pressured her to continue drinking and smoking and “demanded” that she follow him to the bathroom .
There, according to the suit, Combs “forced himself” on McKinney, kissing her without her consent and pushing her head down to his crotch. Despite his refusals, she explained, he then forced her to perform oral sex.
Combs then took McKinney back to the studio, where she passed out, according to the lawsuit. When she woke up, she was alone in a taxi headed to the house of an anonymous fashion designer who had introduced McKinney and Combs earlier that night. McKinney said she realized she had been assaulted once she regained consciousness.
McKinney’s attorneys were not immediately available to comment on whether her awareness related to allegations of forced oral sex or another event that occurred while she was unconscious.
Combs faces multiple allegations of sexual assault dating back decades. He is also the subject of a federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations. His representatives did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.
McKinney’s lawsuit comes days after a 2016 surveillance video showed Combs beating his former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, who filed a lawsuit against Combs in November l ‘accusing of rape. That suit was quickly settled, but Combs has since denied the allegations.
In a video posted Saturday, Combs apologized for the actions caught on camera.
“It’s so hard to reflect on the darkest moments of your life, but sometimes you have to do it,” Combs said in his Instagram apologies. “I was screwed – I hit rock bottom – but I can’t make any excuses. My behavior in this video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in this video.
According to McKinney’s lawsuit, the former model felt a “moral obligation” to come forward with her account after Ventura and four others accused Combs of sexual misconduct.
As a result of the alleged sexual assault, McKinney said, she was “ostracized” from the modeling industry, suffered from anxiety and depression and, in 2004, attempted suicide.
“Combs’ assault altered the trajectory of (McKinney’s) career,” the lawsuit states. “To this day, (McKinney) faces episodes of depression, anxiety, body image issues, feelings of worthlessness and intimacy issues because of Combs’ assault.”
The lawsuit also names Combs’ companies Bad Boy Records and Sean John Clothing, as well as music label Universal Music, as defendants, claiming they enabled Combs’ alleged behavior.
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