Current:Home > FinanceFormer model sues Sean 'Diddy' Combs, claims he drugged, sexually assaulted her in 2003 -Wealth Axis Pro
Former model sues Sean 'Diddy' Combs, claims he drugged, sexually assaulted her in 2003
View
Date:2025-04-16 00:29:35
Embattled music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has been accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a young model in the early 2000s.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Crystal McKinney alleges Diddy, then 34, assaulted the 22-year-old model at his New York City studio in 2003 and forced her to perform oral sex.
McKinney also claims the hip-hop icon derailed her career by having her “blackballed” in the modeling industry, despite earlier promising to help her professionally. The ordeal purportedly led to a decline in McKinney’s mental health, including “bouts of depression, anxiety, body image issues, feelings of worthlessness and intimacy issues.”
In recent months, Combs, 54, has faced a series of sexual assault lawsuits alleging he raped or sexually assaulted multiple women over the past few decades. In March, his Los Angeles home was raided by Homeland Security Investigations agents, reportedly in connection with an ongoing sex trafficking investigation in New York.
McKinney, who is described as a “woman of faith,” said she felt a “moral obligation” to come forward with her experience after seeing media coverage of Diddy's legal woes.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
McKinney “prayed to God before bringing this lawsuit, as she feared further violence and/or retaliation from Defendant Combs, but ultimately decided that she needed to speak her truth,” the lawsuit reads. She “seeks justice for herself" and other alleged victims of Combs.
Combs’ companies Bad Boy Records, Sean John Clothing and Universal Music Group are also named as defendants in the case.
USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for McKinney and Combs for comment.
Crystal McKinney details alleged sexual assault by Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
In the lawsuit, McKinney claims she met Combs after being invited to a Men’s Fashion Week event at New York City restaurant Cipriani Downtown by an unnamed fashion designer.
During the dinner, Combs allegedly “made a very public display of coming on to (McKinney) in a sexually suggestive manner” and plied McKinney with alcohol “as he repeatedly refilled her glass with wine.”
Per McKinney’s filing, the music mogul also told the model he was going to help advance her career and gave McKinney his phone number “as a gesture of good faith.” McKinney won MTV’s Model Mission contest in 1998 and had previously modeled for Tommy Hilfiger.
Combs invited McKinney to visit his studio later that night, according to the lawsuit, where she smoked marijuana with the “Hello Good Morning” rapper and his associates. McKinney alleges the marijuana joint “felt very powerful” and that it had been laced with “a narcotic or other intoxicating substance.”
Shortly afterward, Combs allegedly led McKinney to the bathroom, the filing states. After Combs forced himself onto her and kissed her “without her consent,” McKinney claims Combs “shoved her head down to his crotch” and forced her to perform oral sex.
Following the alleged assault, McKinney began to feel increasingly “woozy” and subsequently lost consciousness, per the complaint. The model later awoke inside a taxicab that drove her back to the fashion designer’s apartment.
Crystal McKinney says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs ‘blackballed’ her in modeling industry after alleged assault
McKinney claims in the lawsuit that she was “blackballed” following her alleged assault by Diddy, as her “modeling opportunities quickly began to dwindle and then evaporated entirely.”
The model says she found herself in a “tailspin of anxiety and depression,” per the filing, which resulted in a hospitalization for a suicide attempt around 2004.
“Combs’ assault has altered the trajectory of (McKinney’s) career, denying her a successful and lucrative career in the modeling and film industries,” the lawsuit reads.
McKinney has also reportedly suffered from alcohol and drug addiction, as well as intimacy issues, as a result of Combs’ alleged assault, according to the former model’s complaint.
The lawsuit was filed under New York's Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, which created a two-year lookback window for survivors of gender-motivated violence to seek legal action against their abusers, regardless of when the abuse took place.
McKinney is demanding a jury trial for the case. She is also seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for the “mental and emotional injury, distress, pain and suffering, and injury to her reputation.”
Contributing: Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800-656-HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
veryGood! (4)
Related
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- Wisconsin DNR says emerald ash borer find in Burnett County means beetle has spread across state
- Mexican drug lord Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada and 'El Chapo' Guzman's son arrested in Texas
- Iron coated teeth, venom and bacteria: A Komodo dragon's tool box for ripping apart prey
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- A look at ‘El Mayo’ Zambada, the kingpin of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel who is now in US custody
- How many US athletes are competing at 2024 Paris Olympics? Full Team USA roster
- A Louisiana police officer was killed during a SWAT operation, officials say
- Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
- 2024 Paris Olympics: See the Athletes’ Most Emotional Moments
Ranking
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Mammoth Overland Tall Boy Overland Camping Trailer is a tall glass of awesome
- Christina Hall Says She Reached “Breaking Point” With “Insecure” Ex Josh Hall Amid Divorce
- Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony in primetime: Highlights, updates from NBC's replay
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Get an Extra 60% off J.Crew Sale Styles, 50% Off Old Navy, 80% Off Old Navy, 70% Off Sam Edelman & More
- Mexican drug lord Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada and 'El Chapo' Guzman's son arrested in Texas
- Snoop Dogg carries Olympic torch ahead of Paris opening ceremony
Recommendation
Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
What to know about NBC's Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony plans and how to watch
Horoscopes Today, July 26, 2024
Olympics 2024: Chrissy Teigen and John Legend's Kids Luna and Miles Steal the Show at Opening Ceremony
New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
Kamala Harris, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Aniston and when we reduce women to 'childless cat ladies'
Gov. Newsom passed a new executive order on homeless encampments. Here’s what it means
Man gets 66 years in prison for stabbing two Indianapolis police officers who responded to 911 call