Model Crystal McKinney Sues Sean “Diddy” Combs Over Sexual Assault Claim
Former model Crystal McKinney has filed a lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted by the music mogul at his New York City recording studio in 2003.
According to the complaint, filed in New York and obtained by and reported on by NBC News, a then 22-year-old McKinney, first met Combs at a dinner at Cipriani Downtown in Manhattan and was told she “was going to make it big one day” as a model and was promised help in her career.
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The lawsuit adds that later that evening McKinney went to Combs’ recording studio and one of his associates offered her a joint of marijuana. “Plaintiff later came to understand that Combs had laced the joint with a narcotic or other intoxicating substance,” the suit alleges.
“Seeing Plaintiff was very intoxicated, Combs demanded Plaintiff follow him and he physically led Plaintiff to the bathroom,” the complaint adds, while adding McKinney was then allegedly sexually assaulted by the rap star.
McKinney gained public attention when she won MTV’s 1998 Model Mission series, which earned her a modeling contract with IMG. Her lawsuit is the latest Combs faces as he is accused elsewhere of rape, sexual assault and sex trafficking.
He has denied all of the allegations. In March, his Miami and Los Angeles’ homes were raided by the Department of Homeland Security, which investigates allegations of human trafficking.
On May 19, Combs apologized on his Instagram for a recently surfaced 2016 video that sees him attacking his ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura. In response, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office said in a statement that they were “aware of the video” and that they “find the images extremely disturbing and difficult to watch,” but that “we would be unable to charge as the conduct would have occurred beyond the timeline where a crime of assault can be prosecuted.”
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