Sean Diddy Combs accused of sexual assault in new lawsuit filed by former MTV Model Mission winner

By Alli Rosenbloom and Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN

(CNN) — Sean Diddy Combswas accused of sexual assault in a new lawsuit filed Tuesday by Crystal McKinney, a former model and winner of MTV's ModelMission competition in 1998.

According to the complaint filed in New York and obtained by CNN, McKinney claims she was drugged and sexually assaulted in 2003 by Combs following a Mens Fashion Week event in New York.

McKinney, who was 22 at the time, first met Combs at a dinner, where he approached her in a sexually suggestive manner and told her to call him later, according to the complaint . McKinney felt confused but hoped Combs would keep his promises to help. her career, and Combs invited her to his recording studio later that night, the complaint continues.

At the studio, Combs offered McKinney marijuana, which she said was laced with a narcotic or other intoxicant. The complaint alleges that Combs saw that McKinney was very intoxicated and asked her to follow him while he physically led her to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Combs began kissing her without her consent and then forced her to perform oral sex on him, according to the complaint.

After the attack, McKinney claims she felt increasingly dizzy, then lost consciousness, then woke up in a taxi headed to the apartment owned by the designer she was working with at the time. . As she came to, the plaintiff realized she had been sexually assaulted by Combs, the complaint states.

CNN has contacted representatives for Combs and McKinney for comment, as well as representatives for Bad Boy Records, Sean John Clothing LLC and Universal Music Group Inc., whose entities have also been named as defendants.

McKinney is suing the defendants for violating New York's Gender-Based Violence Protection Act.

According to New York City CouncilThe law gives survivors of gender-motivated violence more time to file a civil action by extending the statute of limitations and also applies to such acts committed by parties who direct, enable, participate in or conspire to an act of gender-motivated violence. violence.

McKinney was crowned the winner of MTV's Model Mission in 1998 and earned a modeling contract with IMG. She became a familiar face on various MTV shows and modeled in a fashion campaign for designer Tommy Hilfiger.

Following the incident, McKinney became severely depressed and suffered from an addiction to alcohol and drugs as she tried to cope, according to the complaint. To this day, the complaint states, McKinney still suffers from mental health issues stemming from the alleged assault and has since stopped pursuing a modeling career.

She is seeking an unspecified amount in punitive and compensatory damages.

Final trial in a series against Combs

This latest lawsuit comes days after CNN released exclusive surveillance footage showing Combs physically attacking his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in 2016.

The attack was first mentioned in a November 2023 lawsuit Ventura filed against the rap mogul, whom she dated on and off from 2007 to 2018.

In hercomplaintwhich was settled a day after she was filed, Ventura alleged that Combs raped her in 2018 and subjected her to years of repeated physical and other abuse during their relationship.

After the settlement, an attorney for Combs said the decision to settle a lawsuit was in no way an admission of wrongdoing.

CombsapologizedSunday for his actions in the video.

Ventura's attorney, Meredith Firetog, criticized his response, saying: When Cassie and several other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested his victims were looking for a paycheck.

This is the seventh lawsuit in which Combs has been named in recent months. Six of those lawsuits, including the one filed Tuesday, contain allegations of sexual assault. One of the six lawsuits names Combs as a defendant, but was filed against Combs' son, Christian Combs. Only Venturas was settled.

Authoritiesraided Diddy's homes on March 25, 2024because he is the target of a federal investigation by a Department of Homeland Security team that handles human trafficking crimes, according to a senior federal law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.

The investigation stems from many of the same sexual assault allegations made in thecivil suitsaccording to a second police source close to the searches.

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CNN's Sandra Gonzalez contributed to this report.