New lawsuit accuses Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexually abusing a college student in the 1990s

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who claims Sean “Diddy” Combs subjected her to violence and abuse for several years in the 1990s has filed a lawsuit in New York accusing the rapper of sexual assault, battery and gender-based violence.

April Lampros, who met Combs in 1994 while she was a college student, described several “terrifying sexual encounters” with him, including being forced to take ecstasy and having sex with Combs’ deceased ex-girlfriend Kim Porter.

Lampros’ lawsuit, filed Thursday in a Manhattan court, follows a series of allegations against the controversial hip-hop mogul. A former model accused Combs in a separate lawsuit of sexually harassing her at his New York recording studio in 2003.

Lampros, 51, said in the lawsuit that while she was a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, she met Combs, who showered her with gifts and promised to help her pursue her dream of a career in fashion.

According to the lawsuit, the relationship developed into an abusive and coercive one.

Lampros said Combs raped her in a Manhattan hotel room in 1995. She passed out and woke up the next morning “naked, sore and confused,” the lawsuit says.

On another occasion, Lampros said, Combs forced her to perform oral sex on him in a parking garage in front of a parking garage employee.

Combs forced Lampros and Porter to have sex in his apartment in 1996 after shoving ecstasy pills down their throats, the lawsuit says.

“Ms. Lampros vociferously opposed this idea, but Mr. Combs quickly reminded her that she had no control over the situation as it could cause her to lose her job,” the lawsuit states.

Porter died of pneumonia in 2018.

A message seeking comment on Lampros’ allegations was sent to an attorney for Combs.

The Associated Press does not typically name victims of sexual assault unless they publicly identify themselves, as Lampros did.

The lawsuits filed by Lampros and the former model come days after CNN aired surveillance video showing Combs attacking singer Cassie in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. Combs released a video on Sunday admitting to attacking Cassie in the hotel hallway, saying he was “sincerely sorry” and his actions were “inexcusable.”

A lawsuit filed by Cassie in November alleging beatings and abuse was settled a day after it was filed. This led to increased scrutiny of Combs, and more lawsuits were filed in the months that followed. It also sparked a federal sex trafficking investigation that led to raids on Combs’s mansions in Los Angeles and Miami.