Sean “Diddy” Combs is accused of sexual assault in his former model’s lawsuit

Controversial music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was accused of drugging and sexually abusing 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 accuses Diddy, then 34, of assaulting the 22-year-old model in his New York studio in 2003 and forcing her to perform oral sex.

McKinney also claims that the hip-hop icon derailed her career by being “blackballed” into the modeling industry, despite previously promising to help her professionally. The ordeal reportedly led to a deterioration 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 accusing him of raping or sexually assaulting 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, described as a “woman of faith,” said she felt a “moral obligation” to disclose her experiences after reporting on Diddy’s legal troubles in the media.

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McKinney “prayed to God before filing this lawsuit as she feared further violence and/or retaliation from Defendant Combs, but ultimately decided she needed to speak her truth,” the lawsuit states. 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 describes alleged sexual assault by Sean “Diddy” Combs

In the lawsuit, McKinney claims she met Combs after she was invited by an unnamed fashion designer to a Men’s Fashion Week event at New York City restaurant Cipriani Downtown.

During the dinner, Combs allegedly made “sexually suggestive advances toward McKinney in a very public manner” and plied McKinney with alcohol “while repeatedly topping her glass with wine.”

According to McKinney’s filing, the music mogul also told the model he would help her with her career and gave McKinney his phone number “as a gesture of goodwill.” McKinney won MTV’s Model Mission contest in 1998 and had previously modeled for Tommy Hilfiger.

According to the lawsuit, Combs invited McKinney to visit his studio later that evening, where she smoked marijuana with the “Hello Good Morning” rapper and his associates. McKinney claims the marijuana joint “felt very strong” and that it was laced with “a narcotic or other intoxicating substance.”

Shortly thereafter, Combs allegedly led McKinney to the bathroom, the file says. After forcing himself on the model and “kissing her without her consent,” McKinney claims Combs “pushed her head into his crotch” and forced her to perform oral sex.

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