Another woman accuses Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of sexually harassing her in a lawsuit

CNN
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Sean “Diddy” Combs was accused of sexual assault in a new lawsuit filed Thursday. April Lampros says she met him in 1994 while she was studying at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology.

According to the lawsuit filed in New York and obtained by CNN, Lampros accuses Combs of four counts of sexual assault from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. The lawsuit also accuses the rap mogul of assault, battery, negligent infliction of emotional distress and violation of the Gender-Based Violence Victims Protection Act. The lawsuit has not yet been reviewed by the district attorney’s office.

“I am confident that justice will prevail and the veil will be lifted so that no other woman will have to endure what I went through,” Lampros said in a statement to CNN on Thursday.

CNN has reached out to a spokesperson for Combs for comment.

This is the eighth lawsuit filed against Combs since November – the seventh directly accusing him of sexual assault. One of the eight lawsuits, filed by his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, has been settled. Another lawsuit accuses his son Christian Combs of sexual assault, and Sean Combs is accused of aiding and abetting.

Lampros told Combs she wanted to work in the fashion industry, and Combs promised to mentor her, introduce her to music and fashion industry executives, and help her find work, the lawsuit says. But the lawsuit says, “What Mr. Combs began as a friendly gesture quickly developed into an aggressive, coercive, and abusive relationship based on sex.”

During their first encounter in 1995, Lampros said, Combs pressured her into a drink at a New York bar and later at a hotel “laid her on the hotel bed where Mr. Combs threw himself on her,” the lawsuit says. Lampros claims Combs raped her after she “begged Mr. Combs to stop.” The next morning, she was “naked, sore and confused,” the lawsuit says.

In another incident, they were in a parking garage near his Manhattan apartment when Combs allegedly grabbed her and “demanded oral sex from Ms. Lampros” while a parking attendant watched, the lawsuit says.

“Ms. Lampros was in shock, moral distress, embarrassment and physical agony as a result of Mr. Combs forcibly forcing her to her knees and pulling her hair,” the lawsuit states.

After that, Lampros tried to leave Combs and distance himself from him, but “he immediately changed his ways and became angry, threatening and violent,” the lawsuit says. Combs “developed this gangster persona and Ms. Lampros was afraid of him,” the lawsuit says.

One night in 1996, Combs allegedly forced Lampros and one of his former girlfriends to take ecstasy in his apartment and then demanded that the two have sexual intercourse. When Lampros resisted, Combs threatened that “he could cost her her job,” the lawsuit says. Combs then masturbated and raped Lampros, the lawsuit says.

“She was disgusted, ashamed and embarrassed and could not believe what had happened,” the lawsuit states.

Around 1998, according to the lawsuit, Lampros ended her relationship with Combs. Years later, between late 2000 and early 2001, they met again and Combs forcibly grabbed Lampros and forced himself on her, kissing and touching her against her will, the lawsuit says.

As a result, Lampros “has suffered and continues to suffer harm, including physical injury, severe emotional distress, humiliation and fear,” the lawsuit states.

Recently, Lampros said, she was told that Combs had filmed the two having sex in the past without her knowledge and had shown the footage to several people, the lawsuit states.

Combs had a hot temper and often threatened to harm her if she did not comply with his demands, talk to other men or answer his calls, Lampros claims in the lawsuit. Lampros also says she was not allowed to talk to anyone about her relationship with Combs, the lawsuit states.

“She felt that if she disobeyed him, he would take away her dreams of a career in his world. Mr. Combs also threatened to blacklist her from the industry if she tried to influence him in any way,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. Lampros’ dreams and everything she had worked hard for were in his hands.”

The lawsuit was filed by Lampros’ attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, who also represents others who have filed lawsuits against Combs, including Rodney Jones, as well as Grace O’Marcaigh, the woman who accused his son, Christian Combs, of assault.

Other defendants named in the lawsuit include Bad Boy Records, Arista Records and Sony Music Entertainment. Lampros was an intern at Arista Records – a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and former parent company of Diddy’s Bad Boy Records – during at least one of the alleged assaults, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges that Arista Records enabled the sexual abuse by placing Combs in a position of authority and failing to protect Lampros.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Combs, Bad Boy Records, Arista Records and Sony Music Entertainment for comment.

The latest lawsuit comes just two days after former model and 1998 winner of MTV’s competition show “Model Mission,” Crystal McKinney, filed a lawsuit accusing Combs of drugging and sexually assaulting her. Additionally, CNN released exclusive surveillance footage showing Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016.

Combs is the target of a federal investigation by a Department of Homeland Security team that investigates human trafficking crimes, according to a senior federal law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.

“No criminal or civil liability has been established for any of these allegations,” said Aaron Dyer, Diddy’s attorney, after two of the musician’s homes were searched in March as part of the investigation. “Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every day to clear his name.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.