Sean “Diddy” Combs faces new lawsuit from student accusing him of sexual harassment

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Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing a new lawsuit from former fashion student April Lampros, who alleges he sexually abused her on multiple occasions between 1995 and the early 2000s.

The allegations come days after Combs, 54, took “full responsibility” for the abuse of his ex-girlfriend Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura after video footage of the 2016 incident in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel was released.

In the new lawsuit – the seventh sexual harassment claim filed against Combs in six months – Lampros said she met the rapper in 1994 when she was a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. The rapper “showered her with expressions of affection” and his advances later “manifested themselves in an aggressive, coercive and abusive relationship based on sexuality,” according to the federal lawsuit filed in New York City.

The lawsuit alleges that Lampros met Combs when she was an intern at Arista, the then-parent company of the rapper’s label Bad Boy Entertainment. It claims Lampros met Combs in 1995 at a New York bar, where she “caved in to pressure” to drink alcohol after “delusional and violent outbursts.”

Lampros claims she felt like “the walls were closing in on her” after she sipped her drink and Combs accompanied her to a hotel. The lawsuit alleges that Combs forced himself on Lampros despite her protests. “Ms. Lampros was raped by Mr. Combs and soon became unconscious,” it states.

The lawsuit alleges that Combs attacked Lampros a second time by physically forcing her to perform oral sex in a garage near his Manhattan apartment. When the student tried to distance herself from the rapper after the attack, he allegedly gave her “gifts and empty promises” before becoming “angry, threatening and violent” and claiming he would destroy her career.

In 1996, Combs sexually assaulted Lampros a third time when he forced her and his ex-girlfriend Kim Porter to take ecstasy and have sex with each other, the indictment says. Combs masturbated while watching the women together before abusing Lampros, the lawsuit says.

Lampros says she ended her relationship with Combs two years later, but when she saw him at an event at Rockefeller Center in the early 2000s, he begged her to see her again and she allowed him to come to her apartment, where he kissed and touched her against her will, the lawsuit says.

In 2023, Lampros claims an unknown man approached her then-partner and said he had seen a sex tape of Lampros and Combs years earlier. Lampros was informed: “Mr. Combs apparently filmed her having sex without her knowledge and showed the video to several people,” the filing states.

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The Independent has reached out to Combs’ representatives for comment.

The lawsuit was filed days after footage was released showing Combs attacking singer Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. On Sunday (May 26), Combs released a video admitting to attacking Ventura, saying he was “sincerely sorry” and that his actions were “inexcusable.”

A lawsuit filed by Ventura in November alleging beating and abuse was settled a day after it was filed, but Combs is currently facing a number of different civil suits accusing him of human trafficking, sexual abuse and rape. Combs has vehemently denied these allegations against him, while his lawyers have called the lawsuits and their accusations money-making schemes, “baseless” or “sickening.” No official charges have been filed against the musician.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday under a New York City law that allows plaintiffs to file civil lawsuits within a limited period of time, even if the alleged events occurred long ago.

Rape Crisis provides support for victims of rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn at 800-656-HOPE (4673).