Former model sues Sean “Diddy” Combs for drugging and sexually abusing her in 2003

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

McKinney also claims that the hip-hop icon ruined her career by “blacklisting” her from the modeling industry, despite previously promising to help her professionally. The ordeal allegedly 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, allegedly 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 speak out about her experiences after seeing media coverage of Diddy’s legal troubles.

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 is “seeking 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 being invited by an unnamed fashion designer to a Men’s Fashion Week event at New York City’s Cipriani Downtown restaurant.

During dinner, Combs allegedly “made public, sexually suggestive advances toward McKinney” and plied McKinney with alcohol “while repeatedly topping up 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 colleagues. McKinney claims the marijuana joint “felt very strong” and was laced with “a narcotic or other intoxicating substance.”

Shortly thereafter, Combs allegedly led McKinney to the restroom, the filing states. After Combs forced himself on her and kissed her “without her consent,” McKinney claims Combs “pushed her head into his crotch” and forced her to perform oral sex.

After the alleged attack, McKinney became increasingly “dizzy” and eventually lost consciousness, the lawsuit says. The model later woke up in a taxi that drove her back to the fashion designer’s apartment.

Crystal McKinney says Sean “Diddy” Combs banned her from the modeling industry after alleged assault

McKinney claims in the lawsuit that she was “blacklisted” after the alleged assault by Diddy because her “modeling opportunities quickly began to dwindle and eventually evaporated entirely.”

The model said she was in a “cycle of anxiety and depression” that led to her being hospitalized for a suicide attempt in 2004.

“The attack on Combs altered the course of (McKinney’s) career and denied her a successful and lucrative career in the modeling and film industries,” the lawsuit states.

According to the former model’s complaint, McKinney also suffered from alcohol and drug addiction, as well as intimacy problems, as a result of Combs’ alleged assault.

The lawsuit was filed under New York’s Gender Violence Victims Protection Act, which provides survivors of gender violence a two-year look-back period to take legal action against their abusers, regardless of when the abuse occurred.

McKinney is demanding a jury trial. She is also seeking unspecified damages and punitive damages for “mental and emotional injury, suffering, pain and suffering, and damage to her reputation.”

Contributor: Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers survivors and their loved ones free, confidential support 24/7 in English and Spanish at: 800-656-HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of sexual assault in former model’s lawsuit