Topline
Sean “Diddy” Combs faces fresh accusations of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed in New York on Tuesday, adding to the string of recent controversies facing the rapper and record label executive, including multiple sexual misconduct suits and surveillance footage showing him physically assaulting his former partner Cassie Ventura.
Key Facts
In a filing made with the federal district court in Manhattan, former model Crystal McKinney accused Combs of drugging and sexually assaulting her at his New York recording studio in 2003.
According to the suit, the then 22-year-old McKinney met Combs while attending a Men’s Fashion Week event at a restaurant in Manhattan.
During their meeting, the rapper allegedly came on to her “in a sexually suggestive manner” and told McKinney that “he had power in the industry and was going to help her advance her career,” the filing said.
Combs then invited McKinney to his studio later that night, where he offered her marijuana that she now believes was “laced…with a narcotic or other intoxicating substance,” the complaint alleges.
McKinney claims after she became “very intoxicated”, Combs led her to a bathroom where he first kissed her without her consent and then “forced her to perform oral sex on him.”
The suit alleges McKinney eventually lost consciousness, before waking up in a cab and realizing she had been sexually assaulted.
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Tangent
McKinney won MTV’s inaugural Model Mission—which the suit describes as a “televised modeling competition akin to Miss America”—in 1998 when she was only 17 years old. She was awarded a modeling contract with IMG due to her win. After this, McKinney modeled for a Tommy Hilfiger campaign and appeared on various MTV shows, including Total Request Live, Fashionably Loud and True Life. The lawsuit claims after the assault, Mckinney’s “modeling opportunities quickly began to dwindle and then evaporated entirely.” The suit accuses Combs of using his influence to have Mckinney “blackballed” in the industry, which led her into “a tailspin of anxiety and depression.”
News Peg
Since the alleged assault happened more than twenty years ago, outside the statute of limitations, McKinney’s suit has been filed under New York City’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Act. The act gives accusers some additional time to pursue civil complaints in cases where the statute of limitations have passed.
Key Background
Combs has been mired in a string of controversies in recent months, as several sexual misconduct lawsuits have been filed against him. In March, Homeland Security agents searched his homes in Florida and California as part of a federal sex trafficking investigation. One of the cases filed against the rapper in November was by his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, which was settled out of court in a day. Late last week, CNN published surveillance footage from 2016 which showed Combs physically assaulting Ventura in a hotel. The video, which shows the rapper grabbing, dragging and kicking Ventura, appeared to corroborate some allegations mentioned in her lawsuit. Combs responded to the footage in a video statement released on Instagram, where he said he was “truly sorry” for his behavior on the video and said he is “committed to be a better man each and every day.” The rapper said the footage was “disgusting” and claimed it was taken in “one of the darkest times” of his life.
Further Reading
Sean Combs Accused of Sexual Assault in New Lawsuit (New York Times)
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Shown Hitting Former Partner In 2016 Surveillance Video (Forbes)
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Says He’s ‘Disgusted’ By Video Of Him Beating Cassie In 2016 (Forbes)
