Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing a new lawsuit from former model Crystal McKinney who says she was forced to perform oral sex on him at his recording studio in New York City in 2003. This comes just days after Combs says he took “full responsibility” for beating ex-girlfriend Cassie after a video of that incident surfaced.
The new lawsuit – the sixth complaint of sexual assault filed against Combs in six months – alleges that McKinney, then 22, met Combs at a Men’s Fashion Week event at a Manhattan restaurant.
“Once seated, Combs made a very public display of coming on to plaintiff in a sexually suggestive manner which continued throughout the dinner,” the filing states. “Throughout their interactions, Combs was flirtatious, bordering on leering, as he leaned across the table towards her. Combs also plied plaintiff with alcohol throughout the dinner as he repeatedly refilled her glass with wine.”
Later that evening, Combs invited McKinney to his recording studio, where McKinney says she was given alcohol and marijuana that she now thinks was laced with a narcotic, according to the lawsuit. Combs led her to a bathroom where he began kissing her without her consent, McKinney alleges. He shoved her head down to his crotch and, after she refused, forced her to perform oral sex on him, the lawsuit claims.
McKinney says she passed out soon after and woke up in a cab and realized that she had been sexually assaulted.
Representatives for Combs did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this lawsuit.
Combs, 54, has faced increasing legal troubles since ex-girlfriend Cassie, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit against him in November, alleging that Combs subjected her to years of abuse including beatings and rape. The lawsuit was swiftly settled – the next day – after Combs, through his attorney, said he “vehemently denies” the accusations.
After Ventura’s lawsuit, two more followed in the same month from women accusing Combs of rape.
Then, in December, another woman alleged in a new lawsuit that in 2003 when she was 17, Combs and two other men raped her.
And in February, a music producer sued Combs, alleging Combs had sexually assaulted him and forced him to have sex with prostitutes. Combs has denied all the claims against him.
In March, two of Combs’ homes were raided in what officials have said is a sex-trafficking investigation.
Combs was then named in a lawsuit that claimed that his son Christian “King” Combs had sexually assaulted a woman working on a yacht chartered by his father.
Combs has come under intense scrutiny after a video aired on CNN showing Combs attacking Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016. The attack closely mirrors an assault that Ventura described in her lawsuit. On Sunday, Combs posted a video to Instagram, saying: “My behavior on that video is inexcusable.” He fails to mention Ventura by name.
McKinney says in her complaint that she was moved to step forward when she saw news coverage of the lawsuits from Ventura and the others. “She knew she had a moral obligation to speak up,” her filing states. “Plaintiff seeks justice for herself and for any of the other Combs victims.”