Diddy has been accused of sexual assault in a new lawsuit filed by a former model

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with sexual assault in a new lawsuit filed by a woman who claims the hip-hop mogul sexually assaulted her in a recording studio bathroom in 2003.

According to the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court in New York by attorneys Michel Caiola and Jonathan Goldhirsch, Crystal McKinney claims she met Combs at a Men's Fashion Week dinner in Manhattan at the invitation of a fashion designer she knew. While attending the dinner, during which she claims Combs came on to her “in a sexually suggestive manner,” she says he invited her to hang out at his recording studio.

After arriving at the studio, where McKinney says several other men were present, she claims she was given alcohol and a marijuana compound she later believed was laced “with a narcotic or other intoxicating substance.” She says Combs then led her to a bathroom, where he began kissing her without her consent before shoving her head into his crotch and forcing her to perform oral sex over her protests.

McKinney, who was working as a professional model at the time, claims she later “woke up shocked” to find herself in a taxi returning to the apartment of the designer who had invited her to dinner. At this point, she “realized she had been sexually assaulted by Combs,” the complaint states. The lawsuit adds that after the alleged assault, McKinney's “modeling opportunities” quickly began to dwindle and then completely evaporated after Combs allegedly “blackballed” her in the industry. After falling into “a wave of anxiety and depression”, she claims she attempted suicide in 2004 and later turned to drugs and alcohol to deal with the trauma of the alleged attack.

The new lawsuit was filed under New York's gender-based violence law, which created a two-year look-back window beginning in March 2023 that allows survivors of gender-based violence to sue their abusers for alleged incidents that occurred outside the law statute of limitations.

Also named in the lawsuit are Combs' Bad Boy Records label, its parent company Universal Music Group, and Combs' clothing company Sean John Clothing, which McKinney alleges “enhanced” the alleged assault by “actively maintaining and employing Combs in a position of authority” despite the fact that they allegedly “knew or should have known that Combs posed a risk of sexual assault.”

McKinney is seeking damages for mental and emotional injury, anguish, pain and suffering, and injury to her reputation, as well as punitive damages, among other relief.

Representatives for Combs, Bad Boy Entertainment, Sean John Clothing and Universal Music Group did not immediately respond Advertising signrequests for comment.

Tuesday's complaint marks the sixth sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Combs in recent months. The flood of lawsuits began with a November 2023 complaint filed by his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who alleged the tycoon had repeatedly abused him over the course of a decade.

Although Ventura's lawsuit was settled just one day later, a 2016 security video released by CNN on Friday (May 17) showed Combs physically assaulting Ventura in a hotel hallway. Although Combs denied all of Ventura's initial allegations, after the video was released he apologized calling his behavior in the clip “inexcusable”. LA District Attorney George Gascon later released a statement saying Combs could not be prosecuted for the assault because of the statute of limitations.

Combs has vehemently denied all allegations of sexual assault made against him. On December 6, he released a statement that read: “Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things that are alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”

In November, Combs stepped down as chairman of digital media company Revolt, before reportedly selling his stake in the company in March. Also in March, federal agents raided Combs' LA and Miami homes “in connection” with a federal sex-trafficking investigation, according to CNN.