Sean “Diddy” Combs Sued by Model Accusing Him of Sexual Assault

Content warning: This story discusses sexual assault.

Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing another legal battle. 

The rapper is being sued by model Crystal McKinney over claims that he drugged and sexually assaulted her at his New York City studio in 2003, according to legal documents obtained by E! News May 21. 

In the documents, McKinney, who has modeled for brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Macy’s, alleges that she was invited by an unnamed designer to a Men’s Fashion Week dinner at Cipriani Downtown, where she was told that she’d be introduced to Combs to potentially advance her career. Ahead of the event, the model, then 22, said she was instructed to change her appearance by dyeing her hair and buying a new outfit to ensure that the Bad Boy Records founder found her attractive, per the suit. 

And while Combs did promise to help her “make it big one day” during the dinner, according to the filing, the 54-year-old also allegedly made “flirtatious” remarks towards McKinney before inviting her to his studio later that night to “get to know her better.” 

While at his studio, per the filing, Combs and an associate then pressured her to smoke and drink until she felt like she was “floating,” despite her previously insisting she had had enough. Combs then allegedly demanded McKinney follow him into the bathroom, where he “began kissing her without her consent” and forced her to perform oral sex on him. She said she lost consciousness shortly after and awoke “in shock” to find herself in a taxi back to the designer’s apartment, per the lawsuit.