Sean Combs Hit With Claims Of Sexual Assaulting & Drugging Model In 2003; Sixth Accuser Sues Just Days After Damning Video Revealed
Just days after 2016 hotel security footage of Sean “Diddy” Combs beating on his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura was made public, a model is now claiming that Bad Boy Entertainment founder drugged and sexually assaulted her in his New York recording studio 21 years ago.
“Combs’ assault has altered the trajectory of (Crystal McKinney’s) career, denying her a successful and lucrative career in the modeling and film industries,” the filing today in federal court by Crystal McKinney says.
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The winner of MTV’s Model Mission contest in 1998, then 22-year-old McKinney met the “Missing You” performer at a Men’s Fashion Week dinner in 2003 and was invited to his nearby studio, the complaint states. Already having been given quite a bit to drink, the plaintiff says she was encouraged to partake of some “very powerful” pot by Diddy – something several other accusers have detailed as an M.O. of the Bad Boy Entertainment founder.
“Seeing Plaintiff was very intoxicated, Combs demanded Plaintiff follow him and he physically led Plaintiff to the bathroom,” the suit details. After McKinney initially refused to perform fellatio on Combs, the rapper “shoved her head down to his crotch” and forced her to give him oral sex.
McKinney asserts that she passed out soon afterwards only to regain consciousness in the back of cab later.
Representatives for the much-accused and much-sued Combs did not respond to a request from Deadline for comment on McKinney’s suit. If and when they do, this post will be updated.
Calling herself a “woman of faith,” McKinney explains in the filing that she felt she had a “moral obligation” to make her encounter with Combs public after so many other women have alleged the mogul attacked them over the years.
First reported by TMZ, McKinney is seeking a wide range of unspecified damages. While the 20-plus year old claims would usually be dead due to the statute of limitations, the former model is moving forward under the Big Apple’s Victims of Gender Motivated Violence Act, which permits the filing of civil suits under an extended timeline.
Combs has not been charged by any jurisdiction, yet. Not even with the indisputable video evidence of his beating of Venura eight years ago in the City of Angels.
“We are aware of the video that has been circulating online allegedly depicting Sean Combs assaulting a young woman in Los Angeles” said LA County District Attorney George Gascón said late on May 17, a few hours after CNN’s exclusive of the horrific hallway assault of Ventura by Combs at Century City’s now-closed InterContinental Hotel dropped.
However, due to California’s statute of limitations on assault and domestic violence, the D.A. admitted there is nothing he can do, right now.
“As of today, law enforcement has not presented a case related to the attack depicted in the video against Mr. Combs, but we encourage anyone who has been a victim or witness to a crime to report it to law enforcement or reach out to our office for support from our Bureau of Victims Services,” the Gascón’s office added, setting the stage.
Since Ventura filed her quickly-settled suit on November 16, half a dozen other legal actions have been filed accusing Combs of sexual assault and other misconduct. At least one of those filings alleges sex trafficking of a minor, and another is from a producer on Combs’ most recent album.
Combs has denied all claims — even though he later corrected himself with an apology once the video of the beating of Ventura in 2016 went wide. Ventura’s lawyer Doug Wignor dismissed the apology within hours. “That he was only compelled to ‘apologize’ once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation, and no one will be swayed by his disingenuous words,” the attorney told Deadline on May 19.
Of course, even with all those lawsuits and now the one from McKinney, Diddy may be waiting for an even bigger shoe to drop.
On March 25 this year, the FBI and Homeland Security agents raided his LA and Miami homes. A federal spokesperson called the raids part of an “ongoing investigation.”
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