A former model who accused Music mogul and rapper, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of sexual assault says she has kept the ‘’unwashed clothes” that she wore on the night the rapper allegedly attacked her.
In a lawsuit, Crystal McKinney said she held onto the clothing wrapped in a plastic bag for over two decades after she claimed to be drugged and sexually assaulted by Combs in 2003.
According to her lawsuit filed this week in New York, McKinney said that she met Diddy because she was told he could ‘advance her modelling career’, but was drugged with marijuana and alcohol before being forced to perform oral sex on the rapper.
McKinney said she believes Diddy ‘blackballed’ her from the industry following the incident, and saw her career crumble before she attempted suicide in 2004.
McKinney first gained attention as a model aged 17, when she won MTV’s first ‘Model Mission’ beauty pageant in 1998.
Her early success led her to be invited to a Men’s Fashion Week event in 2003 in New York City, where she claimed in her lawsuit that she was referred to Diddy to help her career.
Citing a person named only as ‘the designer’ in the lawsuit, she said they arranged for her to meet the rapper, and gave her a full makeover to impress him.
This included new hair extensions and roots to appear ‘platinum blonde’, and an eye-catching outfit that she has kept for over 20 years.
She said the designer decked her out in a black leather coat with a fur hood, a translucent chiffon beige v-cut shirt, fur-lined handbag, and jewel-encrusted jeans,’ per the lawsuit.
McKinney said she kept the clothes ‘due to the traumatic events to occur later’, and never washed them before storing them ‘in her closet where they remain in a plastic wrap.’
She said on that fateful day, she was taken to meet Diddy at the Cipriani Downtown restaurant in Manhattan in the evening, where he was eating and drinking with others, including the designer.
Once seated, Combs made a very public display of coming on to Plaintiff in a sexually suggestive manner which continued throughout the dinner,’ the lawsuit said, adding that he would constantly refill her glass of wine.
She alleges that Diddy boasted of his influence over the fashion world, and whispered in her ear that she was ‘going to make it big’ in her career – with his behaviour described as ‘flirtatious, bordering on leering.’
After leaving the restaurant, the rapper told her to call him later, and she said she met up later that night at his studio in Midtown Manhattan.
McKinney said she arrived to find Diddy drinking and smoking weed with friends, and she joined them. After becoming intoxicated on both substances, she said she had enough, but Diddy allegedly continued to give her more.
She alleged that at some point, Diddy pulled her into a back room, before forcing her to perform oral sex on him as she protested, which left her feeling ‘panicked and physically sick’, the lawsuit claimed.
The model said she passed out at the studio and woke up in the back of a taxi heading to the designer’s apartment.
Following the incident, McKinney said she saw her career ‘dwindle and evaporate entirely’, and believes it was Diddy ‘blackballing’ her that cost her.
She attempted suicide in 2004 due to the alleged incident. She said she was constantly reminded of it through the years as Diddy ‘was an inescapable presence in music, television and film.’
The latest lawsuit comes a week after shocking footage emerged showing Diddy violently assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a California hotel
Diddy released an apology video following the video’s release, where he said he was sorry for his past behaviour and said he ‘f***** up’
