Crystal McKinney said her marriage crumbled and she faced a mental breakdown after her alleged encounter with Diddy. According to the latest lawsuit against the fallen mogul, McKinney claims he sexually assaulted her at a Men’s Fashion Week event in 2003.
After seeing other victims come forward, McKinney’s lawyer Michelle A. Caiola claims she found the strength to speak out and take Diddy to task—and to court.
“McKinney is a woman of faith and when she saw news coverage of the lawsuits from Ms. Cassie Ventura, Ms. Dickerson-Neal, and others, she knew she had a moral obligation to speak up, “Caiola explained. “Plaintiff prayed to God before bringing this lawsuit, as she feared further violence and/or retaliation from Combs, but ultimately decided that she needed to speak her truth.”
McKinney was becoming known in modeling circles for her appearances on MTV’s Total Request Live, Fashionably Loud and True Life. Her promising modeling future even took her to international gigs in Germany and Australia.
But her invitation to Men’s Fashion Week in New York led to a series of events that she claims veered her life off course.
At just 22 years old, McKinney made a special trip from Miami to the Big Apple, urged by a fashion designer who styled her meticulously to impress Diddy.
Dressed in a chic black leather coat, translucent chiffon v-cut shirt and jewel-encrusted jeans, McKinney met Diddy at Cipriani Downtown.
She was seated directly across from Diddy at the designer’s insistence and endured a night filled with suggestive remarks and excessive alcohol.
In what appeared to be an innocent attempt to network, the Bad Boy boss allegedly promised to advance McKinney’s career and even gave her his phone number.
The night took a dark turn when she joined Diddy and his entourage at his studio.
Surrounded by men passing around marijuana and alcohol, McKinney recalls feeling unusually intoxicated, later suspecting the joint had been laced.
Forced into a bathroom, McKinney describes how he assaulted her, overpowering her and making her perform non-consensual acts.
She awoke hours later in a taxi, terror-stricken and disoriented, realizing the gravity of what had occurred.
In the aftermath of the incident, McKinney’s career prospects dwindled; she believes Diddy used his influence to blacklist her in the industry.
Struggling with depression and anxiety, McKinney attempted suicide in 2004 and was hospitalized. Her trauma was inescapable, amplified by Diddy’s omnipresence in media.
The emotional fallout affected every facet of her life, including her marriage which dissolved in 2010.
McKinney cites continuous bouts of depression, substance abuse and intimacy issues as lasting scars from that night in 2003.