Sean Diddy

Harvey Weinstein accuser named in lawsuit, revealed to be Sean 'Diddy' Combs accuser

Author: Anna Kaufman USA TODAY Source: USA Today
June 2, 2025 at 12:40

As two of the most fabled men in entertainment face sprawling claims of sexual misconduct, a new legal filing has revealed they have an accuser in common.

Crystal McKinney, a model who sued Sean "Diddy" Combs in May 2024 for sexual assault, has been named as the previously anonymous accuser in a February lawsuit that levies similar claims against Harvey Weinstein.

USA TODAY has reached out to lawyers for McKinney, Weinstein and Combs for comment.

In an amended complaint, filed May 30 and reviewed by USA TODAY, lawyers for McKinney allege the movie mogul assaulted her in 2003 at a meeting that had been set to discuss her shift from modeling to acting.

 

Harvey Weinstein and Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Harvey Weinstein and Sean "Diddy" Combs" data-c-credit="Getty, Reuters

 

The lawsuit, originally filed in February, alleged that Weinstein invited McKinney and her roommate at the time back to his hotel room, seemingly to discuss their careers, then plied them with alcohol, groped them and exposed himself, before pressuring them to take a bath with him and perform sex acts on one another.

Lawyers for McKinney, who used the pseudonym A.P. in the original filing, allege that Weinstein dragged her to his bed and raped her, after she had been given enough alcohol to feel "dissociated" and "as if she was having an out-of-body experience." He then raped the roommate, according to the suit. McKinney's lawyers are demanding a jury trial along with damages and alleging that as a result of the assault, McKinney attempted suicide and was hospitalized in 2004.

Former model sues Sean 'Diddy' Combs, claims he drugged, sexually assaulted her in 2003

McKinney's accusations come on the heels of another lawsuit filed on her behalf against Combs, who is currently on trial for sex trafficking and racketeering. In a complaint from May 2024, the model accused Combs of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 2003, the same year as the alleged Weinstein assault.

Though his team didn't previously respond to a request for comment, Combs has repeatedly denied all nonconsensual sexual encounters.

The claims against Combs echo those against Weinstein – that McKinney was a bright young ingenue whose star was on the rise and was set up with the music mogul by someone else in the industry, seemingly for career advancement.

The filing alleges that after a dinner at Cipriani, Combs invited McKinney to his studio, where she was given weed that she later came to understand was laced "with a narcotic or other intoxicating substance." After being plied with more alcohol and marijuana, Combs led McKinney to a bathroom where he forced her to perform oral sex, according to the lawsuit. She later passed out and found herself in a cab home, realizing she had been assaulted, the suit alleges.

Claiming that Combs "blackballed" her in the industry after her encounter, and that her career prospects dwindled, lawyers for McKinney say she entered "a tailspin of anxiety and depression" that contributed to the same suicide attempt referenced in the Weinstein suit.

Combs, whose federal trial has captured the attention of the nation, has faced an onslaught of civil suits in the background, many levying similar claims to McKinney's of drugging and assault.

The formula, shared in both McKinney's suits, reflects an alleged pattern described by many accusers of both Combs and Weinstein using their industry power to lure in victims, then wielding that same power to keep them silent.

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