Diddy has been hit with another lawsuit by a college student accusing him of drugging and assaulting her four times between 1995 and the early 2000s.
April Lampros, formerly a student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, filed the lawsuit on Thursday in the Supreme Court of New York County (as per USA Today). In the documents, she claimed that the rap mogul (real name Sean Combs) “love-bombed her” into “an aggressive, coercive, and abusive relationship based on sex”.
NME have approached Diddy’s representatives for comment.
Lampros was an intern at Arista (parent company of Combs’ label, Bad Boy Entertainment) when the two met. She alleged the first instance of assault happened in 1995, where she met Combs at a bar in New York; though she didn’t drink, she “succumbed to pressure” due to Combs’ “delusional and violent outbursts.”
According to the lawsuit, Lampros felt like the “walls were closing in on her” after a few sips, at which point Combs allegedly took her to a hotel and assaulted her. “Ms. Lampros was being raped by Mr. Combs, and she soon passed out,” the lawsuit claimed.
Then, Combs was accused of assaulting Lampros for a second time in a parking garage near his Manhattan apartment. The lawsuit alleged he physically forced her to perform oral sex. Lampros apparently tried to distance herself from the rapper, but she claimed he tried to win her back with “gifts and empty promises,” before switching to a “mobster persona” and “became angry, threatening, and forceful.”
Due to Combs’ behaviour, Lampros claimed she felt “stuck” with him and had “no way out”. “She felt that if she disobeyed him, he would take away her dreams of pursuing a career in his world,” the lawsuit alleged. “Mr. Combs would also threaten to blacklist her in the industry if she tried to mess with him in any way. Ms. Lampros’ dreams and everything she’s been working hard for were in the palm of his hands.”
Lampros accused Combs of assaulting her a third time in 1996, this time alleging he forced her to take ecstasy and have sex with his former girlfriend, Kim Porter. Though Lampros claimed she “vocally opposed this idea, Combs quickly reminded her that she had no control over the situation as he could make her lose her job.” Combs apparently masturbated while he watched the women, going on to allegedly sexually assault Lampros.
Though Lampros ended her relationship with the rapper in 1998, she claimed she bumped into him at an event at the Rockerfeller Centre in the early 2000s, which saw Combs beg to see her again. Lampros apparently allowed Combs to visit her apartment, where he was accused of trying to kiss and touch her without her consent. This time, Lampros claimed she stopped him and demanded he leave.
However, in 2023, Lampros alleged an unidentified man approached a man she was dating, claiming he had seen a sexual video of Lampros and Combs in 1997. The lawsuit went on to claim Lampros “was told that Mr. Combs apparently recorded them having sex without her knowing and showed it to multiple people.”
“As a result of Defendant Combs’ conduct,” the lawsuit added, Lampros “has suffered and continues to suffer harm, including physical injury, severe emotional distress, humiliation, anxiety, and other consequential damages for which she is entitled to an award of monetary damages and other relief.”
The new allegations from McKinney are the latest in a wave of lawsuits against the rapper. Last November, R&B singer and ex-partner Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit against Diddy for physical and sexual abuse. The two settled the lawsuit “to mutual satisfaction” a day after the case was filed, according to a release sent by attorney Douglas Wigdor, who represented Ventura.
A video has since been obtained and published by CNN on May 17 that shows Diddy allegedly attacking Cassie in a hotel. The footage seems to align with allegations Ventura made in her lawsuit against Diddy. He has since apologised for his “inexcusable” behaviour in the video.
A week later, two new allegations were made against Diddy; one claimed Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her and the other alleged that Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping the plaintiff and her friend in 1990 or 1991 – adding that Diddy turned violent days later. Diddy went online to deny all allegations against him, but Hall hasn’t replied to the accusations.
Earlier this year, producer Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones sued Combs alleging he sexually assaulted him, had parties where sex workers and underage girls were present, and coerced him to sleep with prostitutes. Diddy replied, saying Jones’ claims were “pure fiction”.
Diddy continues to deny any wrongdoing.
On Wednesday (May 22), he was accused of drugging and assaulting Crystal McKinney, a former model. McKinney accused him of assaulting her at a Men’s Fashion Week event in 2003 by giving her a “powerful” joint and then assaulting her in a bathroom. Diddy did not respond for comment.
Back in March, Diddy’s homes in Miami and LA were raided by US Homeland Security regarding a multi-state sex trafficking investigation. At the time, a representative for Combs said the “unprecedented ambush” was an “excessive show of force and hostility”. They added, “Mr Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”
