A woman who is suing Sean Combs for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting her in 2003 has filed a separate lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein.
In a lawsuit filed Friday, May 30, in Manhattan Federal Court and obtained by People, former model Crystal McKinney alleges that in 2003, Weinstein raped her and her friend in a Manhattan hotel room.
McKinney claims that an unnamed modeling executive arranged a meeting between her and Weinstein for “business opportunities.” She had been hoping to get into the film industry, and she brought along her roommate who was also a model who wanted to work in film. They met with Weinstein at a nightclub, according to the suit.
McKinney claims that Weinstein said he was having issues hearing them due to the noise of the club, so he invited them to his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park Hotel. According to the suit, McKinney alleges Weinstein “plied” them with alcohol before grabbing her breasts, which caused drinks to spill on her shirt. She and her roommate went to the bathroom, where she claims Weinstein “barged” in, exposed himself, and forced the roommates to have sex with each other in front of him before raping them. (An attorney for Weinstein did not immediately reply to a request for comment.)
In a separate lawsuit filed in May 2024, McKinney made allegations against Combs, claiming he drugged and sexually assaulted her. The suit states that she met Combs at a dinner when she was 22 during Men’s Fashion Week in 2003. During the dinner at Cipriani Downtown, Combs allegedly behaved “in a sexually suggestive manner” and “plied” her with alcohol.
Following the dinner, the lawsuit alleges Combs invited her over to his Manhattan recording studio. She went, believing it was a safe spot since it was a professional setting as opposed to a personal residence. While there, she alleged that Combs passed her a joint that she believes was laced with a narcotic. Afterward, she said Combs forced her to perform oral sex on him.
She then passed out shortly after, and she woke up “in shock to find herself in a taxicab.” Combs has denied all allegations against him and is currently on trial after being arrested in September. (He’s pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy.) If convicted as charged, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. One of Combs’ accusers, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, has testified, claiming he emotionally, physically, and sexually abused her for more than a decade. Witnesses, including Dawn Richard and Kid Cudi, have testified, backing her claims during the trial.
Weinstein is currently being retried on sexual assault and rape charges. In the initial 2020 case, Weinstein was convicted on two out of five charges, one for a felony sex crime, the other for third-degree rape. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison, but in April 2024, an appeals court overturned the conviction. The court ruled that prosecutors should not have been allowed to let some of Weinstein’s other accusers testify, when their allegations were not related to the charges he faced.
Weinstein was also convicted of rape and sexual assault, and sentenced to 16 years in prison in a separate California case. He has filed an appeal in that case, too.
