Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing yet another sexual abuse lawsuit, this time filed by a woman who claims that he drugged and sexually assaulted her 30 years ago while she was a college student in New York City.
In a complaint filed Thursday in Manhattan court, April Lampros alleges that the rapper subjected her to “an aggressive, coercive, and abusive relationship based on sex,” including four instances of sexual assault.
In one such allegation, she says Combs forced her to take ecstasy and have sex with his former girlfriend Kim Porter. Though she “vocally opposed” the idea, she said she feared that Combs “blacklist her in the industry.”
“Ms. Lampros knew that she had to comply because she had witnessed what happens when someone defies Mr. Combs,” her lawyers write. “She had also been threatened and victimized by Mr. Combs and did not want to cause a problem because she feared him.”
Thursday’s lawsuit also names Sony Music Entertainment as a defendant, claiming the company “enabled” Combs’ conduct. She claims that she worked for Sony’s Arista Records when at least one of the attacks occurred, and that Sony “knew or should have known that Combs was not fit to be in a position of authority.”
Representatives for both Combs and Sony did not immediately return requests for comment.
Lampros is the seventh alleged victim to file a lawsuit accusing Combs of sexual abuse over the past six months, including one filed just days ago by a model named Crystal McKinney who claims the hip-hop mogul forced her to perform oral sex on him following a Men’s Fashion Week event in 2003. The rapper is also reportedly facing a federal criminal investigation over abuse accusations.
In previous statements, Combs has strongly denied any wrongdoing. But after a video surfaced last week showing Combs attacking one of those accusers – then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura – he said he took “full responsibility” for that incident and was “truly sorry.”
In her complaint, Lampros claims that she met Combs in 1994 while she was a college student at New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology. After she told him about her “dreams of working in the fashion industry,” Lampros says Combs promised to mentor her and help her find work in the industry.
But she says the relationship quickly turned sexual, including “four terrifying sexual encounters” and threats of physical violence. One such incident occurred after a night out in 1995, when she claims that she began to feel unwell after taking just “a few sips of one drink.”
“Ms. Lampros pleaded with Mr. Combs to stop, and he ignored her,” her attorneys write. “Ms. Lampros could not process why this was occurring and felt a loss of control. Ms. Lampros was being raped by Mr. Combs, and she soon passed out.”
Thoughout the relationship, Lampros claims that Combs exercised power over her due to his fame and influence: “She felt that if she disobeyed him, he would take away her dreams of pursuing a career in his world.”
Lampros also claims that Combs surreptitiously filmed one of their sexual encounters and then shared the video with others. She says she learned of the tape in 2023, when an unnamed man told her boyfriend that “he should reconsider dating her because he personally saw a video of her and Sean Combs having sex.”
The lawsuit alleges that all of the defendants violated New York City’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law. The case also includes counts of civil battery, sexual assault and negligent infliction of emotional distress against Combs.
Read the entire complaint here:
