by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, March 24 – In May 2024 Crystal McKinney sued Sean Combs for sexual assault under the NYC Gender Motivated Violence in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The suit recounts Combs inviting McKinney to Cipriani Downtown - in 2003 - then to his studio on West 44th Street where he drugged and assaulted her, according to the complaint.
On September 24, 2024, after Combs' arrest and detention in the MDC, Thalia Graves sued Combs and others alleging a 2001 rape, complaint on Patreon here.
On October 8 in another civil case against Combs and others, UMG Recordings Inc. argued for sanctions against the plaintiff Lil Rod Jones and his attorney for what they call baseless charges, including linking UMG, Love Records and sex trafficking: "Mr. Combs was reportedly a billionaire at the time and Mr. Blackburn has no idea of the source of money Mr. Combs used to pay for the alleged illicit activity" - full letter on Patreon here.
On March 24, 2025, Judge Oekten dismissed some claims but not others, finding for example that "Jones also alleges specific instances of unwanted sexual contact. This includes Combs drugging and sleeping with Jones at Combs’s Miami home on February 2, 2023. Such allegations, at least some of which include specific dates and descriptions of sex acts, are sufficient to provide Defendants with adequate notice" and "Jones shall file a letter within two weeks of the entry of this opinion explaining the status of service as to Justin Combs and Cuba Gooding, Jr." 31 page order on Patreon here
Inner City Press will be covering the Combs cases. These include McKinney v. Combs, et al., 1:24-cv-3931 (Buchwald), Doe v. Combs, 23-cv-10628 (Clarke) and this one, Jones v. Combs, et al., 1:24-cv-1457 (Oetken)
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