UPDATE: NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Former rap icon, producer and label executive Sean Combs (fka P. Diddy, Diddy, Puff Daddy) is facing allegations of rape and repeated physical abuse against Cassie, an R&B singer formerly signed to Combs’ Bad Boy Records.
In the suit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Thursday (November 16), Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, alleged that shortly after meeting Combs in 2005, he began seeking to control her life and abuse her, including supplying her with illegal drugs and forcing her to take part in sexual encounters with male prostitutes.
“Mr. Combs asserted complete control over Ms. Ventura’s personal and professional life, thereby ensuring her inability to escape his hold. He provided unprecedented avenues for success for the aspiring artist, but in return, demanded obedience, loyalty, and silence,” Ventura alleged in her suit.
The suit also alleges that Combs raped Ventura in her home after she attempted to break off the relationship and that she was frequently physically abused during their time together, leaving her with “burst lips, black eyes, and bleeding.”
However, just one day after Cassie filed the lawsuit, a settlement was reached. Attorney Douglas Wigdor for Cassie announced the settlement in a statement saying that Cassie and Combs reached a deal “to their “mutual satisfaction” Friday evening. The terms of the settlement have not been released.
“I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control,” Cassie said in a statement obtained by The New York Times. “I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support.”
“We have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love,” Combs said in a released statement on the same day.
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Original Story Below – Published November 17, 2024
NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Former rap icon, producer and label executive Sean Combs is facing allegations of rape and repeated physical abuse against Cassie, an R&B singer formerly signed to Combs’ Bad Boy Records.
In the suit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Thursday, Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura alleged that shortly after meeting Combs in 2005, he began seeking to control her life and abuse her, including supplying her with illegal drugs and forcing her to take part in sexual encounters with prostitutes.
“Mr. Combs asserted complete control over Ms. Ventura’s personal and professional life, thereby ensuring her inability to escape his hold. He provided unprecedented avenues for success for the aspiring artist, but in return, demanded obedience, loyalty, and silence,” Ventura alleged in her suit.
The suit claims that Ventura first met Combs in late 2005 or 2006 and he convinced her to sign to his Bad Boy Records label after seeing her perform in a club when she was just 19.
Ventura would go on to release her first and what would prove to be her only album on Bad Boy that same year. Ventura says she began a long-term romantic relationship with Combs around the same time, claiming that he “became deeply entrenched in her life.”
The suit also alleges that Combs raped Ventura in her home after she attempted to break off the relationship and that she was frequently physically abused during their time together, leaving her with “burst lips, black eyes, and bleeding.”
Along with the physical violence against Ventura, the suit alleges that Combs directed his ire against other people in Ventura’s circle, including threatening to destroy fellow producer and rapper Kid Cudi’s car when Combs perceived him as a romantic rival for Ventura’s affections.
In a statement provided to the New York Times, a spokesman for Cudi confirmed that the producer’s car did indeed explode in his driveway around the time of the events alleged in Ventura’s suit.
The suit also alleges that Combs supplied Ventura with “copious amounts of drugs,” including controlled substances such as ketamine and ecstasy.
According to the suit, the drugs were often a part of sexual encounters that Combs allegedly referred to as Freak Offs, during which Ventura would be pressured into sexual encounters with multiple make prostitutes that Combs would film for his personal pleasure.
The encounters, which were alleged to have involved masks, lingerie, and other costume elements, took place both high-end hotels across the U.S. and in Combs’ personal properties, according to the lawsuit.
In a statement provided to the New York Times, an attorney representing Combs said his client “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations” made against him.
“For the past six months, Mr. Combs has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail. Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’s reputation and seeking a payday,” the statement said.
