R&B singer Cassie filed a lawsuit against Diddy on November 16, accusing the hip-hop mogul of a pattern of control and sexual abuse, per the New York Times. The suit, filed in the Federal District Court in Manhattan, alleges that Diddy, real name Sean Combs, subjected her to beatings, coercive drug use, and forced intercourse with sex workers while he filmed the encounters, arguing she is a victim of sex trafficking, sexual battery, sexual assault, and violations of New York City’s gender-motivated violence law. She alleges that the abuse began when she was 19, shortly after she signed with his label, Bad Boy, in 2005, and entered a romantic relationship with the prominent music executive. Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, claims Diddy forced his way into her home and raped her in 2018, toward the end of their relationship.
According to the suit, he controlled every aspect of her life — including her career, car, apartments, clothing, and medical records. In addition to the alleged yearslong physical and emotional abuse, the suit suggests Diddy was purportedly involved in dangling one of Cassie’s friends over a 17th-floor balcony and threatened to blow up the car of his rival, Kid Cudi, when the pair dated in 2012. “Around that time,” the suit claims, “Kid Cudi’s car exploded in his driveway.” Cudi confirmed Cassie’s account through a spokesperson. “This is all true,” he said.
A lawyer for Diddy, Ben Brafman, said, “Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations. 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.”
“Mr. Combs offered Ms. Ventura eight figures to silence her and prevent the filing of this lawsuit,” Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Cassie, told the New York Times. “She rejected his efforts.”
“After years in silence and darkness,” Cassie said in a statement to the Times, “I am finally ready to tell my story, and to speak up on behalf of myself and for the benefit of other women who face violence and abuse in their relationships.”
