Sean “Diddy” Combs, was accused in a lawsuit Thursday of subjecting R&B singer Cassie to a yearslong relationship that included beatings and rape.
Cassie, whose authorized title is Casandra Ventura, alleged within the go well with filed in opposition to the producer and music mogul in New York federal courtroom that Combs introduced her into his “ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled way of life” not lengthy after she met him and signed to his label when she was 19 and he was 37 in 2005.
Lawyer Ben Brafman mentioned Combs “vehemently denies” the allegations.
Ventura, now 37 herself, mentioned Combs, now 54, started the sample of abuse started as quickly as their relationship did.
The go well with alleges that, “susceptible to uncontrollable rage,” he subjected her to “savage” beatings during which he punched, kicked and stomped her. It alleges he plied her with medication, and compelled her to have intercourse with different males whereas he masturbated and filmed them.
The go well with says that as she was attempting to finish the connection in 2018, Combs pressured her into her Los Angeles house and raped her.
“After years in silence and darkness, I’m lastly prepared to inform my story, and to talk up on behalf of myself and for the good thing about different ladies who face violence and abuse of their relationships,” Ventura mentioned in a press release.
The Related Press doesn’t sometimes title individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused except they arrive ahead publicly as Ventura has.
Brafman known as the allegations “lies.”
“For the previous six months, Mr. Combs has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, beneath the specter of writing a harmful e book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail,” he mentioned in a press release. “Regardless of withdrawing her preliminary menace, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to submitting a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’s repute and looking for a payday.”
Ventura’s lawyer Douglas Wigdor responded in a press release that Combs provided her “eight figures to silence her and stop her the submitting of this lawsuit. She rejected his efforts and determined to offer a voice to all lady that suffer in silence.”
Combs is among the many most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the previous three a long time.
He and Ventura started relationship in 2007 and had an on-and-off relationship for greater than a decade.
She turned recognized for the Ryan Leslie-produced hit single “Me & U,” which secured the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Sizzling R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart in 2006. The tune was the lead single of her solely studio album, which was self-titled.
As an actor, she has appeared in a number of tv and movies initiatives together with Fox’s “Empire,” “Step Up 2:The Streets” and “Spenser Confidential.”
Combs constructed considered one of hip-hop’s greatest empires, blazing a path with a number of entities hooked up to his well-known title. He’s the founding father of Unhealthy Boy Information and a three-time Grammy winner who has labored with a slew of top-tier artists together with Infamous B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Religion Evans and 112.
The mogul created the style clothes line Sean John, launched the Revolt TV channel with a concentrate on music, and produced the truth present “Making the Band” for MTV.
This 12 months, he launched his fifth studio album “The Love Album: Off the Grid,” which earned two Grammy nominations this month.
The lawsuit cites a speech Combs gave whereas receiving a lifetime achievement honor on the BET Awards in 2022, during which he thanked Ventura for “holding me down at the hours of darkness occasions, love.”
The go well with says, “The reality, nevertheless, is that Cassie — Ms. Casandra Ventura — was held down by Mr. Combs and endured over a decade of his violent habits and disturbed calls for.”
