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Former Bad Boy artist Cassie is suing Diddy over allegations that the record label’s founder sexually abused and raped her during their near decade-long relationship.
According to an explosive report The New York Times published on Thursday, November 16, Cassie, born Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court in Manhattan in which she alleges that Diddy put her through “a pattern of control and abuse that included plying her with drugs, beating her and forcing her to have sex with a succession of male prostitutes while he filmed the encounters.” She filed the lawsuit before New York's Adult Survivors Act expires next week, and is currently seeking unspecified damages.
"After years in silence and darkness,” Ventura said in a statement, “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.”
In the lawsuit that comes with a trigger warning, the singer alleges that the abuse began shortly after she met Diddy when she was 19 in 2005. She claims he took control of her life and repeatedly subjected her to sexual abuse. She also accused the artist, born Sean Combs, of beating her "multiple times each year." In one alleged incident, Diddy reportedly forced himself into her apartment in 2018 and raped her against her will, which led her to leaving him for good. She alleges that he had a team of people who helped hide his offenses, who she also names in the suit along with Combs' companies.
Diddy "vehemently" denied the "offensive and outrageous allegations." In response, the record executive told the Times that Cassie's lawsuit is a result of a failed plot to blackmail 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," Diddy's attorney Ben Brafman said in a statement. "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,” Cassie's attorney Douglas Wigdor said. “She rejected his efforts.”