Sean “Diddy” Combs and R&B singer Cassie reached a settlement Friday in an incendiary lawsuit she filed the day before accusing the mogul and businessman of rape and a “cycle of abuse” during their more than decade-long relationship.
No details of the deal were released, although Combs’ attorney previously accused Cassie of seeking an eight-figure payout in recent months. Combs had denied the allegations through his attorney.
Cassie dated the famous hip-hop producer for about 11 years before breaking up in 2018. She filed her sex trafficking and sexual assault lawsuit against him in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York few days before a “retrospective review” expired. window” that allowed adults who alleged they were sexually abused to file a lawsuit even though the statute of limitations had expired.
“I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on the basis that I have some level of control,” the singer, who sued under her legal name Casandra Ventura, said in a statement issued through her legal team. “I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support.”
Combs issued a similar statement, saying, “We have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love.”
Ventura’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, said he was “very proud of Ms. Ventura for having the strength to go public with her lawsuit. She should be praised for doing so.”
In the lawsuit, Ventura, 37, accused Combs, 54, of raping her in his home after she tried to leave him; assault and physically hurt her; forcing her to engage in sexual acts with male sex workers while she filmed the encounters; running with a firearm; introduce you to “a lifestyle of excessive alcohol and substance abuse”; and requiring her to “obtain illicit prescriptions to satisfy her own addictions.”
According to the lawsuit, Ventura met Combs in 2005, when she was 19 and he was 37. After signing her to his label, the lawsuit alleges, Combs took control of her professional and personal life, and began sexually and physically abusing her. with increasing frequencies. frequency.
“He signed her to his label, Bad Boy Records, and within a few years, he lured Ms. Ventura into a flashy, fast-paced, drug-fueled lifestyle and a romantic relationship with him, her boss, one of the most powerful men in the entertainment industry and a vicious, cruel and controlling man almost two decades older than her,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit details bruises Ventura said she suffered as a result of the alleged abuse, as well as accounts of drug use, voyeurism, male sex workers and more.
Diddy’s attorney, Ben Brafman, said in a statement to the Times on Thursday that his client “vehemently” denied the “offensive and outrageous allegations” and accused Ventura of being “persistent” in demanding more than $30 million from Diddy during the last six months.
Brafman added that the lawsuit, which also named Combs’ companies Bad Boy Entertainment and Bad Boy Records as defendants, as well as Epic Records and Combs Enterprises LLC, was “riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, intended to tarnish Mr. Combs’ reputation. and looking for a payday.”
The lawsuit was filed during the one-year deadline provided by New York’s Adult Survivors Law, which created a one-year “look-back period” during which adults who allege they were sexually abused could sue even though they the statute of limitations had expired. Other lawsuits were filed this month in that state against Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, music executive Antonio “LA” Reid and former Grammy director Neil Portnow.
That window expires next week.
Times staff writers Nardine Saad, Emily St. Martin and Stacy Perman contributed to this report.
Resources for Sexual Assault Survivors
If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual violence, you can find support using RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline. Call (800) 656-HOPE or visit online.rainn.org to speak with a trained support specialist.
