- Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sued by a New York recording artist who claims he raped and sexually trafficked her for 10 years.
- “After years of silence and darkness, I’m finally ready to tell my story,” said prosecutor Cassandra Ventura.
Cassie Ventura and Sean “Diddy” Combs attend the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City.
John Shearer | Getty Images | The Hollywood Reporter | Getty Images
Hip-hop music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit with a civil lawsuit Thursday accusing him of raping and sex-trafficking singer Cassie, his former romantic partner, over a decade.
“After years in silence and darkness, I’m finally ready to tell my story and speak up for myself and for other women who face violence and abuse in their relationships,” Cassie said in a statement about her bombshell lawsuit. filed in US District Court in Manhattan.
“As New York’s Adult Survivors Act expires, it has become clear that this is an opportunity to speak about the trauma that I have experienced and will be recovering from for the rest of my life,” said Cassie, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura .
Last November’s Adult Survivors Act allows accusers to file civil sexual assault claims within a one-year window that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations.
Combs “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations,” his attorney, Ben Brafman, said in a statement.
“Ms. Ventura’s demand for $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, was unequivocally rejected as clear blackmail,” Brafman said.
“Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit filled with baseless and outrageous lies in order to tarnish Mr. Combs’ reputation and demand a payday.”
Cassie’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, responded: “Comb offered Ms. Ventura eight figures to shut her up and prevent this lawsuit from being filed. She rejected his efforts and decided to give a voice to all the women who suffer in silence .”
“Ms. Ventura should be applauded for her courage,” Wigdor added. “No human being should have to endure what Ms. Ventura endured.”
Cassie’s suit alleges that in 2005, when she was just 19 years old, Combs, then 37, lured the singer into a professional relationship by signing her to his Bad Boy Records label.
Over the course of several years, he lured her into a sexual relationship and introduced her “to a lifestyle of excessive alcohol and substance abuse and required her to obtain illegal prescriptions to satisfy her own addictions,” the lawsuit alleges.
The suit alleges that Combs raped Cassie at her home after she tried to leave him, “bombed up” another man’s car after learning of his romantic interest in the singer, and frequently beat and kicked her.
Sean “Diddy” Combs announces his alliance with Diageo, the world’s leading spirits, wine and beer company, at a press conference at the Stone Rose on October 24, 2007 in New York.
George Napolitano | Movie Magic | Getty Images
And it says Combs, who has seven children, “forced Ms. Ventura to engage in sexual acts with male sex workers while masturbating and filming the encounters.”
“During their relationship, Mr. Combs was prone to uncontrollable rages and often severely beat Ms. Ventura,” the suit says.
“These beatings were witnessed by Mr. Combs’ staff and employees of Bad Boy Entertainment and related businesses, but no one dared speak out against their intimidating and ferocious boss.”
In addition to Combs, the lawsuit names Bad Boy Records, Bad Boy Entertainment, Epic Records and Combs Enterprises as defendants.
Combs, one of the most influential and successful executives in music, founded the Bad Boy hip-hop label in the early 1990s. He also launched a clothing brand, Sean John, and helped develop the Ciroc vodka brand. Just last year, Forbes estimated his net worth at $1 billion.
Combs was also a close friend of rapper Notorious BIG, known as Biggie. He was in Biggie’s entourage in a separate SUV when the rapper was fatally shot in 1997.
Earlier this year, Combs sued Ciroc owner Diageo for alleged racial discrimination, saying they neglected Ciroc and its DeLeon tequila brand. The company ended the relationship in June after about 16 years.
— Additional reporting from Stefan Sykes and Mike Calia