Cassie has filed a bombshell lawsuit against ex-boyfriend and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
According to court documents obtained by The New York Times on Thursday, November 16, Cassie, 37, claimed that Diddy, 54, began a pattern of control and abuse after they met in 2005. The singer, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, claimed Diddy urged her to take drugs, beat her and forced her to have sex with male prostitutes on camera. Cassie is referred to as “a victim of sex trafficking” in the lawsuit, claiming that the alleged incidents took place in high-end hotels and in Diddy’s homes across the United States.
Cassie further alleged that Diddy forced his way into her home and raped her in 2018.
“After years in silence and darkness,” Cassie 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.”
Diddy vehemently denied the allegations.
“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,” his lawyer Ben Brafman said in a statement to the outlet. “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.”
Cassie’s legal team claimed that Diddy offered her “eight figures to silence her,” which she rejected.
Cassie and Diddy dated off and on for 11 years until 2018. According to the lawsuit, when she dated rapper Kid Cudi in 2012, Diddy was so upset that he threatened to blow up Cudi’s car.
“Around that time, Kid Cudi’s car exploded in his driveway,” the documents state. Cudi told the NY Times that Cassie’s account of the story was “all true.”
After her split from Diddy, Cassie moved on with Alex Fine, whom she wed in September 2019. Cassie and Fine share daughters Frankie and Sunny.
Diddy, for his part, is the father of seven children, from previous relationships with Misa Hylton, Kim Porter, Sarah Chapman and Dana Tran.
Throughout the course of their on-again, off-again relationship, Cassie and Diddy worked together on a variety of projects. After hearing Cassie’s hit song “Me & U” in a nightclub, Diddy convinced producer Ryan Leslie to have the duo work with Bad Boy Records for Cassie’s debut album, which dropped in 2006. Cassie also became the face of Diddy’s clothing line Sean Jean.
Cassie later collaborated with Diddy on her song “Must Be Love” and his hit “Coming Home.” She also appeared in a series of music videos for Kanye West, Chris Brown, Jay-Z and Rick Ross.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
