Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of rape, physical abuse for over a decade by singer Cassie: suit
Sean “Diddy” Combs was accused of raping and physically abusing Cassie — an R&B singer once signed to his label — for over a decade, according to a bombshell lawsuit she filed Thursday.
Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, claims the legendary music producer and rapper trafficked, raped and viciously beat her starting in 2005 and until 2018, the Manhattan federal suit — filed with a glaring “trigger warning” — states.
“After years in silence and darkness, 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,” Ventura, 37, said in a statement via her attorneys at Wigdor LLP.
The “Me & U” singer’s allegations include that Combs, 54, regularly fed her drugs and alcohol, forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed the encounters and blew up Kid Cudi’s car when he learned the rapper was romantically interested in her.
When she tried to leave the relationship in 2018, the Revolt CEO allegedly forced Ventura into her own home and raped her, the lawsuit states.
The pair had a public on-and-off-again relationship that she claims started shortly after meeting in 2005, when she was just 19 and he was 37.
Combs signed Ventura to his label Bad Boy Records and subsequently plunged the teenager into a “fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle” that later left her grappling with substance abuse issues, the complaint alleges.
The music mogul first introduced Ventura to opiates in 2008 in an attempt to keep her compliant and would keep pills and other drugs out in the open “like candy,” the suit alleges.
Ventura claims Combs “frequently” and “savagely” beat her multiple times over the years, often in front of staff and business associates, but that no one dared to push back against one of the most famous names in hip-hop, according to the filing.
She tried to escape from Combs — who was prone to “uncontrollable rage” — but was implored to return to him over explicit threats that ending the relationship would tank her success in the entertainment industry, the suit states.
Ventura was explicitly told in 2016 that her single would not be released if she left her partner and boss, according to the lawsuit.
The possible negative effect rejecting Combs would have on her career pushed her to accept his unrelenting advances — which allegedly included a forced kiss during a party when Combs was still in a relationship with actress Kim Porter, according to the suit.
“Ms. Ventura was repulsed by Mr. Combs’s demands, but between the physical beating and recognizing his incredible power and incredible temper, Ms. Ventura became petrified of her partner and boss, and felt that she could not say no,” the filing states.
Bad Boy Entertainment and Bad Boy Records, as well as Epic Records and Comb Enterprises, were also named in the suit for allegedly failing to protect their employee against the egregious behavior of her “boss.”
Combs’ attorney, Ben Brafman, said his client “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations” — and claimed that Ventura had been demanding $30 million from Combs for the last six months “under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail.”
“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,” he said in a statement to Page Six.
In one alleged January 2009 incident detailed in the suit, Combs became “enraged” after witnessing Ventura speaking with another music manager at a party in Los Angeles in hopes it could further her career.
Combs allegedly pushed her out of the club and into a car, where he stomped on her face until she was covered in blood as a security guard helplessly tried to intervene, the suit claims.
After realizing what he had done, Combs holed Ventura up in a lavish hotel for a week until her injuries could heal and refused to allow her to visit her mother in the aftermath, the filing states.
He also allegedly beat her during parties with other A-listers and music executives present and even family, according to the suit.
Combs allegedly charged Ventura with a corkscrew before ruthlessly beating her upon learning she had a brief relationship with musician Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, in 2011 when the couple were on the outs.
Several months later, the rapper expressed his desire to Ventura to blow up Mescudi’s car — which mysteriously exploded shortly after, the lawsuit states.
The music mogul is also accused of pressuring Ventura to engage in drugged-up sex acts with sex workers — an arrangement he called a “Freak Off” — as he filmed, directed and masturbated.
The alleged encounters often lasted multiple days or on a weekly basis and were once so extreme that Combs was left footing a hotel damages bill that cost him tens of thousands of dollars, according to the lawsuit.
On Ventura’s 29th birthday in 2015, Combs allegedly insisted she leave her party to attend a “Freak Out” at a nearby hotel. When she expressed disinterest, he used his staff to corner her and force her to leave, the suit states.
Combs allegedly asserted an extraordinary level of command of Ventura’s life beyond his role as her employer, including controlling her money, paying for her Manhattan and Los Angeles apartments — both located just blocks away from his — and even forcing her to carry a gun in her handbags “to reinforce to his young girlfriend that he was violent, powerful, and dangerous.”
He also reigned over her health and ordered that the results of an MRI scan Ventura had — “potentially due to excessive drug use and/or head injuries caused by Mr. Combs’s beatings” — be sent directly to his home.
“Her volatile and abusive partner — who also owned her label and therefore held her future success in his hands — had fully exerted control over every aspect of her life,” the filing states.
Whenever Ventura escaped from Combs’ abuse, she was dragged back into the relationship because of his extensive network and his deranged aggression, according to the suit.
In 2018, Ventura broke up with Combs over dinner, but he allegedly pushed his way into her home — which he paid for — and raped her, the lawsuit states.
It was the last of the alleged abuse, however, and Ventura cut all ties with Combs, the record and the properties he paid for, the suit says.
“Ms. Ventura has now fully escaped Mr. Combs, but the harm that the assaults and sexual abuse he caused her to experience for nearly a decade will forever haunt her,” the filing states.
“She has required intensive medical and psychological care to recover from the trauma she lived through,” it states. “She cannot, however, continue to live in silence about what she endured. Mr. Combs remains immensely powerful, and immensely dangerous. Ms. Ventura therefore seeks justice for the decade of her life that Mr. Combs took away from her with threats of violence, excessive use of drugs, physical and psychological abuse, and sexual slavery.”
Ventura was finally pushed to shed light on her decade of abuse through the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law that allows alleged sexual abuse victims whose claims are past the statute of limitations to file a civil suit for a one-year period, until Nov. 24.
“With the expiration of New York’s Adult Survivors Act fast approaching, it became clear that this was an opportunity to speak up about the trauma I have experienced and that I will be recovering from for the rest of my life,” she said.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
