• Sean “Diddy” Combs denies allegations of rape and abuse from his ex-girlfriend Cassie
• Cassie claims that she was “lured” into a drug-fueled romance with Diddy who allegedly abused her
• Cassie is suing Diddy for sex trafficking, battery, sexual assault and subjected her to a hostile work environment
Here is what happened:
Sean “Diddy” Combs is denying allegations of rape and abuse from his ex-girlfriend Cassie, who he dated on-and-off for almost a decade. On Nov. 16, Cassie—whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura—filed a lawsuit against the rapper in New York, accusing him of physical and sexual abuse throughout their relationship. “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,” she said in a statement to NBC News.
However, an attorney for Diddy, 54, denied the accusations amid her filing. “Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations,” his lawyer, Ben Brafman, told in a statement. “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. 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.”
E! News has reached out to reps for Cassie and Diddy—who also goes by Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Love—for comment but hasn’t heard back. In her complaint, obtained by NBC News, Cassie, 37, alleged she was “lured” into dating Diddy after signing with his Bad Boys Records label in 2006. Citing fears of repercussions for her album deal if she rejected his advances, Cassie’s lawsuit said the singer entered into “an ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle, and into a romantic relationship with him—her boss, one of the most powerful men in the entertainment industry, and a vicious, cruel, and controlling man nearly two decades her senior.”
Throughout the relationship, the suit alleged that Diddy “punched, beat, kicked and stomped on Ms. Ventura, resulting in bruises, burst lips, black eyes and bleeding,” as well as forced her to engage in sex acts with male sex workers. “Ms. Ventura was terrified, isolated, and unable to see a pathway out of Mr. Combs’ abusive hold on her life,” read the suit, which said that Diddy often showered Cassie with gifts following the alleged abuse. “She found herself becoming numb to the abuse she was experiencing, and became entirely beholden to Mr. Combs’s demands. She began to blindly follow his instructions out of fear of again being on the receiving end of a vicious beating.”
