Nov. 18 (UPI) — The hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, known more commonly as Diddy, has settled a lawsuit filed by his former longtime girlfriend and singer Cassie Ventura, who had accused him of rape and physical abuse.
The bombshell lawsuit was filed in a Manhattan federal court on Thursday, which came with a trigger warning of highly graphic information, and the settlement was reached by Friday night, she said in a statement provided to news outlets.
“I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control,” Ventura said in the statement. “I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support.”
The terms of the quick settlement were not announced. Combs, using mirror language, later issued a statement that the two had “decided to resolve this matter amicably” but added that he wished her and her family “all the best.”
With the quick settlement, Combs and Ventura avoid going through the process of evidence discovery and a trial, which would have affected both parties in the court of public opinion as in the case last year between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
In Ventura’s lawsuit, obtained by UPI, her lawyers noted that Combs rose to fame as Puff Daddy and the founder of Bad Boy Records in the early 1990s. He has helped shape the future of hip-hop culture, earning a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards last year — where he thanked Ventura for holding him down “in the dark times.”
“The truth, however, is that Cassie — Ms. Casandra Ventura — was held down by Mr. Combs and endured over a decade of his violent behavior and disturbed demands. For Ms. Ventura, the ‘dark times’ were those she spent trapped by Mr. Combs in a cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking,” the lawsuit reads.
Combs and Ventura met in 2005 when he heard her first single playing in a strip club and decided to sign the 19-year-old singer to his record label for a ten-album deal. He was 37 at the time. Ventura’s lawyers noted that, with her being signed to his label, he was in effect her boss and had power over her.
Ventura alleged that Combs was prone to rage and would beat her “savagely,” which was witnessed by his staff and employees “but no one dared to speak up against their frightening and ferocious boss.” He would then allegedly hide her and the evidence away, love-bombing her with gifts.
The 35-page lawsuit details the alleged brutality over the course of their yearslong relationship at length, culminating in his alleged rape of Ventura in September 2018 when she became desperate to try to leave him. Despite reaching a settlement, Combs denies all the allegations laid out by the lawsuit.
